ABSTRACT
In the UK and internationally, police and prosecutors face increased pressure to respond more effectively to human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. This chapter deals with two important and interconnected components of counter-trafficking responses: investigation and prosecution. It focuses on six of the earliest and largest internal (domestic) child sex trafficking cases in the UK, including the infamous Rochdale ‘grooming’ case and others that fuelled national panic around so-called ‘Asian sex gangs’. A brief statistical analysis of prosecution data is first used to examine the characteristics and outcomes of these cases at court. The results emphasise the complexity of the prosecutions but also reveal fairly high conviction rates, which is surprising given widespread concerns about victims’ credibility as witnesses. The main focus of the chapter is an interview-based study with 20 police professionals and eight prosecutors. Participants included senior investigating officers from all six cases and the lead prosecutors from five. Among the key themes identified in the interviews were that victims were seen as exceptionally problematic, case building and management as challenging and the trials themselves as demanding. This chapter is important in highlighting common challenges and informing attempts to improve criminal justice responses to this complex sex crime.
