Introduction

2025 is the 10th anniversary of the Modern Slavery Act when the UK took a world leading, groundbreaking step in the fight against modern slavery.  However, there are still tens of thousands of people in situations of forced labour, domestic servitude, and sexual or criminal exploitation in this country.

Each year, since 2015, the single greatest nationality of victims of modern slavery found in this country are UK citizens and many of these are children.  This may surprise you – trafficked people are not always brought to this country from overseas, whether legally or illegally, many are born here but live in situations such as poverty, a lack of trusted adults in their lives or having a disability that makes them vulnerable to exploitation.

Modern Slavery is the exploitation of once person by another for commercial or private gain.  It is often hidden and so people don’t realise that it is happening.  Every part of the UK experiences the exploitation of people as a commodity, so it is vital we keep our eyes and ears open for the signs that something is wrong.

In this blog, I want to explore just one aspect of modern slavery that was not on anyone’s radar in 2015, but has been increasing recently, the exploitation of people working in our care sector.

Carers are recruited from outside the UK and are promised safety and a good salary.  In reality, they are exploited in terms of the hours they must work and the amount of money that is taken from them by their exploiters.  Sadly, it is likely that we will see the private care sector experience more and more exploitation.  It is everyone’s responsibility to call out exploitation and ensure conditions for exploiters to operate in are as hostile as possible.

 

You can find out more about on carer, Terri, and her experience of coming from Nigeria to work in the UK as a carer at https://clewer.org.uk/news/terris-story-modern-slavery-in-the-care-sector.

 

Signs to be aware of

  • Carers are likely to be from an African or Asian nation and newly working in the UK
  • Carers appear tired or in poor health
  • Carers have no apparent means of transport to move between clients/no obvious local transport links to facilitate this
  • Carers are not keen to engage in conversation
  • Carers appear fearful or unhappy

 

How to engage with carers

If you are comfortable to engage with a carer and they are willing to speak to you, some things you may want to find out are:

  • What is their typical working day like – duration/number of clients/days off?
  • How do they travel between clients?
  • What sort of accommodation do they live in and who with?
  • Are they sending money back home to support others?
  • Do they have access to their passport or other ID documents?
  • Is the job what they expected/in what way does it differ from what was agreed?

 

However, please make sure that you do not put yourself at risk by asking questions; remember, the perpetrators of modern slavery may be watching and aware of who you are.

What to do if you are concerned

  • Contact The Police – 999 if an emergency or the situation is likely to change quickly
  • Call The Modern Slavery Helpline (08000 121700) or report online at https://www.modernslaveryhelpline/report – please give as much information as possible in terms of people, locations and what you are concerned about
  • Contact Crime-Stoppers (0800 555111) or https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information. This is an anonymous reporting system, which means there is no way of getting in touch with you to clarify any information, so please give as much detail as possible to enable the police to act.
  • Please also ensure that you have informed your Safeguarding Officer.

 

Common Methods of Exploitation in the Care Sector

  • Carers are recruited from outside the UK and sponsored to work here – they are usually from African or Asian nations.
  • On arrival, the accommodation they are given is provided by the exploiter and the cost of it taken at source from their earnings.
  • They are made to work excessive hours daily and without days off. If they complain, they are threatened with having their sponsorship withdrawn and being deported.
  • They are charged for “legal fees”, often up to £15,000, which are deducted at source; however, the nature of these fees is never clear.
  • They are not provided with access to transport to travel between their clients. If they are provided with transport, they are charged for this and it is deducted from their salary.
  • Some victims have advised that there are large distances between clients and they have been told by their exploiters to “run” between them if no public transport is available.
  • Due to all of these deductions, victims are being paid only a small fraction of what was agreed when they were recruited.
  • Some victims report being verbally and physically abused by their exploiters or their shifts taken away/ cut if they complain about working conditions, causing them even greater financial difficulty.

 

 

However, amidst all this awfulness, there is good news.  Since 2015 over 106,000 potential victims of modern slavery have been found in the UK and have begun a journey to recovery.  Last year alone over 19,000 were found through police investigations, often started as a result of information provided by ordinary people like you and me.  If we all work together, we can bring this form of slavery to an end.

 

More information about modern slavery and the care sector can be found at our website https://southwarkagainstmodernslavery.org.uk/

 

The Clewer Initiative has some great resources for people to use, please see

https://clewer.org.uk/resources/tackling-modern-slavery-in-the-care-sector

 

Christians in Care works to support people working in our care sector and their website gives advice for carer workers and employers

https://www.christiansincare.org/end-modern-slavery.

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