Modern Slavery

Modern Slavery

Modern Slavery is complex serious crime encompassing slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking.

• ‘slavery’ is where ownership and total control is exercised over a person
• ‘servitude’ is a person being coerced to work whilst living on another’s property, with the impossibility of being able to change their circumstances.
• ‘forced or compulsory labour’ involves work being exacted from any person by threats for which the person has not offered themselves voluntarily.
• A person commits the offence of trafficking where they arrange or facilitate the travel of another person with a to that person being exploited.
• Exploitation can is described as being a victim of slavery, servitude or forced and compulsory labour or being a victim of Sexual or Criminal Exploitation or Organ harvesting.

Labour exploitation victims are forced to work in many different work sectors, most notably: Hand car washes, nail bars, factories, restaurants and takeaways, agriculture and domestic servitude in private households. 

Sexual exploitation primarily occurs from sex working in pop up or fixed brothels. Child sexual exploitation should also consider a potential trafficking element.

Criminal Exploitation occurs where a victim is forced to commit a criminal offence due them being a victim of modern slavery. The offences victims are most often committing are: drug supply e.g. county lines, cannabis cultivation, shoplifting, begging and benefit fraud.

Human smuggling is an Immigration crime and must not be confused with human trafficking, a Modern Slavery crime. However persons who have been smuggled into the UK may later be exploited and trafficked in the UK.