Modern Slavery & Trafficking campaign toolkit – resources for all

Child Trafficking is defined as the movement of a child for the purpose of exploitation. This movement could be across country borders, the UK or even within the same local area or street. Children from any country, culture or religion, and both boys and girls, can be victims of trafficking and exploitation.

Victims of Child Sexual Exploitation and Child Criminal Exploitation through County Lines, and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children should always be considered as potentially trafficked children.

Find out more in these information sheets:

• Child Trafficking info sheet (May 2019)
• Independent Child Trafficking Advocacy Service briefing (May 2019)

The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) was established by the UK government to :

• assess whether a person believably fits the definition of trafficking given by the United Nations; and to
• provide support to a potential survivor whilst they wait for this decision to be made.

To be referred to the NRM, potential victims of trafficking or modern slavery must first be referred by people known as ‘first responders’, for example the Police, UK Border Force, a local authority or the Salvation Army.

Find guidance on how to complete the referral form on the government website at www.gov.uk/guidance-on-the-national-referral-mechanism

Each year the National Crime Agency releases an annual report of the statistics from the NRM and this is generally used as a barometer for measuring how action against human trafficking is going in the UK. Read more about how this information is used in an article from the Clewer  Initiative on their website at www.theclewerinitiative.org/understanding-the-latest-nrm-results

The criminal exploitation of children and adults (many of whom are vulnerable) is an issue in Greater Manchester and addressing this problem is a priority for Programme Challenger. This criminal exploitation takes many forms, the most common relating to the supply and movement of drugs (often referred to as “County Lines”), offences in relation to guns and other weapons, money laundering, violent offences and in some cases “cuckooing” where criminals forcibly take over control of a person’s home.  Find out more on their website at www.programmechallenger.co.uk

In order to raise awareness of these issues with the public and professionals, Programme Challenger has developed the Trapped campaign resources.

The resources are based around two videos that highlight the different ways in which children, young people and vulnerable adults can be exploited by criminals.

County Lines is the first campaign video; the second is The Present. Each comes with associated posters, leaflets, and social media assets, and we have titled all of the resources in line with the campaign video it relates to.

Download the Trapped Campaign Pack and resources from the Programme Challenger website  at www.programmechallenger.co.uk/trapped

This UK government campaign is supported by a range of promotional materials, including a YouTube film about modern slavery and infographic and briefing documents, as well as posters and wallet cards offering helpline details.

The infographic provides a graphic illustration of the nature of modern slavery, including the most recent statistics on the prevalence of modern slavery and locations where victims commonly originate.

The ‘What is modern slavery?’ document clarifies the issues involved in this crime, such as the different forms of slavery, the number of victims in the UK and the help available for potential victims.

There are posters to raise awareness of modern slavery, including how to find more information and report slavery. One poster looks at modern slavery as a whole, with the other poster looking specifically at forced labour. Both are available in a number of languages.

A wallet card highlighting the signs to help spot the victims of modern slavery is for front-line professionals to give to the public and provides contact details.

All these resources are available to download on the government website at www.gov.uk/modern-slavery-closer-than-you-think

All public sector professionals
Whilst many professionals will need training specific to their role, there are some awareness raising materials that will provide a basic level of understanding for all professionals. Even staff that may only rarely be in situations where they might come across modern slavery can benefit from a basic understanding of what to look for.

The Modern slavery awareness booklet is aimed at a broad range of public sector staff who could potentially witness indicators of modern slavery – this can be download from www.gov.uk/modern-slavery-awareness-booklet

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has produced a range of videos on how to spot the signs of modern slavery, methods used by traffickers to exploit their victims, and victims accounts – find these on their website at www.gla.gov.uk/glaa-videos

The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) has produced a range of videos by sector on spotting the signs of modern slavery, which may be informative for any public sector worker – find these on their website at www.antislaverycommissioner.co.uk/resources

Nottingham University, in partnership with the Office of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, have developed an Anti-Slavery Partnership Toolkit to assist organisations to work in closer partnership, promote consistency, good practice and develop resources – the Toolkit can be accessed on the University’s website at iasctoolkit.nottingham.ac.uk

AFRUCA is the premier charity working to protect and promote the rights of Black and African children in England. They provide a place for children and young people who have been trafficked to access vital services in a culturally appropriate and adaptive environment.

AFRUCA is working with Manchester City Council to help raise awareness of Modern Slavery in the city. Tagged ‘Manchester Against Modern Slavery‘ #SpotTheSigns – the aim is to help prevent and disrupt Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking across Manchester.

This one year project, which runs until July 2019, is part of efforts by Manchester City Council to address the growing incidence of Modern Slavery in the city. AFRUCA will work across all communities throughout the city to raise awareness of the different forms of modern slavery and in particular encourage reporting. This will help to create better protection for victims across Manchester. The issues covered will range from sexual exploitation, domestic slavery and different forms of forced labour.

