B reakthrough Breakthrough Britain Britain It Happens Here: IT HAPPENS HERE E quipping the United Kingdom to fight modern slavery Equipping the United Kingdom to fight modern slavery ‘It ought to concern every person, because it is a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at our social fabric. It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name – modern slavery.’ Barack Obama, President of the United States ‘These are some of the most faceless, voiceless, helpless people that we have A policy report by the Slavery Working Group in the country.’ March 2013 Chief Superintendent John Sutherland, Metropolitan Police £35.00 The Centre for Social Justice 4th Floor, Victoria Charity Centre, 11 Belgrave Road The Centre for Social Justice London SW1V 1RB ISBN: 978 0 9573587 1 3 www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk @CSJ_thinktank contents Contents About the Centre for Social Justice 3 Preface 4 Members of the CSJ Slavery Working Group 6 Special thanks 10 Supported by 11 Foreword 12 Executive summary 15 1 Modern slavery in the UK 29 1.1 Introduction 29 1.2 Definitions 30 1.3 Why didn’t you leave? 32 1.4 Myths of modern slavery 33 1.5 Modern slavery in the UK 34 1.6 Conclusion 51 1.7 Recommendations 51 2 Effective strategic leadership 53 2.1 Introduction: filling the leadership vacuum 53 2.2 The current government response 54 2.3 International provisions for a national rapporteur or equivalent mechanism 57 2.4 Non-Governmental Organisations 58 2.5 Proposal for an Anti-Slavery Commissioner 59 2.6 Recommendations 66 3 Building a clearer picture: enhancing the National Referral Mechanism 67 3.1 Introduction 67 3.2 The National Referral Mechanism 67 3.3 First Responders 72 3.4 Improving the number of referrals 74 3.5 The case for a ‘two-tier’ NRM 77 3.6 Immigration and the NRM: ensuring independent decisions 77 3.7 Conclusion 82 3.8 Recommendations 82 4 Identifying victims 83 4.1 Introduction 83 4.2 Misinterpreting the problem: a damaging conflation with immigration 83 4.3 Equipping our frontline 85 It Happens Here | Contents 1 4.4 Identifying child victims of modern slavery 100 4.5 The NRM for children 115 4.6 The role of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) 118 4.7 The obligation to identify 119 4.8 Identifying British children trafficked within the UK for sexual exploitation 120 4.9 Conclusion 129 4.10 Recommendations 129 5 Strategic and frontline direction: tackling the crime 133 5.1 Introduction 133 5.2 Making modern slavery a strategic priority 134 5.3 Sharing information 142 5.4 Investigations 144 5.5 Prosecutions: bringing perpetrators to justice 150 5.6 Legislation 152 5.7 The case for a Modern Slavery Act 155 5.8 Recommendations 157 6 Supporting survivors 159 6.1 Introduction 159 6.2 Survivors of modern slavery: health and emotional needs 161 6.3 Aftercare provision for adults 162 6.4 Subcontractors: standards and approaches 164 6.5 The NRM referral form 168 6.6 The reflection period 169 6.7 Reintegration: what happens next? 173 6.8 Potential barriers to reintegration 180 6.9 The asylum system for survivors of modern slavery 184 6.10 Returning home: ensuring safe repatriation 187 6.11 Accommodation and support for children 191 6.12 Trafficked children going missing 192 6.13 Safe accommodation for trafficked children 195 6.14 Therapeutic services for trafficked children 201 6.15 Conclusion 204 6.16 Recommendations 204 7 The role for business in tackling modern slavery 207 7.1 Introduction 207 7.2 Current models of business response 208 7.3 Creating a framework 209 7.4 The global context 209 7.5 The Transparency in UK Company Supply Chains (Eradication of Slavery) Bill 211 7.6 Recommendations 214 Full list of recommendations 215 Appendix 222 2 The Centre for Social Justice about About the Centre for Social Justice The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) aims to put social justice at the heart of British society. Our policy development is rooted in the wisdom of those working to tackle Britain’s deepest social problems and the experience of those whose lives have been affected by poverty. Our Working Groups are non-partisan, comprising prominent academics, practitioners and policy makers who have expertise in the relevant fields. We consult nationally and internationally, especially with charities and social enterprises, who are the champions of the welfare society. In addition to policy development, the CSJ has built an alliance of poverty fighting organisations that reverse social breakdown and transform communities. We believe that the surest way the Government can reverse social breakdown and poverty is to enable such individuals, communities and voluntary groups to help themselves. The CSJ was founded by Iain