Jails in the U.K. hold more victims of modern slavery than perpetrators

Modern slavery victims in the U.K. are legally entitled to specialist support under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract regardless of whether they are a U.K. national or imprisoned. But a new investigation by openDemocracy and After Exploitation reveals that hundreds of victims are likely being locked up as criminals instead of receiving support while their perpetrators remain free. 

“There are likely more victims of modern slavery in prison than there are traffickers”

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) is the U.K.’s response to its international obligations laid out in the European Convention Against Trafficking. It’s supposed to ensure a vulnerable person is not re-trafficked into slavery and can rebuild their lives following trauma and abuse. Between March 2023 and June 2024, the Prison Service and the Ministry of Justice received 268 warnings from prison staff who suspected a prisoner was a potential victim of modern slavery and trafficking. Analyzing this warning system the research team found “there are likely more victims of modern slavery in prison than there are traffickers”. 

Maya Esslemont, the director of After Exploitation said: 

“It is incredibly common for victims of criminal exploitation to be punished first and supported second due to poor understanding of vulnerability and exploitation within the criminal justice system,” 

Modern slavery victims are often forced to commit the crimes that land them in prison or immigration detention. Crimes like pickpocketing, growing marijuana or drug-running (called county lines in the U.K.) are the most common. International agreements stipulate that victims of modern slavery should be “subject to a non-punishment principle if the crimes they committed were compelled as a result of their exploitation”. But researchers found this often does not happen. The result is victims are put in prison or immigration detention instead of receiving support. 

Survivors at the “whim of the prison service”  

The MSVCC is supposed to provide modern slavery survivors with an allocated support worker, safe house accommodation and financial aid. Victims have a legal right to this support. However, researchers found there were no dedicated national services in place to help modern slavery victims in prison or detention to access that support.  

Beth Mullan-Feroze, counter-trafficking legal and policy manager at the Helen Bamber Foundation said: 

“(Detaining victims) increases the risk of re-traumatization and negative long-term physical and mental health outcomes…survivors of trafficking should not be detained” 

The investigation further revealed that prisons in England and Wales all have only a “single point of contact” trained to identify potential victims of modern slavery. That means getting the help they need comes at the whim of the prison service. On top of that, spurious claims of rampant abuse of the system by “child rapists and people who pose a threat to national security” led to a new policy. The Public Order Disqualification policy is used to cut victims off from support they would otherwise be entitled to.

According to investigator’s analysis, 496 foreign-born individuals were disqualified from modern slavery support since the start of 2023. The system makes accessing modern slavery support difficult for British victims and doubly so for foreign nationals. Those who have survived exploitation and modern slavery deserve our support, not further exploitation in a system rigged against them.

Survivors deserve support not detention

Freedom United applauds the investigative work of openDemocracy and After Exploitation. We stand next to them in calling on the government of the U.K. to honor their commitment to “tackle all forms of modern slavery”.  The government needs to do more to ensure all victims are “provided with appropriate support to begin rebuilding their lives.”