Modern Slavery: Is it closer to home than we think?

Posted on 11 Feb 2021 by Emmanuelle Nemorin

Disclaimer: The views expressed below are that of the individual author.

Modern slavery is defined as the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of people through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or any other means for the purpose of exploitation. While modern slavery is a global issue which is often well-publicised, we don’t tend to regard it as an issue which greatly affects us in the UK. However, recent statistics have shown that, in actual fact, it is an equally prevalent issue within our country. The number of victims of modern slavery in the UK seems to be increasing year on year, with the number of British victims who escaped slavery almost doubling in the last year. Additionally, a report by the Salvation Army stated that growing numbers are caught in county lines gangs and labour exploitation. I intend to delve deeper into these particular issues and explore the effects that they are having on many Britons’ Article 3 right to freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, under the Human Rights Act 1998.

The exploitation of labourers, especially in factories, has been brought to light in recent months due to the increasing publicity surrounding Leicester sweat shops. Factories in the city have been hit with claims that their labourers are being subjected to conditions which are akin to slavery; including workers being paid as little as £3.50 an hour and poor working conditions. A report published in 2015 by Leicester University described these conditions, detailing how workers are forced to work extremely long hours in conditions which lack any health and safety regulations, whilst additionally being subjected to bullying and verbal abuse. Chris Grayer, an executive at high street chain Next, even stated that ‘the risk of worker exploitation is likely as high in Leicester as in Turkey or Bangladesh.’

This leads us to question the assumption that modern slavery is more prevalent in underdeveloped countries, and forces us to examine the impact that these same issues may be having on individuals’ human rights closer to home. Under the Human Rights Act 1998, the Article 3 right to freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment includes protection against any treatment which causes mental or physical suffering, and it is clear from reading about the conditions which many labourers are facing in the UK that their Article 3 rights may have been violated.

The labour exploitation discovered in Leicester clothing factories is a key example of the type of modern slavery that exists within our society. However, it is extremely important to note that while this is a situation which, evidently, is receiving some media attention, these factories are only one example of labour exploitation. There are many other cities, factories, and even whole industries that are just as guilty of this same offence. The alarming truth is that the majority of situations in which labourers are subjected to these appalling conditions tend to go unnoticed. What is more, there are many other forms of modern slavery which are completely unheard of. Furthermore, even if they were public knowledge, due to the lack of education on this topic, many may not even realise that what they are looking at is an example of modern slavery.

An example of such a form of modern slavery are “county lines” gangs. The issue of people in the UK becoming caught in county lines gangs is just as prevalent as that of labour exploitation. This relatively new phenomenon of “county lines” gangs refers to drug dealing gangs coercing vulnerable people to transport drugs around the country, often across police and local authority boundaries. What is most shocking about this type of organisation is that many of the victims caught up in their schemes are children. These gangs are not only abusing children’s vulnerability for their own gain; often these children are also subjected to mental or physical abuse as well as being trafficked around the country transporting drugs. What is even more alarming is that according to the National Crime Agency, there has been an eightfold increase in the number of child victims of modern slavery referred by local councils in England for support. Additionally, it is believed that this can be directly linked to the increase in numbers of these “county-lines” drug gangs throughout the UK.

While it is clear that these are particularly shocking statistics, most people would not make the connection between this phenomenon and modern slavery. However, under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, it is an offence to hold a person in a position of forced labour or facilitate their travel with the intention of exploiting them soon after, therefore it is evident that these gangs are not only drug dealing, but also participating in, and facilitating modern slavery.

It is evident that modern slavery is just as much of a problem within our country as it is in more underdeveloped countries, and it is not a problem that will go away anytime soon. If anything it is a worsening situation, which will continue to deteriorate if better steps are not taken to resolve it. I take the view that promoting an increased awareness of this issue, including a deeper knowledge of the most common ways in which modern slavery manifests itself, is a step in the right direction.

Tags: modern_slavery /

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