Charity reports record levels of potential modern slavery victims
According to anti-slavery charity Unseen, the number of potential victims of modern slavery in the UK reached record levels last year.
The charity’s figures show that calls to the UK modern slavery helpline identified 6,516 potential victims last year, an increase of 116% from 2021. Of those identified, 173 were children.
Unseen found a particularly sharp increase in labour exploitation within the care sector, where the number of potential victims increased from 106 in 2021 to 708 last year. A notable trend in the exploitation of Indian, Zimbabwean and Nigerian nationals was identified as particularly prominent in care homes.
The charity’s annual report, which assesses the calls to the helpline, stated: “For the first time, these nationalities have been indicated in situations of forced labour related to a range of care settings.”
“The care sector has always been an area where forced labour could be present because of the use of temporary labour and the levels of low pay.”
The helpline also found instances of sexual exploitation increased by 66%. The 479 recorded reports of sexual exploitation made up 19% of all modern slavery cases.
Justine Carter, a director at Unseen, said:
“To be serious about tackling modern slavery in the UK, we need much more awareness of the true size of the problem, better support for victims, and get many more resources going into targeting the criminals behind the exploitation. “Instead, the UK is bringing in new migration laws that criminalise some victims of modern slavery, forcing them underground and keeping them vulnerable to traffickers. We should be doing more to expose the extent of slavery, not driving it further into the shadows.”
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