Salvation Army assists rising tide of slavery victims in UK

The number of slavery victims in England and Wales needing help and support have risen almost fivefold in the last four years, new figures reveal.

The Salvation Army has assisted nearly 4,500 modern slaves since 2011 – although the Home Office estimates there are up to 13,000 in the UK.

The charity, eager for “greater awareness” to root out the “evil” traffickers, said it helped 1,805 people between April 2015 and March 2016.

By comparison, it had 378 referrals between July 2011 and June 2012 – its first year of operating the government contract to support victims.

Almost half had been sexually exploited, 42 per cent had been subject to forced labour and one in seven had been held in domestic servitude, the charity said. Some 62 per cent were woman and 38 per cent male.

The highest number of referrals were Albanian (269), with large numbers from Poland (148), Nigeria (136), Vietnam (105) and Romania (102) as well as 34 British citizens.

More than two in five victims were trafficked to London and the South East, followed by the West Midlands (13 per cent) and the North West (ten per cent).

The Home Office said the rise was a sign that efforts to highlight modern slavery were working.

Anne Read, director of anti-trafficking and modern slavery for the Salvation Army, said: “Perpetrators go to great lengths to hide their crimes so it is always difficult to know the full extent of the problem.

“It may be that the increases in the numbers of people being supported is because there are more victims.

“The greater the awareness of this issue the more difficult it will become for traffickers to ply their evil trade in human beings.”

However, she added that the minimum 45-day reflection and recovery period granted by the government for victims of human trafficking or slavery was insufficient.

“If [victims] don`t get the support that they need, then the potential is that they could, once again, be exploited and that`s the worst thing that could happen as far as we`re concerned.

“Forty-five days isn`t long enough to support somebody – it gives them a chance to breathe, perhaps to recover their status quo, but it is only the very start of the process.”

The Home Office said the 45-day duration was a minimum and could be extended by a further 14 days on certain grounds.

Sarah Newton, minister for safeguarding, vulnerability and countering extremism, said: “Slavery has long been hidden in plain sight, and our policy is designed to encourage more victims to come forward and ask for help.

“We welcome increases in the number of referrals as a sign that our efforts to shine a light on modern slavery are working.”

Prime Minister Theresa May introduced the Modern Slavery Act last year while she was Home Secretary to put “slave masters behind bars where they belong”, calling it “the great human rights issue of our time”.

In July, she wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that she wanted Britain to “lead the way in defeating modern slavery”, adding that there would be a new UK cabinet taskforce while £33 million from the aid budget would fund initiatives overseas.

A review to mark the first anniversary of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 found 289 modern slavery offences were prosecuted last year.

The Salvation Army said that it was supporting victims from nearly 100 different countries.