Care and Support for Adult Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings: A Review

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BEST PRACTICE

• The evidence available indicates the importance of individualised care that is adequately resourced and based on service provider expertise of the needs of victims of trafficking
• Crisis and ongoing support are crucial in providing safety and care for victims of all forms of trafficking. It is crucial that wider service-providers are informed of the needs of victims and that a human rights based approach underpins all interventions
• To determine the effectiveness of services providing care and support to victims of trafficking would require the commission of a qualitative-based research study that was able to collate evidence highlighting the extent to which existing services were able to meet their aims and objectives, how effectively collaborative practice between mainstream and specialist services operated, and that sought to obtain the views of service providers, key stakeholders and victims/survivors of human trafficking
• Strategic oversight of co-ordination among service providers and the development and operation of collaborative practice is necessary to ensure services are working together effectively. This is crucial to the operation of specialist services which rely on access to mainstream provisions such as health, counselling, accommodation and criminal justice-based services
• Funding should be strategic and longer-term, allowing opportunities for the impact of interventions to be measured and victims to be supported in a planned way
• There is a need for clarity in terms of immigration status to allow for proper planning in terms of support that may encompass integration in the UK or reintegration to home countries
• The development of a robust international evidence base and information exchange systems would allow practitioners to make consistent and informed decisions/risk-assessments about resettlement in different countries of origin.