Human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and modern slavery have experienced an unprecedented boom over the past decade due to the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly in digital and networked environments. These developments have created new opportunities for human exploitation and illegal profiteering. Adult Services Websites (ASWs), online platforms on which sex workers post profiles advertising their services, are a key conduit for human traffickers to exploit their victims. Alongside profiles of independent sex workers, traffickers are posting false ASW profiles, advertising the forced services of their victims and camouflaging these false profiles amongst legitimate adverts. In response, police practitioners are proactively investigating ASWs to identify suspect profiles. A key obstacle for practitioners, however, is to distinguish between ASW profiles posted by independent, consenting sex workers advertising their services, and those posted by traffickers exploiting their victims. The exploratory study presented in this paper seeks to address this particular challenge. Working with a British police force, the researchers in this study gathered existing knowledge on the traffickers’ use of ASW profiles to create a bespoke tool of analysis, the Sexual Trafficking Identification Matrix (STIM). The aim of this tool has been to identify ‘risk indicators’ on ASW profiles and to flag these for potential police investigation. This paper presents the results of this exploratory study and its four stages. Furthermore, more broadly, it reflects on the use of evidence-based tools by law enforcement to tackle complex domains of offending such as those of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

由于信息和通信技术（ICT）的发展，特别是在数字和网络环境中，人口贩运，商业性剥削和现代奴隶制在过去十年中经历了前所未有的繁荣。这些事态发展为人类剥削和非法牟利创造了新的机会。成人服务网站（ASW）是性工作者在其上发布宣传其服务概况的在线平台，是人口贩子利用受害者的主要渠道。除了独立性工作者的资料外，贩运者还张贴虚假的ASW资料，在广告中宣传受害者的强迫服务，并在合法广告中伪装这些虚假的资料。对此，警察从业人员正在积极调查反恐人员，以查明可疑犯罪嫌疑人。然而，对从业人员而言，一个主要障碍是，要区分由独立的，同意广告的性工作者发布其服务而发布的ASW配置文件，以及由剥削受害者的贩运者所发布的配置文件。本文提出的探索性研究旨在解决这一特殊挑战。在这项研究中，研究人员与英国警方合作，收集了有关贩运者使用ASW配置文件的现有知识，以创建定制的分析工具，即性贩运识别矩阵（STIM）。该工具的目的是在ASW配置文件中识别“风险指标”，并将其标记出来以进行潜在的警方调查。本文介绍了这项探索性研究的结果及其四个阶段。此外，更广泛地说，