UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

🌟 Modern Slavery Research Spotlight: IASC convened researchers to meet with US Trafficking In Persons Ambassador Cindy Dyer to discuss progress in #modernslavery research in the UK, knowledge and funding gaps that remain, and the relationship between research and policy change. 📈 Huge progress has been made in the last 10 years since the The Centre for Social Justice's research helped instigate the Modern Slavery Act 2015. From tech breakthroughs - using satellite imagery to detect #forcedlabour (Rights Lab, University of Nottingham), to innovative impact evaluations (St Mary’s University, Twickenham), to the establishment of the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre! To keep up this progress IASC is calling for sustainable funding that will allow for: 📢 Integration of #survivorvioces -- so research, policy and practice are informed by those it will affect the most. 📢 Improved data collation and access -- so researchers can rapidly spot trends and drive evidenced-based policies that adapt to evolving threats. 📢Stronger partnerships -- so research can meaningfully influence fast-moving policy agendas. https://lnkd.in/eRbPSPjx

📅 IASC Anti-Slavery Day Update: Tackling modern slavery is everyone’s business. 👉 GOVERNMENT: IASC Office met with Minister Phillips, alongside NGO stakeholders, and then Law Enforcement calling for leadership and strategy to instigate cross-government action. IASC also addressed the Anti-Slavery Wales Conference. Parliament plays an important role too – check out the UK House of Lords report on the Modern Slavery Act: https://bit.ly/4e0cyAE 👉 SURVIVORS: IASC repeated the call to the Government to establish a Survivor Advisory Council and welcomed Hope for Justice and Slave-Free Alliance report on listening to what survivors perceive justice to be (https://bit.ly/3A5lq9Y) 👉CIVIL SOCIETY: NGOs are on the frontline of victim identification and support, and in advocacy as well as in investigations. The IASC office were hosted by Justice and Care this week to hear about how their victim navigators work with police to ensure survivors get the support they need and criminal justice outcomes are achieved. 👉 MEDIA: IASC office celebrated the important work that journalists do to raise the profile of modern slavery crime at The Human Trafficking Foundation Anti Slavery Awards. The BBC covered the Commissioner’s call to reduce NRM waiting times, and the Governments dedication of additional resource to make this a reality: https://bit.ly/4dMbP5O 👉ACADEMIA: IASC Office heard from Rose Broad at HM Prison and Probation Service event on demystifying modern slavery and understanding perpetrators, from Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre on how to communicate about modern slavery and spoke with students at Rights Lab, University of Nottingham about what exacerbates vulnerabilities to modern slavery. 👉 BUSINESS: Businesses must not profit from exploitative labour. IASC is calling for tougher legislative measures, while also working with businesses committed to eradicating slavery from their supply chains. Last week IASC addressed businesses at Stronger Together Modern Slavery Champions event.

📅 Ahead of Anti-Slavery Day (18 October) - the IASC pays testament to survivors, highlighting the importance of ensuring their voices are heard if we are to bring about meaningful change in the fight against modern slavery. https://lnkd.in/eYBw-_gT    🌎 Survivor voices were front and centre at the National Anti-Trafficking Co-ordinators and Rapporteurs meeting organised by the OSCE Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (CTHB) and Council of Europe (GRETA) that the IASC Office attended last month. It is vital that the UK follows the examples of other countries in establishing a survivor advisory council and learns from their experiences.

