Everyday atrocities: does internal (domestic) sex trafficking of British children satisfy the expectations of opportunity theories of crime?

Abstract

In this study we examine the internal (domestic) sex trafficking of British children using unique data from six major police investigations. This particular type of internal sex trafficking (sometimes known as 'street grooming') has been popularly conceptualised as a highly sophisticated, skilled and well-organised phenomenon. This study shows that this characterisation does not withstand empirical scrutiny. Instead, the routine activities and everyday associations of both offenders and victims are shown to play key roles in facilitating, sustaining and spreading the abuse. While the criminal acts associated with internal child sex trafficking can be atrocious, the people, places and processes involved are shown to be far from exceptional. In this respect, the results may be unsettling: they undermine explanations of an emotive crime that rest on reassuring but ultimately naïve errors of attribution. We argue that it is important, however, that preventative strategies are underpinned not by sensationalised narrative and untested assumptions but by sober and robust assessments of appropriate empirical data. The paper contributes to the theoretical and empirical literature on opportunity theories of crime, on human trafficking and on child sexual abuse/exploitation. While the sample size is not especially large (55 offenders and 43 victims), this study helps to expand a sorely limited knowledge base on a topical threat. It is also distinguished by its hard-to-access data and novel analytical approach. The work is likely to interest a broad and international audience of academics, practitioners and policy makers concerned with crime prevention and child protection.

Human trafficking for sex, labour and domestic servitude: how do key trafficking types compare and what are their predictors?

“…Since human trafficking is typically a for-profit activity, there are likely dependencies on the structure and regulation of relevant markets and activities, including migration and low-paid work more generally. Our results provide some indication that opportunity theories of crime apply to human trafficking too, meaning that traffickers operate pragmatically and rationally (not to be confused with legally or morally) (see also [16]). Indeed, many of our findings could be explained in terms of minimising effort and risk, maximising profit and responding to market demands and operating conditions and constraints.…”

Using Law Enforcement Data in Trafficking Research

“…Although undoubtedly still marginal, recent years have seen an expansion in academic trafficking research that has used law enforcement data (Brayley et al 2011;Campana 2016;Cockbain 2018;Cockbain et al 2011;Cockbain and Brayley-Morris 2017;Cockbain and Wortley 2015;Denton 2016;Farrell et al 2012;Farrell et al 2014;Farrell and Pfeffer 2014;Gadd et al 2017;Gavra and Tudor 2015;Kleemans 2015;Kragten-Heerdink et al 2017;Mancuso 2014;Savona et al 2014;Tamas et al 2013). The specific sources employed in such studies have included intelligence logs and enquiries, arrest warrants, detailed investigative case files, legal databases, indictments and other court case files.…”

Environmental criminology and crime analysis: situating the theory, analytic approach and application

“…Perhaps more than most criminological approaches ECCA is well placed to respond to the increasingly global, organised and technologically-assisted nature of crime in the 21 st century. The problems to which ECCA principles have been applied in recent years include organised crime (Bullock, Clarke and Tilley, 2010), cyber crime (Holt and Bossler, 2015;McNally and Newman, 2007;Newman and Clarke, 2003), Internet child exploitation (Wortley and Smallbone, 2006;, human trafficking (Brayley, Cockbain and Laycock, 2011;Cockbain and Wortley, 2015;Savona, Giommoni and Mancuso, 2013), wildlife poaching (Lemieu, 2014, Moreto andClarke, 2013), terrorism and insurgency (Braithwaite & Johnson, 2012;Freilich and Newman, 2009;Newman and Clarke, 2006;Townsley, Johnson and Ratcliffe, 2008), and maritime piracy (Marchione &Johnson, 2013, Townsley, Leclerc, andTatham, 2015;Townsley and Oliveira, 2015).…”