Trafficking victims let down by UK police: Report

British police are failing to protect trafficking victims who are forced to commit crimes, a new report says.

According to a study conducted by the UK-based Anti-Slavery International Charity, the police prosecute trafficking victims too often rather than protect them to serve as witnesses to track down organized criminals, The Guardian reported on Friday.

“It seems police and the courts are going for easy investigations and convictions rather than the substantive investigations that would get the trafficker behind them,” said the organization’s director Aiden McQuade.

He also noted that in general, members of the police force lack enough awareness of the problems surrounding trafficking and forced criminality.

The report comes days after Britain’s Home Office published the draft Modern Day Slavery Bill, which aims to raise the maximum prison sentence for criminals involved in human trafficking from 14 years to life behind bars.

Meanwhile, an evidence review for the new anti-slavery laws, led by British MP Frank Field, found that there could be as many as 10,000 victims of slavery in Britain.

Earlier this month, British police rescued three men, in their 30s, 40s and 50s, who were alleged to be slavery victims.

The police also discovered in November three women, who were allegedly held as slaves for up to 30 years in the southern London district of Lambeth.