Tracy Gilbert

I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of sex trafficking in Scotland. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I am proud to support a Labour Government who are committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. However, I am always going to push for more action to be taken to end the commercial sexual exploitation that takes place every day on our streets and online. I have raised the need for the Government and police to shut down websites that are advertising prostitution before. Why? Because there has long existed extensive evidence that online mega brothels are facilitating industrial-scale sex trafficking and sexual exploitation across the UK. Websites advertising prostitution, more accurately referred to as pimping websites, are commercial platforms dedicated solely or partly to advertising individuals for prostitution. In 2017, an inquiry by the all-party parliamentary group on commercial sexual exploitation exposed the crucial role they play in the business model of sex trafficking to meet men’s demands for prostitution.