Identifying human trafficking in adults

A 24 year old woman from Nigeria presents to a male GP in the UK with vaginal discharge and inter-menstrual bleeding. She speaks limited English. Her notes show that she has received three diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections in the last year. She is accompanied by a man who looks older than she is, who offers to interpret for her. She responds without emotion to introductions and questions, and stares out of the window much of the time. An abusive or exploitative situation is suspected. The need for an intimate examination and further investigations is explained, and the accompanying man is politely asked to wait outside. The woman declines a chaperone. Further medical history is elicited through a telephone interpreter. The doctor asks gently whether she feels safe with the man and where she lives. The woman then becomes distressed and tearful and refuses to say anything further.

Trafficked adults experience, or have experienced, complex physical and/or emotional trauma, and are usually considered to be adults at risk. The UK’s Care and Support Statutory Guidance, first published in 2014,1 cites modern slavery as one of the 10 …