Human trafficking: addressing the symptom, not the cause

This chapter discuss how campaigning and amendments to the Modern Slavery Act, together with a government-commissioned review, resulted in workers being able to change employers within the six-month duration of their visa. In addition, those formally confirmed as trafficked are now permitted to apply for a two-year-long visa to work as a domestic worker in a private home without recourse to public funds. However, these measures fall short of the rights contained within the original visa, which not only worked to support domestic workers to escape abuse, but also went a long way towards preventing exploitative work and provided a pathway for those who had left exploitative work to move on with their lives. The chapter argues that the UK needs to move beyond the ‘rescue and release’ law enforcement-based approach that it has taken to date.

The UK’s approach to tackling modern slavery in a European context

This chapter discusses a transnational response to trafficking in human beings, with reference mainly to some key media stories and legal cases that have been influential in understandings and legal definitions of forced labour/modern slavery. In doing so, it places the UK response to date firmly within a European context. The chapter focuses three responses to trafficking. First, the need for law enforcement cooperation to deal with the criminal aspects of trafficking in both countries of origin and countries of destination. Second, the need for developing international understanding of trafficking to ensure that national and international aspects of the rule of law itself are fit for purpose where it relates to international norms and standards. Third, the need for extra-territorial legislation to deal with slavery and forced labour carried out by citizens, including corporate citizens, in third countries.

Migrant illegality, slavery and exploitative work

This chapter considers the position of migrants in the UK who experience severe labour exploitation. It addresses how — or whether — the emerging ‘modern slavery complex’ can adequately respond to the production and continuation of unfree labour relationships that produce conditions now grouped under the umbrella of ‘modern slavery’. It starts from the point of understanding severe labour exploitation as emerging within a set of multidimensional processes embedded in the operation of labour markets and economies. This includes employer relationships with employees, migrants' work and migration trajectories, and socio-economic and family status. For migrant workers, the backdrop of hostile immigration policies and politics is an important framer.

Child trafficking in the UK

Child trafficking has been noted to have a ‘lower profile’ than that of adult trafficking. However, numbers of recorded child victims are more than a third of the total of those identified in the UK by relevant authorities. Trafficked children have ‘particular vulnerabilities’, as recognised by the European Union (EU) Anti-Trafficking Directive. This chapter explores those specific needs and examines the UK's response to children who have been exploited. It looks at whether the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) works effectively for children and assesses how current policy/practice impacts on this affected group. Ultimately, child trafficking presents a major challenge for those working in the UK to understand, recognise, prevent and respond to. Approaches are often focused on children who have already been exploited and there is far less work done to prevent the exploitation in the first place.

Defeating ‘modern slavery’, reducing exploitation? The organisational and regulatory challenge

This chapter first charts the short history from the early anti-trafficking strategy put in place by the Labour government in 2007 through the changes and reorganisations of the subsequent 10 years, including the launch of the modern slavery strategy in 2015 under then Home Secretary May. While focusing on the impacts felt by workers in the UK, it also takes into account the position adopted by the UK in relation to international frameworks. The second section then focuses on the importance and potential impact of the creation of the most recent governance and enforcement structures — for example, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement and the evolution of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). As of May 2017, the GLA was rebranded as the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and has new powers to investigate serious exploitation across the whole UK labour market. The third section asks how we can best assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the modern slavery agenda.

Modern slavery in global context: ending the political economy of forced labour and slavery

This chapter begins by setting out the root causes of slavery, and demonstrating the fundamental role of the failure of the rule of law in enabling slavery to persist. It then sets out how particular failures in the rule of law give rise to four ‘peacetime’ political economies of slavery (i.e. state-sponsored slavery, state-tolerated slavery, state-facilitated slavery, state-muddled slavery). Where international mechanisms exist to uphold human rights standards, these political economies may be reformed somewhat. However, in addition, what is needed is a more fundamental reform of the nature of all political economies to establish processes to empower vulnerable individuals and groups and to uphold human rights standards. The chapter then sets out what forms these reforms must take to establish political economies with the potential to reduce slavery, if not eliminate it completely.

Modern slavery and transparency in supply chains: the role of business

This chapter explores how business is implicated by modern slavery, and the salient requirements of the UK Modern Slavery Act (MSA) transparency in supply chain provision, in the context of growing mandatory reporting requirements for business to report transparently on their supply chain impacts. It also examines how business has responded to the MSA. It concludes with some practical steps that business can take to address the risk of modern slavery in its supply chains. Among these are ensuring that top management is supportive of tackling modern slavery in the organisation and supply chains; understanding how these obligations fit within any wider mandatory or voluntary reporting undertaken by the business; putting policies in place; establishing robust due-diligence processes; mapping the supply and value chain of the business.

The UK’s response to modern slavery: law, policy and politics

The UK government has not been a world leader in terms of policy development in relation to modern slavery. This chapter explores the approaches underpinning policy and the agencies tasked with implementing the policy. It first examines the three different policy responses to human trafficking and forced labour: the criminalisation of modern slavery; the human rights approach to modern slavery; and regulatory mechanisms to protect workers' welfare and rights, from 2000 to now. It is suggested that there is an implementation gap between policy and practice caused by low levels of awareness, the priority attached to tackling modern slavery, inadequate organisational capacity, or a lack of resources. The chapter then focuses on the factors that influenced the development of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, describing some strengths and weaknesses. It concludes by looking to the future and exploring current policy concerns relative to the criminal justice response.

Editorial introduction: the modern slavery agenda: policy, politics and practice

This introductory chapter notes the recent heightened profile of the term ‘modern slavery’ in the UK. Various phenomena, practices, and policies have been bundled together under this term, which requires careful analytical and critical attention. It is argued that it is vitally important to understand how the discourse of modern slavery has recently emerged — and the histories that continue to shape present-day discourses — as the terms of engagement shape what are considered appropriate and adequate policy responses. The main goal of the rest of the book is to develop a robust critique of the development of law, policy and practice relating to modern slavery in the UK, in particular, for the benefit of those engaged in some way in anti-slavery work.

Still punishing the wrong people: the criminalisation of potential trafficked cannabis gardeners

This chapter examines the existing knowledge about human trafficking for cannabis cultivation in the UK, with a specific focus on how Vietnamese nationals are most commonly being exploited for this purpose. It then moves on to its main focus: the criminalisation of those potentially trafficked for cannabis cultivation. Trafficked persons who are exploited for the cultivation of cannabis in the UK are committing criminal offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. However, if people trafficked to grow cannabis are recognised as having been abused and exploited, and as victims of crime or human rights violations as a result of coercion and abuse, then punishing them should be seen as highly inappropriate. The criminalisation of trafficked persons is also counterproductive for efforts to prevent trafficking and prosecute traffickers.