Dame Sara welcomes Centre for Social Justice and Justice and Care report

A new report by the Centre for Social Justice and Justice and Care examines the current state of the modern slavery response in the UK, five years after the Modern Slavery Act was passed.

Read the report: It Still Happens Here: Modern Slavery in the UK in the 2020s.

Dame Sara Thornton, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, said:

“The Modern Slavery Act was ground-breaking legislation, but five years on we are seeing a steep rise of cases of modern slavery identified year on year - with over 10,000 victims of modern slavery identified in the UK in 2019. This report suggest there could be up to 100,000 victims living here in the UK, hidden in plain sight - from child criminal exploitation on our streets to labour exploitation in our factories.

Despite the Act, we are not seeing enough prosecutions for modern slavery crimes, we are not seeing all businesses take the risk of exploitation in their supply chains seriously, and we are not seeing all victims receive the longer-term support they need to become sustainably independent. As we begin to grapple with the devastating impact of Coronavirus on workers, migrants and other vulnerable people we must act to mitigate the real risk of a further increase in exploitation and abuse.

This report places modern slavery firmly back at the top of the British political agenda and the recommendations should be explored and debated.” 

You can read the Centre for Social Justice and Justice and Care report here.