📅 IASC update 💡 The IASC was pleased to get the opportunity to visit North Kent Police and speak with Assistant Chief Constable, Head of the Serious Crime Directorate for both Kent Police and Essex Police and his team on the challenges in tackling modern slavery and human trafficking across their communities and how they were working together to identify those responsible and increase prosecutions. 💡 Increasing prosecutions and the role of the criminal justice system was also a key them in the IASC interview for the Prison Service Journal this month. You can read the interview here: https://lnkd.in/e26EpQb6. In the interview, the IASC set out how the Prisons and Probation Service can identify potential victims in their care and make a difference through trauma-informed support that can prevent re-victimisation. 💡 With Parliament returning this week, the IASC took the opportunity to meet with Parliamentarians in both the Commons and the Lords on the changing landscape of modern slavery in the UK and how we can better protect vulnerable groups from exploitation. 💡 In the report ‘On our Streets’, Hestia Charity found that 86% of MPs surveyed provided an incorrect estimate or said they 'don’t know’ roughly how many potential adult victims of modern slavery there were in the UK in 2023. However, 78% of the public actively agreed that the UK Government should do more to support victims of modern slavery. In the report, the IASC reiterated her call to make tackling modern slavery a national priority. You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/eDci5cgy 💡 One vulnerable group that the IASC remains deeply concerned about is that of children and young people. In the UK, children are being trafficked for sexual exploitation, to deal drugs, and carry out criminal activities. This exploitation causes children incredible harm. The IASC published her call to action on what must happen to protect potential child victims https://lnkd.in/eHJN5DVg. 💡 The IASC also took the opportunity to speak to other partners working to support victims and tackle slavery, such as Claire Waxman OBE, Kari Johnstone and Cindy Dyer. Alongside attending roundtable with the Ministry of Justice on protecting victims.

💡Child exploitation: what needs to change to prevent trafficking and protect and support for children and young people from harm💡 In the UK, children are being trafficked for sexual exploitation, to deal drugs, and carry out criminal activities. This exploitation causes children incredible harm. It is critical that those with safeguarding responsibilities know how to prevent and identify exploitation and that pathways to support are accessible. Only then can children and families be protected from the devastating lifelong impacts these crimes have. More must be done to prevent exploitation and protect child victims. A cross-Government strategy to tackle childhood exploitation, early intervention efforts, safe accommodation for all children, and clear guidance to professionals should be implemented. Every child should have access to an independent advocate and devolved decision-making pilots to local safeguarding partners should be rolled out. No child should be criminalised because of their exploitation. Preventing exploitation and protecting child victims of modern slavery is a priority of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) who, drawing on the voices of survivors, is working to improve the protection of child victims and ensure perpetrators are prosecuted. You can read here what the IASC thinks needs to change to protect children and young people from exploitation:

💡 Preventing Labour Exploitation: Tackling Modern Slavery is Everyone’s Business 💡 Labour market governance in the UK is fragmented, under resourced and failing against international labour inspection standards. This enables criminal gangmasters to extract profit from exploitative labour at scale, through a spectrum of abuse - from poor labour law compliance right through to modern slavery and exploitation. This impunity contributes to high levels of labour exploitation reported each year; primarily among migrant workers and in sectors such as care and agriculture. Criminals exploit hopes of an honest wage – charging high recruitment fees, demanding work for no wage to repay these ‘debts’, confiscating passports to limit freedoms, and forcing workers into excessive hours. This must change. The IASC is working to strengthen responses to forced labour in the UK – ensuring that efforts to curb illegal immigration do not adversely affect victims of modern slavery – and, calling for tougher legislation on companies to tackle slavery in supply chains and a Fair Work Agency modelled on the Single Enforcement Body. You can read more here: https://lnkd.in/eFFE3x8v Thanks Focus On Labour Exploitation (FLEX) Work Rights Centre for your input.

🗓️ IASC update 💡Today marks #WorldDayAgainstTrafficking in Persons United Nations. It is a blight on our time in history that modern slavery and trafficking not only continue to exist today but are on rise. This year’s global campaign for World Day Against Trafficking in Persons urges accelerated action to end child trafficking. In the UK last year, the number of referrals to the NRM for potential victims who were children (under 18 years old) when they reported being exploited was the highest on record. This cannot continue. The IASC has made preventing child exploitation a priority in her work. She spoke on this issue and her wider strategic plan to Anti-Slavery Wales Forum. The Forum is a great example of how organisations and the Welsh Government can work together to prevent modern slavery and support survivors.   💡The IASC also met with the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG), a coalition of leading UK-based anti-trafficking organisations that examines all types of human trafficking, including internal trafficking and the trafficking of British nationals. The IASC discussed why tackling modern slavery must be a priority for the new Government.   💡The IASC was pleased to get the opportunity to visit West Yorkshire Police and the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit to hear how they were working to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking in their communities. The IASC was particularly grateful to Chief Constable John Robins QPM DL and the officers and civilian staff she met with that spoke passionately about their work in identifying and supporting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice.   💡 The IASC was honoured to be invited to a curation session for  ‘Art Is Freedom’ - Hestia Charity annual flagship exhibition of artwork by survivors of modern slavery. The IASC was impressed by the immense talent shown in the submissions and the bravery shown by survivors to find their voice and share their story through art. This year, the exhibition will be hosted across various London sites from the 7th to 20th October 2024. Locations will be revealed soon. 💡The IASC called for all trafficking victims to be able to access legal aid and compensation. The After Exploitation project shows that 82% survivors were turned away from compensation - this needs to be urgently addressed. You can read the IASC’s comments in The Independent here: https://lnkd.in/eC-DEY4r

