NCW in conference assembled calls on the government to:

• Incorporate prostitution and trafficking of women into the VAWG strategy recognising trafficking and exploitation of women and girls as forms of VAWG, with clear targets to reduce prevalence.
• Ensure that perpetrators of trafficking are held accountable for their crimes against women via the criminal justice system.
• Educate and train Public Officers on the dangers of victim blaming. Build a holistic programme to rehabilitate women after drug use and help them sustain suitable paid employment.
• Tackle demand, making it socially unacceptable, and invest in the social research into the Nordic model.
• Shut down all the designated websites that are used in the sale of women for adult services. Require the tech companies to identify and disrupt the use of their services to arrange and promote trafficking of women into sexual exploitation.
• Ensure that staff in the border agency, the transport (air, ferry and truck) industries, the hospitality sector, especially hotels, are trained to recognise trafficking of women into sexual exploitation
• Identify patterns of financial transfers suggestive of trafficking through the banking industry.

Modern slavery is one of the most devastating yet least visible forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). It takes many forms including sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and forced marriage.

In 2024 in the UK, almost 5,000 women and girls were referred as potential victims to the National Referral Mechanism, the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting potential victims of modern slavery. This is the highest figure ever recorded. Yet these numbers are the tip of the iceberg, most cases remain hidden. Women and girls are being targeted, trapped, and exploited simply because of their sex. Perpetrators thrive in systems that normalise the commodification of women and girls, with online platforms and global trafficking networks normalising and enabling abuse at unprecedented scale. Unless modern slavery is addressed head-on, the Government’s ambition to halve VAWG within the next decade will fail.

Safe housing, legal aid, and trauma-informed mental health care are needed for women trafficked into sexual exploitation, regardless of immigration status. Survivors of exploitation often face fragmented, unstable, or even non-existent support. Without targeted, reliable help, we risk re-traumatising those we claim to protect.

Regulatory reform, and enforcement of the Online Safety Act is needed to disrupt trafficking in digital spaces. Evidence indicates that organised crime groups operating in the UK are increasingly using the internet and in particular Adult Service Websites (ASWs) to facilitate exploitation.

Ring-fence resources are needed for specialised trafficking and exploitation services, closing the current funding gap for underfunded areas like sexual exploitation, which for too long has been sidelined in national strategies.

Empowering and listening to those with lived experience will help to drive reform. For policy and legislation to work then it must be shaped by the people it is meant to serve.

Proposer: Virginia Hitch, NCWGB Member
Seconder: Susan McKellar, Scottish Women’s Convention, NCWGB Associate

Seconder Speech – Susan McKellar

Chair, and esteemed delegates,

I rise to second this vital resolution: Ending Trafficking of Women into Sexual Exploitation. This is not just a policy issue—it is a matter of justice, dignity, and human rights.

The Scottish Women’s Convention has long recognised that prostitution and trafficking are not isolated issues, but deeply interconnected forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). Our recent response to the Scottish Parliament’s consultation on the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill makes it clear: commercial sexual exploitation is not a choice—it is a consequence of inequality, coercion, and survival under pressure. [www.scotti…ention.org]

The Unbuyable Bill, introduced by MSP Ash Regan, represents a compassionate and progressive shift in Scotland’s approach. It proposes to criminalise the purchase of sex, while decriminalising those who are exploited, offering them support, safety, and a path to recovery. This aligns with the Nordic Model, which has proven effective in reducing demand and disrupting trafficking networks. [care.org.uk], [www.parliament.scot]

Let me be clear: trafficking thrives on demand. It is fuelled by systems that commodify women, enabled by online platforms, and sustained by silence. In 2024, nearly 5,000 women and girls were referred as potential victims of modern slavery in the UK—the highest number ever recorded. And yet, we know this is just the tip of the iceberg.

This resolution rightly calls for:

• Integration of trafficking and prostitution into the VAWG strategy, with clear targets to reduce prevalence.
• Accountability for perpetrators, not victims.
• Training for public officers, border staff, and hospitality workers to spot and stop exploitation.
• Disruption of digital trafficking, including shutting down adult service websites and holding tech companies accountable.
• Investment in survivor-led support, including housing, legal aid, and trauma-informed care.

The Scottish Government’s refreshed Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy now takes a public health approach, recognising the need to address root causes and support survivors holistically. Police Scotland, too, has backed the Unbuyable Bill, acknowledging that buying sex is a form of exploitation and that those selling sex are often vulnerable and in need of support. [www.gov.scot] [www.telegraph.co.uk]

This resolution is not just timely—it is essential. If we are serious about ending violence against women and girls, we must tackle the systems that enable trafficking and exploitation. We must reframe the shame, shift the burden from the exploited to the exploiters, and build a society where no woman is for sale.

I urge you to support this resolution. Thank you.