§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to implement recommendation 49 of Setting the Boundaries to introduce1098W into UK domestic law a specific offence of people trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. [29676]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyHome Office Ministers are currently considering this and all of the other recommendations made to Government by the Sex Offences Review, in the light of responses to a public consultation process. The Government have indicated their intention to introduce new legislation to target the evils of trafficking in human beings. They are considering how that legislation should be framed and are examining suitable legislative vehicles.
The new legislation will also implement our international obligation in respect of trafficking, contained in the United Nations (UN) Protocol on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children for Sexual Purposes, the UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime, and a European Union (EU) Framework Decision on Trafficking currently under negotiation.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received to amend section 22 of the Sex Offences Act 1956 to make it an offence for a person to procure under 18s for the purposes detailed in sections 22(1),(a)(b) and (c) of the legislation. [29675]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe Sex Offences Review recommended to Government that section 22 of the Sex Offences Act 1956 should be replaced with a range of gender neutral offences relating to the commercial sexual exploitation of a child under 18 and the trafficking of a person for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
Home Office Ministers are considering this recommendation and the responses received during the consultation period in light of the Government's intention to introduce new legislation to target the evils of trafficking in human beings and the United Kingdom's international obligations in this regard.