A key element of the project is the recruitment and training of Community Champions who will reach out to different communities, conducting awareness programmes targeting thousands of people across the City. This will help to improve protection for victims, especially children.

To discuss and hold an event in your community contact:

• Fabiola Bayavuge, Anti-Slavery Community Worker, AFRUCA
• Email: fabiola@afruca.org
• Tele: 0161 205 9274

AFRUCA has strong experience of community engagement and anti-slavery preventive work having recently concluded a similar project on Domestic Slavery across London and Manchester with funding from the Home Office. Find out more on their website at www.afruca.org

Safe Car Wash App
The Safe Car Wash App was launched to help identify modern slavery in hand car washes – hand car washes have been identified as a sector where there is a higher risk of modern slavery and labour exploitation.

The Safe Car Wash App provides the public with the tools to help them identify rogue operators and report their concerns and can be downloaded for free on to Apple and Android devices via the app store.

Unseen App
Unseen, in partnership with BT, released the Unseen App to make reporting to their Modern Slavery Helpline even easier. The App provides a simple guide to recognising the signs of modern slavery and reporting concerns in confidence to free more victims of slavery. The App can be found by searching ‘Unseen UK’ in app stores.

Modern slavery is hidden in plain sight on our high streets. People are being forced to work long hours, for little or no pay, and under threat of violence in hand car washes.

Many hand car washes are legitimate businesses, but some of them are not. Police raids in hand car washes in towns and cities up and down the country have unearthed victims living in horrendous conditions.

Although law enforcement and the government are clear that this problem exists, there is no reliable data on just how widespread it is. This lack of information means that victims could be falling through the net.

The Safe Car Wash Campaign is part of the Clewer Initiative which enables Church of England dioceses and wider Church networks to develop strategies to detect modern slavery in their communities and help provide victim support and care.   Find out more about this on their website at www.theclewerinitiative.org/safecarwash

The Safe Car Wash App is a tool that will enable the largest community intelligence gathering exercise ever attempted in the UK.

Anyone can download the free App onto their smartphone, then when using a hand car wash, simply open the App and complete a short survey about the working conditions of the car wash.

The App will ask a series of questions related to the indicators of modern slavery and if there is a high likelihood that modern slavery is occurring, the user will be asked to report their concerns to the Modern Slavery Helpline.

The data the App collects will be anonymised and shared with the law enforcement agencies who are leading on efforts to stamp out modern slavery across the UK.

Find the App and more information at www.theclewerinitiative.org/safecarwash

Raising awareness is essential in the prevention of human trafficking. It enables people to spot the signs in their communities and work places, to know how to respond to those signs and to respond appropriately. It can even help victims self-identify and seek help and support.

Stop the Traffick have a wide range of resources that can be downloaded and used  to raise awareness and support the fight against human trafficking – find them on their website at www.stopthetraffik.org/resources

The downloadable posters and leaflets highlight signs of exploitation to those who may be victims of trafficking and signpost them to organisations in the UK for help and support. Each poster and leaflet has been created in English, Polish and Romanian. The resources cover:

• Sexual exploitation – when someone is deceived, coerced or forced to take part in sexual activity; this can often take place in brothels, massage parlours and strip clubs
• Labour exploitation – situations where people are deceived or coerced to work for little or no remuneration, often under threat of punishment
  • there are a number of means through which a person can be coerced, including: use of violence or intimidation, accumulated debt, retention of identity papers, threat of exposure to immigration authorities
  • the awareness raising materials for labour exploitation focus on high risk work places – agriculture, nail salons and car washes.
• Domestic servitude – a domestic worker or helper is a person who works within their employer’s home, performing a variety of tasks
  • this arrangement becomes exploitative when there are restrictions on the domestic worker’s movement, and they are forced to work long hours for little pay; they may also suffer physical and sexual abuse
  • someone can be in domestic servitude in a private home or in a community such as a commune
• Forced criminality – takes place when somebody is forced to carry out criminal activity through coercion or deception
  • can take many forms, including: drug trade, e.g. cannabis cultivation, drug distribution, begging, pick-pocketing, bag snatching, ATM theft and selling of counterfeit goods
  • also encompasses social welfare fraud when traffickers falsely apply for tax credits and other welfare benefits using the victims’ details – it is not only the state that is the victim of social welfare fraud, there is often horrific abuse used against the individual in order to coerce them into falsely applying for benefits.
• County Lines – a type of exploitation whereby gangs and organised networks force people to travel from urban areas to different locations to sell and deliver drugs
  • anyone can be at risk, victims are predominantly children and young adults.

Stop The Traffick have identified the forms of exploitation that are most commonly associated together and have produced some double sided leaflets for to use for awareness raising:

• Forced Criminality & Agriculture
• Sexual Exploitation & Domestic Servitude
• Sexual Exploitation & Nail Salons
• County Lines & Sexual Exploitation.

