Europe's first dedicated centre for victims of human trafficking has opened in Sheffield, aiming to provide the specialist care and emotional support needed to help the victims overcome their traumatic experiences.

Victims are mostly women brought from abroad and forced into prostitution. There are thought to be hundreds of trafficked women in the UK.

The unit is the first of its kind in the UK, run by the Association of Chief Police Officers. Specially trained police, lawyers and immigration officials will work at the facility.

They will continue the work of Operation Pentameter - the UK's first national campaign to target human trafficking in the sex industry.
In addition, the Sheffield centre will deal with trafficking involving labour exploitation, children and domestic servants.

Solicitor General Mike O' Brien opened the centre at a secret location in the city on Tuesday.

He said: "Some victims do not even realise they are being trafficked until they arrive and then find the job they were promised as a waitress turns out to be enforced servitude as a prostitute, including being beaten and raped.

"Today in London I am told that trafficked women can be bought and sold for as little as £3,000 each.

"They often live in terror, believing that if they try to escape their pimps will kill them."

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker also toured the new facility and met the staff.

Deputy Chief Constable Graham Maxwell called trafficking a "heinous crime" and said the facility would take a "victim-centred approach".

"So that when a person is discovered who has been trafficked, that first point of contact is a positive one and we have the right support mechanisms in place to look after their welfare."

He said many of the victims had been forced into the sex industry and had effectively been raped up to 30 times a day, some not even knowing which country they were in.

Experts at the Sheffield centre will also offer training to police forces across the country.

The Poppy Project, which provides support and accommodation to women who have been trafficked for the purposes of prostitution, welcomed the centre.

A spokeswoman said: "The centre has the potential to subvert traffickers using the UK as a destination country.

"It also sends a message to the women on the Poppy scheme
that the UK will implement measures to protect and value women who are victims of human trafficking."

It has been estimated that there are around 27 million people suffering in slavery around the world, including forced labour and the sex trade.

The Salvation Army has suggested prayer and fasting to help solve the problem, which is now the second largest criminal enterprise in the world.

Lisa Thompson from The Salvation Army said: "We're just human beings and we're fighting a gigantic evil and it's not by our power or by our might, but by His spirit that we will really overcome this.

"We're asking people to organise themselves and to pray and to fast. We have produced a prayer guide that people can request from us. We can make them available to them."