Updated Scottish Government strategy to help 'silent human trafficking victims among us'
Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland have backed plans to make sure offenders are held to account.
Last updated 31st Jul 2025
A human trafficking support group insists there are many silent victims throughout Scotland as the government pledges new funding to fight exploitation.
Joy Gillespie heads up Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland (SOHTIS) and met with Victims Minister Siobhain Brown in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Ms Brown unveiled £6.2 million in funding for adult and child support services working with victims of trafficking.
The SNP administration has also announced a new Human Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy, an update from their previous one published in 2017.
Joy has worked with SOHTIS for more than six years.
And, speaking with Clyde 1 during the MSP visit, she admits her group has seen an increase in victims over the last few years.
She said: “We were able to have a really good conversation with the Minister about prevention, which is at the heart of the new strategy.
“We’re passionate about preventing people from being trafficked, and re-trafficked.
“It’s a growing problem in Scotland, over the last decade in Scotland there has been a seven hundred per cent increase in the number of victims recovered.
“But we know that is just the tip of the iceberg.
“Most victims of trafficking are not actually identified or recovered. They are living amongst us, in our communities, in our towns and villages and cities, and we need to do much more.”
Ms Brown revealed supporting both child and adult victims as soon as they are identified and taking swift action against perpetrators are two of the main focal points to the updated policy.
She added: “Human trafficking is abhorrent and causes victims lasting physical and psychological damage.
“Shockingly, victims have been identified in every local authority area and the number of victims identified has increased.
“While the rise reflects, in part, the success of actions to raise public awareness of human trafficking and exploitation, clearly this is an ever-evolving crime that we must continue to combat.
“This strategy sets out a blueprint for preventing trafficking and exploitation from happening in the first place, while ensuring that victims are identified and supported and perpetrators held to account.
“We continue to work relentlessly with police and other partners across borders to tackle those behind this evil trade.”