Unsuspectingly Vulnerable: A Rapid Evidence Assessment on the vulnerability of University Students to Criminal Exploitation

Criminal exploitation is the deliberate coercion of another person into criminal activity for the perpetrator's advantage. Under the Modern Slavery Act, the umbrella term of criminal exploitation encompasses the County Lines model of drug distribution which can also include perpetrators forcing victims to commit theft, money laundering or to hold weapons. There is limited understanding of how criminal exploitation affects university students. This research therefore aimed to identify the tactics used by Organized Crime Groups to target them, and factors that are shown to increase their vulnerability to exploitation. Five published studies were included in our review which outline a number of tactics and risk factors for criminal exploitation in university students. Our review highlights the scarcity of literature pertaining to prevalence of criminal exploitation in university students and the need for further empirical research.