Scotland: Amnesty International and Lothian & Borders police join forces to tackle human trafficking

Human trafficking, the modern day form of slavery, is taking place here in Scotland with mostly Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights and Children's rights being trafficked into the country and forced to work in prostitution or as domestic servants.

Amnesty International and Lothian & Borders Police have now joined forces to raise awareness about this horrendous trade in human beings by launching an exhibition at Edinburgh Airport, a potential port of entry for traffickers. The Slave Britain exhibition is being shown in various locations around Scotland and shows how slaves are being bought and sold in Britain today.

It is known that people are trafficked by land, sea and air and this exhibition aims to highlight the issues to passengers and staff. It is often frontline workers who come into contact with trafficking victims, can look out for the signs that someone is being held against their will and raise the alarm.

Amnesty International's Campaigner Naomi McAuliffe said:

"It is vitally important that we raise awareness of this trade, we have come across stories of Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights being bought and sold in the cafes of airport lounges. If frontline workers are aware of the potential of human trafficking and see something suspicious they should raise the alarm.

"However, awareness raising also needs to be backed up with service provision for those victims of trafficking who are recovered in Scotland. Scotland can take a lead in this as there is some excellent work being done here but provision is currently patchy and under-resourced.

"We need awareness raising not only in this country, but in the countries that people are being taken from. People are tricked, coerced, beaten and intimidated into exploitative work. We also need to address why they are being brought here and why there is a demand for trafficked Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights and Children's rights.

This awareness raising campaign takes place during the ongoing Operation Pentameter 2 by police forces, targeting traffickers in Scotland. If you can't make it to Edinburgh Airport, information about the exhibition is available here:

Find out more about the Slave Britain campaign