Victims suffer when slavery slips through the net

Despite the truth about slavery in the UK being published widely and discussed in parliament earlier this month, it appears that the victims of slavery often continue to be treated as criminals by the UK justice system.

In this amazingly well-connected world of information, it’s tragic to see how often slavery in the UK seems to literally slip through the net. It could be that facing up to the truth about slavery is just too difficult to bear – after all, we like to think it was erradicated two hundred years ago don’t we?

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UK slavery stories & pictures

The slavery taking place in the UK today is hidden from the everyday lives of most people, except for glimpses if you read between the lines of stories in the news. The true stories of the victims of slavery are rarely told.

Freedom Trust will tell the stories as we hear them, to continue to raise awareness of the truth about slavery in the Uk and its thousands of victims.

We’ll also publish stories from recent years as we learn more about them or discover new resources.

In 2007, photojournalist agency Panos Pictures put together an exhibition in St Paul’s Cathedral illustrating stories of slavery in the UK and its victims. You can see some of the photos and stories of slavery in the UK here.

European Convention on Action Against Human Trafficking to become UK law in April 2009

On 19th April 2009, the European Convention on Action Against Human Trafficking will become UK law, after the Government ratified the agreement last December.

The agreement promises improvements in the way that victims of trafficking are supported by agencies such as the police, and sets minimum standards for supporting the victims of trafficking and slavery in the UK.

Some of the key promises include:

• a new national referral mechanism, providing a nationally agreed process to help frontline staff identify victims of trafficking and offer them support
• strengthened arrangements for looking after victims, including a 45 day reflection and recovery period, and the possibility of a one-year residence permit for victims
• better support for victims in giving information to police, which will help authorities bring those who exploit them to justice.

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How big is slavery in the UK?

Slavery in the UK: it sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Surely not in the developed world, in the 21st Century!

Let’s look at some of the facts:

• UNICEF estimates that there are currently around 5,000 children being exploited commercially as sex workers in the UK, most of them trafficked into the UK, of whom 75% are girls.
• A 2004 study of the sex industry in London by the Poppy Project found that 85% of women working off-streets had been trafficked into prostitution in the UK – ten years earlier, the figure had been nearer 10%.
• The International Labour Organization estimates that the worldwide traffic in human beings is worth at least US$32 billion annually, with just under half of that (around US$15.5 billion) obtained from the traffic of people to industrialised countries (which includes the UK).
• There are no reliable estimates for the number of trafficked people in the UK. This is a problem acknowledged by both the police and the Home Office.

Thanks to Joseph Rowntree Foundation for their report Contemporary Slavery in the UK, in which many of the facts here are discussed in detail.

What is trafficking?

Trafficking is at the heart of much of the slavery in the UK today. As the term has already been used many times on our website, let’s define it.

In the context of Freedom Trust, when we talk about trafficking we mean the moving of people for the purpose of exploiting them.

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Caring for the vicitims of slavery

At the heart of Freedom Trust’s objectives is caring for the victims of slavery. This will present a significant challenge because the nature of slavery today makes it secretive, controlling the lives of slaves by fear. The victims of slavery are often hidden away and those who are not live in fear. Language barriers also contribute to the challenge – many slaves in the UK for example are unable to communicate in English – another fact that allows their enslavers to control them.

So what can we do to care for the victims of slavery? At Freedom Trust, we’re developing our plans in this area but we want to hear from you too.

Add a comment to this post, or email us at info@feedomtrust.org to tell us how we can help victims of slavery.

Slavery hidden on your doorstep

Picture any house in a nice suburb of your town in the UK. It might be the house next door to you – your neighbours. The curtains are kept closed, and you’re not even sure if anybody lives there. People come and go from time to time.

Inside lies a shocking secret you never thought possible. Not in the UK. Not on your doorstep.

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Slavery in the UK is an international issue

It is difficult to say just how many victims of slavery live in the UK. Whilst the UK slave population represents just a small portion of the millions of slaves around the world, slavery in the UK is an international issue.  

At the heart of many of the systems that support slavery in the UK is people trafficking. That’s not only the illegal movement of people across international borders – it’s often legal but carried out in a way that traps its victims. There are many forms of people trafficking, but they regularly involve deception, debt, and the control of vulnerable people by others – the very things that can lead to slavery.

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Working to end slavery

One of our primary objectives is working to end slavery today, starting in the UK.

How will we do this?

Researching & defining

We will work to discover who are the victims of slavery in the UK today, what are its causes, who is behind it, what can be done to end it.

Raising awareness

We will raise awareness about slavery in the UK today. We will tell the stories of pain, suffering and poverty and we will expose the truth about the slavery that exists in the UK’s neighbourhoods, cities, and around the nation.

Campaigning

We will do everything we can to bring about changes to the systems that allow slavery to exist in the UK today. We will campaign to Governments and organisations that can bring about change, and we will work alongside others who are already campaigning to end slavery.