The Anti Slavery Commissioner  has published an updated handbook that explains what modern slavery and human trafficking looks like in the homeless community, what to watch out for and what we can do about it.

This handbook was specifically created for staff who work in the homelessness sector, particularly front-line workers, managers and volunteers. People who are engaged in support services for homeless people can be vital eyes and ears in detecting this crime. In addition, by identifying a survivor and engaging with First Responders, workers will facilitate the person’s access to support, such as a recovery and reflection period of at least 45 days, safe accommodation and material assistance, legal advice,medical and psychological services, compensation and/or safe repatriation and return.

Find the handbook at www.antislaverycommissioner.co.uk/the-passage-modern-slavery-handbook (pdf)

There are an estimated 110,000 victims of modern slavery in the European hospitality sector annually – in the UK, the industry has been recognised one of high-risk regarding modern slavery. With more than one in 10 people working in hospitality around the world, the sector has the opportunity to take a strong stand on modern slavery.

Shiva Foundation has launched a toolkit, the Stop Slavery Blueprint, to address to address risk of modern slavery in the industry. This free, online toolkit, which includes guidance, templates and training, provides practical measures to address some of the main risk areas regarding modern slavery in the industry. The toolkit benefits from a wide range of insights from across the sector and learning from practical implementation. The Blueprint provides practical tools to address some of the main risk areas regarding modern slavery in the hotel sector, including facilities, employment practices and supply chains; it covers supplier engagement, signs to spot, and reporting protocols.

• The toolkit can be accessed on the Shiva Foundation website at www.shivafoundation.org.uk/Blueprint

The hotel industry faces particular risk of modern slavery because:

• hotels frequently rely on labour suppliers to employ outsourced housekeeping and cleaning staff; the layered structure of hotels combined with multi-tier recruitment systems can mean that unscrupulous practices are difficult to detect
• hotels can become unwitting hosts to sexual exploitation because of the privacy they offer
• goods and services purchased by hotels can represent hidden risk because of complex and multi-tiered supply chains.

Additionally, the industry, which involves a large amount of franchising, is multi-layered and complex with various businesses being involved in operations and supply chains. The Human Trafficking Foundation are trying to address all of the risk areas and industry nuances to ensure that hoteliers can become leaders in tackling modern slavery.

In addition to developing the Blueprint, Shiva Foundation coordinates the Stop Slavery Hotel Industry Network, which is made up of key representatives across the hotel industry to combat modern slavery within the sector. The Network launched a resource hub to provide industry members with access to a range of relevant anti-trafficking materials, and produced a Framework for Working with Suppliers to help hoteliers work with their labour and goods suppliers to address this issue.

The resource hub of the Stop Slavery Hotel Industry Network website at www.stopslaverynetwork.org/resource_hub  is a central repository for a wide range of resources on understanding the risk of modern slavery to business, modern slavery policy and legislation, and how this can be applied to the hotel industry.

Partnership working is essential for effective action against modern slavery. Throughout the UK many different organisations are working hard to prevent slavery, promote identification of victims, provide support services to survivors, and ensure that slavery cannot flourish.

Explore the Anti-Slavery Partnership toolkit ton the website iasctoolkit.nottingham.ac.uk to find out how to improve the local partnership response to slavery.

The Centre for the Study of Modern Slavery, St Mary’s University has produced a Toolkit for Monitoring and Evaluating Initiatives to Tackle Modern Slavery.

This toolkit aims to aid organisations and partnerships who seek to make practical responses to the problem of modern slavery but also wish to record what they have done and to evaluate the outcomes of their practice.

• Download the toolkit from the Human Trafficking Foundation website at www.humantraffickingfoundation/toolkit-for-monitoring-and-evaluating-initiatives-to-tackle-modern-slavery

Find out more from:

• Greater Manchester Victims’ Service at www.gmvictims.org.uk/ive-been-affected-by/slavery-trafficking
• Diocese of Manchester at www.manchester.anglican.org/modern-slavery
• Greater Together Manchester at greatertogethermanchester.org/human-trafficking-and-modern-slavery/
• Modern Slavery Coordination Unit (part of Operation Challenger) at www.programmechallenger.co.uk/modern_slavery

Find out more from:

• Modern Slavery Helpline at www.modernslaveryhelpline.org & www.modernslaveryhelpline.org/frontline-professionals
• The Modern Slavery Police Transformation Unit (MSPTU) have produced 3 informative posters available on their website at www.aspartnership.org.uk/modern-slavery-police-transformation-unit  which cover:

• 1. there is no one type of Modern Slavery
  2. there is no one type of Modern Slavery Offender
  3. there is no one type of Modern Slavery Victim.