Trafficking legislation backed

THE DIRECTOR of European law enforcement agency Europol, Rob Wainwright, pictured, has backed Scottish Government legislation to tackle human trafficking.

His intervention came as Holyrood’s justice committee started taking evidence on the Bill, which will create an offence of human trafficking as well as increase the maximum penalty for offenders to life imprisonment.

Speaking on a visit to St Andrews University, Mr Wainwrightsaid:“Theproblemofhumantrafficking has crept up on us in European society over the last 10 years. It has become a bigger problem with the number of victims trafficked for labour and sexual exploitation around Europe.

“It’s therefore good to see that countries are now responding to that and considering ways in which they can make their antitrafficking regime more robust.

“We’ve had them talking about it in Westminster for some time and now here in Scotland as well.”

MSPs were yesterday told that a ban on paying for sex in Northern Ireland could have a negative impact on Scotland unless similar laws are introduced here.

Northern Ireland recently became the first part of the UK to make buying sex a criminal offence after a Bill was brought forward by Democratic Unionist Party peer Lord Morrow.

Campaigners are calling for the Scottish Government’s Human Trafficking and Exploitation Bill to be extended to criminalise the purchase of sexual services in Scotland.