Modern slavery is where a person is brought to, or moved around the country by others who threaten, frighten or hurt them, and force them into work or do other things they don't want to do. It is a term used to describe:
- human trafficking, slavery, forced labour and domestic servitude.
- slavery practices such as debt bondage, sale or exploitation of children and forced marriage.
Modern slavery is, by definition, the same as human trafficking, but this involves the act of transporting and movement of people.
Modern slavery is a brutal crime affecting thousands in the UK and millions around the world.
Victims are in situations of exploitation, controlled by deception, threats and violence.
Exploitation can be hidden in plain sight, in car washes, nail bars, fields, factories, brothels and private homes.
Section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 places a duty on specified public authorities to notify.
Victims of modern slavery and human trafficking are men, women and children of all ages, ethnicities and nationalities.
However, exploitation is normally more prevalent among the most vulnerable or within minority or socially excluded groups.
Poverty, lack of education, unstable social and political conditions, economic imbalances, climate change and war are key issues that contribute to someone’s vulnerability in becoming a victim of modern slavery.
Victims can often face more than one type of abuse and slavery, for example being sold on to another trafficker and then forced into another form of exploitation.
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