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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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.