Duncan Smith in 2004, as the fulfilment of a promise made to Janice Dobbie, whose son had recently died from a drug overdose just after he was released from prison. Managing Director: Christian Guy It Happens Here: Equipping the United Kingdom to fight modern slavery © The Centre for Social Justice, 2013 Published by the Centre for Social Justice, 4th Floor, Victoria Charity Centre, 11 Belgrave Road, SW1V 1RB www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk @CSJ_Thinktank ISBN: 978 0 9573587 1 3 Designed by Soapbox, www.soapbox.co.uk It Happens Here | About the Centre for Social Justice 3 Preface Slavery is the ultimate state of impoverishment. To lack basic liberty is to be deprived of personal opportunity and hope. A number of nineteenth-century British politicians sought to abolish the international slave trade and end one of the most deplorable practices in history. Their hard-fought victory remains one of our Parliament’s finest achievements. Today many people assume slavery is a problem of the past or a crisis confined to foreign lands. They are wrong. As this report reveals, that tragic trade continues on its destructive path. And it happens here. Modern slavery is a disturbing and complex problem. Breaking the lives of the vulnerable and voiceless, it represents a grave abuse of human rights and basic dignity. Victims in the UK represent the damaging effect of the five pathways to poverty. Many we have encountered during the course of this research have come from broken families, leaving them less protected from attachments to those who wish them harm. Some have been unable to find work, leaving them more vulnerable to exploitation. Others are serious addicts, some struggle with unmanageable debt and many have never experienced decent education. We have been shocked by many of our findings. A leadership vacuum at the heart of Westminster; a messy legislative framework; frontline professionals – however well meaning and brilliant in some areas – forced to swim against a tide of indifference if they want to fight this crime; official bodies failing in their duty of care, with little idea about the scale of the problem; UK-born children being trafficked and abused; a fragmented charitable sector with some organisations struggling to work together; far too little support and care for survivors; and major supply chains within the business community devoid of basic transparency. A once great nation of abolitionists is a shameful shadow of its former self. This report sets out more than 80 recommendations for transformation. We cannot, with integrity, claim our place as a world leader in the fight against modern slavery unless these proposals are taken seriously. This change should begin in government, but our work is a siren to many. It is for police forces, social workers, NGOs and statutory agencies across the country. It is a wakeup call to the business community and the general public. Because ending modern slavery means all must play a part. In publishing this report I want to thank the CSJ’s Slavery Working Group. We have been privileged to work with leading experts who have given their time, energy and dynamism 4 The Centre for Social Justice preface to this process. I am especially grateful to Andrew Wallis, the review’s Chairman, who has balanced his pioneering work for Unseen in Bristol with his vision for national reform. This team has been supported brilliantly by our researcher and author Lucy Maule. But I save our deepest appreciation for those who have given evidence to this review, particularly the survivors. Their stories and determination to fight back has been a remarkable inspiration to everyone at the CSJ. It is for them, and for those still trapped who deserve that very same freedom, that we call for action. Slavery is not a scar on the face of Britain – it is an open wound. Christian Guy Managing Director It Happens Here | Preface 5 Members of the CSJ Slavery Working Group Andrew Wallis, Unseen (Chairman of the CSJ Slavery Working Group) Andrew Wallis is the CEO of Unseen, a charity established to disrupt and challenge modern slavery by bringing safety, hope and choice to survivors. He advises and collaborates with statutory agencies and businesses on how to combat and eradicate modern slavery. He has also worked with politicians and the CSJ to bring the Transparency in UK Company Supply Chains (Eradication of Slavery) Bill before Parliament. He works internationally with NGOs and businesses to develop a coordinated response to modern slavery. Prior to founding Unseen Andrew had a career in business analysis followed by commercial management in the retail sector with House of Fraser, and project management with the University of the West of England.