Big leap forward in fight against trafficking

Catherine Bearder MEP, who has fought hard to encourage the government to opt-in to the directive, commented: "I am delighted the UK government intends to make such a strong commitment to the fight against human trafficking. The NGOs and anti-trafficking community groups I work with have been calling for the opt-in for some time now."

"The government's decision will help these groups in their fight to stop trafficking.The directive will help the police catch trafficking gangs, to convict traffickers and will dramatically improve our care for trafficking's victims. People traffickers have no respect for borders so governments must act together to stop this terrible crime."

The new EU law introduces a maximum sentence of 10 years instead of 8, much better care for child victims and an EU anti-trafficking coordinator. 'Trafficking' will now cover selling a person as a beggar or pickpocket, or for adoption, forced marriage or harvesting of organs for transplant as well as for sex or labour.

The UK only participates in EU Justice & Home Affairs legislation when it chooses to, and there are two opportunities for the UK to opt-in on any measure. The UK government announced in June that it would not opt-in to the new EU anti-trafficking directive at the beginning of negotiations, but after seeing the final text of the directive has decided it is in the UK's best interest to opt-in.

The coalition agreement says: 'We will approach forthcoming legislation in the area of criminal justice on a case-by-case basis, with a view to maximising our country's security, protecting Britain's civil liberties and preserving the integrity of our criminal justice system.'

Catherine Bearder MEP has launched a campaign to Stamp out Trafficking at our Olympics. Large sporting events, such as the Olympics and World Cups, have been shown to lead to a rise in human trafficking, primarily to satisfy demand in the sex industry.