UK’s care sector sees reports of modern slavery double, charity says

Anti-slavery charity Unseen says 2022 was their helpline’s ‘busiest year ever’

There has been a staggering increase of over 100 per cent in the number of modern slavery cases reported in the UK’s care industry in the past year.

Between January and March this year, there were 109 potential victims – which is twice the number reported during the same period in 2022, the BBC reported.

Unseen, an anti-slavery charity in the UK, had earlier said 2022 was their helpline’s “busiest year ever”. It said “sex trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude” were at a “record high”.

In May, the anti-slavery charity said there were a potential 6,516 victims of modern slavery in 2022 – an increase of 116 per cent compared to 2021.

It added that there were “a total of 7,315 calls from victims, the public and professionals working in organisations such as the NHS, local government and businesses”, indicating an increase of 16 per cent.

There was a “huge increase in potential victims in the care sector – 708 reported in 2022 – 1,024 per cent increase on 2021”, it said.

“Victims of modern slavery are extremely vulnerable. They will be in terror of the people who’ve trafficked or enslaved them, who will tell them there’s no point going to the police or the local authority or a charity because they won’t support you,” the BBC quoted Sara Thornton, the former independent anti-slavery commissioner as saying.

Meanwhile, there are thought to be some 122,000 people living as modern slaves across the UK, down from 136,000 in 2018, human rights organisation Walk Free reported in May this year.

Its latest global slavery index saw the UK ranked at 38 – unchanged since the previous survey – among 47 countries in Europe and Central Asia.

It is at number 145 worldwide, out of a total of 160 countries.

The report stated that those countries estimated to have the highest prevalence of modern slavery tend to be conflict-affected, have state-imposed forced labour and weak governance.

“Every call we get is one too many as slavery should not exist today. However, it’s encouraging that more people are contacting us so that we can help them out of a life of misery,” said Justine Carter, director of Unseen and co-author of the annual assessment report published in May.

“There are around 100,000 people in the UK in modern slavery, so these figures are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s still a lot we can and must do to prevent vulnerable people from falling prey to callous exploiters.”

The reports of increase in cases have come as the government put on hold hundreds of modern slavery cases after it admitted earlier this month that its own guidance for considering victims’ claims was unlawful.

The admission means the Home Office must stop refusing new claims until it draws up new instructions for officials, piling more pressure on the growing backlog of cases already taking an average of 18 months to decide.