Modern Slavery

Slavery is an umbrella term for activities involved when one person obtains or holds another person in compelled service.
Someone is in slavery if they are:

• forced to work through mental or physical threat
• owned or controlled by an ’employer’, usually through mental or physical abuse or the threat of abuse
• dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as ‘property’
• physically constrained or have restrictions placed on his/her freedom

The following definitions are encompassed within the term ‘modern slavery’ for the purposes of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
These are:

• ‘slavery’ is where ownership is exercised over a person
• ‘servitude’ involves the obligation to provide services imposed by coercion
• ‘forced or compulsory labour’ involves work or service extracted from any person under the menace of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself voluntarily
• ‘human trafficking’ concerns arranging or facilitating the travel of another with a view to exploiting them.

For further information please refer to the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Types of exploitation

Sexual Exploitation – A person trafficked for sex may be controlled by violence, threats, substance abuse, deception, or grooming, with extreme physical or psychological domination.

Forced Labour – Forced labour is work done under the threat of a penalty such as violence or harm to family. Victims are often further controlled by debt bondage.

Domestic Servitude – A person is forced to provide services with the obligation to live on or in a property without the possibility of changing those circumstances.

Organ Harvesting – A person who is trafficked and specifically chosen for the harvesting of organs or tissues, such as kidneys, liver etc. without consent, to be sold.

Criminal exploitation – A person who is coerced and forced to commit criminal activities such as county lines

Victims of Modern Slavery

There is no one profile to indicate someone is being subjected to modern slavery. People may put themselves at risk of modern slavery or human trafficking without realising this. They are often driven towards those who exploit them for a number of reasons, including –

• push factors – poverty or abuse at home, orphaned, being in care, lack of jobs and opportunities, homelessness
• pull factors: false promise of higher wages and better quality of life, family connections

In many cases the victim enters into a modern slavery situation consensually, as the exploitation will develop over time or when an individual reached the destination country, away from the support of family and friends.

Methods that perpetrators use to retain control over the victims include –

• creating dependency
• deception
• emotional control
• exploiting cultural beliefs so that victims believe they will bring dis-honour to themselves and their families if they do not comply
• financial Control
• grooming
• isolation
• abuse

 Those victims subjected to modern slavery may present in a number of ways, which could include –

• behaviour – withdrawn, scared, not willing to talk
• appearance – unkempt, malnourished, few possessions, health concerns
• work – inappropriate clothing for the job, long hours, little or no pay
• fear of authorities – doesn’t want to speak to police or authorities
• debt bondage – in debt to, or dependent on someone else
• accommodation – overcrowded, poorly maintained, little or no interaction with the community
• lack of control – no ID, no access to bank account, work transport provided
• lack of freedom – unable to move freely, unwilling or scared to leave

Modern slavery encompasses adult and child victims who rarely come forward to seek help due to many factors, including language barriers, threats, fear of the perpetrators, and fear of being criminalised. There are several broad categories of exploitation linked to human trafficking, which can include –

• sexual exploitation
• labour exploitation
• child related crimes such as child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation
• criminal exploitation – forced begging, illegal drug cultivation, organised theft, and related benefit fraud
• forced or sham marriage

The National Modern Slavery Strategy

The overall aim of the Government’s human trafficking strategy is to “tackle trafficking from end to end”, from recruitment to exploitation, ensuring agencies have the right tools to allow them to do so. This is done through the “4P’s” –

• pursue – prosecute and disrupt individuals and groups responsible for modern slavery
• prevent – prevent people from engaging in modern slavery
• protect – strengthen safeguards against modern slavery by protecting vulnerable people from   exploitation
• prepare -reduce the harm caused by modern slavery through improved victim identification and enforcement support

If you have information that may relate to modern slavery please visit www.humberantislave.co.uk for more information.