Human Trafficking and Exploitation in the Scottish Sex Industry: Clients’ Accounts

Author: Cornforth-Camden, Bryony

Abstract: The need to address demand for human trafficking has been raised both in Scottish and in international anti-trafficking efforts. However, in Scotland, as in many other countries, the semi-legality of the sex industry means that methods for addressing demand for trafficked prostitution are rarely explored. This article presents findings from research about men who buy heterosexual sex as one aspect of demand for trafficked prostitution. In this study, I analyze clients’ reviews of women in prostitution, which are posted on sex-industry Web sites, and use them to explore the extent to which human trafficking and exploitation feature in clients’ reviews. This research found that, although concerns over trafficking and exploitation were largely absent in clients’ reviews, the reviews depicted a form of prostitution considered problematic amongst the online client community. This problematic form of prostitution was based on intersecting concerns over migration and freedom of movement in the European Union along with consumer expectations of a purchased service. I explore how antimigrant sentiment came to be prevalent among the online community and what this means for migrants operating under exploitative conditions in the Scottish sex industry.

Keywords: internet prostitution, migrant exploitation, purchasers of sex, Scotland, trafficked prostitution