Great for the IASC to speak to the international partnership of the Interparliamentary Taskforce on Human Trafficking about why tackling the exploitation of children and young people is critical and a priority for the office. The IASC spoke about what needs to be done to prevent children from being exploited by criminal gangs, what can we done to protect and identify more children who need processionals support, and why more must be done to increase prosecutions of the perpetrators of these crimes.

Modern slavery and human trafficking is one of the most severe forms of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Across the UK and in our communities’ women and girls are being trafficked into sexual exploitation, with criminals profiting off a culture of impunity and acceptance around VAWG. This must change now. That is why we must act to prevent exploitation and protect the women and girl victims of modern slavery. Professionals need clearer guidance on how to identify victims, greater protections are needed in the online world, and legislation must act as a deterrent to tackle demand for sexual exploitation. Criminal gangs and serious organised crime networks behind the exploitation of women and girls should be held to account and perpetrators should be prosecuted. Tackling the exploitation of women and girl victims of modern slavery is a priority of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) who, drawing on the voices of survivors, is working to address vulnerabilities that put women at risk of modern slavery and human trafficking and ensure appropriate support can be accessed. You can access the IASC’s brief here: https://lnkd.in/eUXXEtKd

📆 IASC update   💡The IASC spoke at the The Business Services Association Modern Slavery Council workshop and discussed their upcoming work on helping business spot signs of modern slavery and exploitation. Businesses have a critical role to play in tackling modern slavery as there is a significant risk to it happening in their operations and supply chains. It was great to see businesses and organisations coming together to take a proactive approach to addressing this issue. 💡Former Judge Tom Crowther delivered a follow-up report to the Independent Inquiry into Telford Child Sexual Exploitation. The IASC paid tribute to the brave survivors in the Inquiry for sharing their experiences to help prevent other children from facing exploitation. The IASC reiterated the call on the importance of listening to the voices of survivors in order to inform effective response to tackling modern slavery. You can read the more here: https://lnkd.in/ew95XY3V 💡The importance of learning from those with lived experience was also the theme for The Human Trafficking Foundation forum on ‘Co-working Between Lived and Learnt Experience’. The IASC joined a range of speakers that provided their insights on the importance of working with lived experience groups if meaningful change is to be achieved. 💡The IASC was pleased to provide the foreword for the recently released report: ‘Behind Closed Doors: A Storytelling Legal and Empirical Analysis of Human Trafficking Risks in Home Office Hotels Compared to Other Accommodation for Unaccompanied Children and Youth Seeking Asylum in the UK’ by ECPAT UK and UCL All children should be in safe, loving, caring environments free from exploitation. This research rightly calls for more to be done now to make sure that we are protecting children, ensuring children’s services can wrap-care around children in need and make sure that all children are in safe accommodation. You can read the report here: https://lnkd.in/e2rCDW_v 💡In the UK, we have seen substantial increase in overall number of children being exploited is an increase in criminal exploitation with those with an unstable immigration status particularly vulnerable. The IASC was delighted to speak on this matter to the Interparliamentary Taskforce on Human Trafficking about protecting children and young people. The Taskforce are consortium of Members of Parliament and Congress, government leaders, and lived-experience experts who are committed to creating policy solutions to prevent human trafficking globally. 💡The King’s Speech on Wednesday included legislation to support victims, tackle criminal gangs and strengthen policing, and end violence against women and girls. The IASC will work to ensure the voices and needs of modern slavery victims are heard as these Bills progress through Parliament.