Report: Understanding Slavery and Trafficking Prevention and Risk Orders

Modern slavery is a horrific crime that preys on vulnerability, profits from exploitation and causes lasting harm to individuals and communities.

Yet prosecutions and convictions remain far too low. Even where offenders are sentenced, prison is seen as an inconvenient cost of doing business. A prison sentence does not stop someone from returning to society and committing further harms. 

That is why a fundamental shift is needed from simply reacting to harm to preventing it. Disrupting those responsible and preventing further exploitation should be at the heart of the Government’s response. This is why my Strategic Plan 2024-2026 committed to promoting the better use of the powers already available to disrupt offenders. Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders (STPOs) and Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders (STROs) are an important part of that toolkit.

STPOs and STROs are orders that place targeted restrictions on individuals who have committed, or pose a risk of committing, slavery and trafficking offences. These restrictions could prevent someone’s movement to or in certain areas or their access to devices or activities that enable exploitation. This is even more critical given that Government has announced that perpetrators of modern slavery will be released even earlier from prison under the Sentencing Act.

Despite being great tools for disruption, these powers are not being used to their full potential. I have seen the data on how many STPOs and STROs are made each year and the numbers are woefully low.

To understand why the numbers of Orders made are low, I worked with the Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre to review the operation of these Orders and make recommendations to Government to improve their use. This research shows that awareness and expertise remain inconsistent and too often depend on individual practitioners rather than being embedded within organisations. There are also significant gaps in national data, monitoring, coordination and information sharing.

This comes at a critical time. The Immigration and Asylum Bill brings new reforms to STPOs and STROs. While I welcome the new measures, this report demonstrates that stronger powers need to be backed by strong delivery. There must be routine consideration of orders in all cases, better training, improved national data collection and publication, stronger safeguards for survivors, consistent monitoring and better communication on orders in force across organisations.  

We cannot afford for effective powers to sit unused while people continue to be exploited. STPOs and STROs must become a routine and effective part of our response, used wherever appropriate and at scale to disrupt perpetrators, prevent further offending and protect people from exploitation.  

I would like to thank the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre and, in particular, Dr Alicia Heys, Dr Bethany Darby and Dr Craig Barlow for undertaking this important research, as well as all those who contributed their expertise and experience. This report provides a clear evidence base for action, and I urge the Government and relevant agencies to take forward its recommendations.

Read the full report HERE.

Eleanor Lyons, The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner