Human Trafficking

There are an estimated 20.9 Million people trapped in some form of slavery today. It’s sometimes called “Modern Slavery” and sometimes “Human Trafficking." At all times it is slavery at its core.

Domestic Servitude

Employees working in private homes are forced or coerced into serving and/or fraudulently convinced that they have no option to leave.

Sex Trafficking

Women, men or children that are forced into the commercial sex industry and held against their will by force, fraud or coercion.

Forced Labour

Human beings are forced to work under the threat of violence and for no pay. These slaves are treated as property and exploited to create a product for commercial sale.

Bonded Labour

Individuals that are compelled to work in order to repay a debt and unable to leave until the debt is repaid. It is the most common form of enslavement in the world.

Child Labour

Any enslavement - whether forced labour, domestic servitude, bonded labour or sex trafficking - of a child.

Forced Marriage

Women and children who are forced to marry another without their consent or against their will.

Modern Slavery

Modern slavery encompasses slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment.

The organised crime of human trafficking into the UK has become an issue of considerable concern to all professionals with responsibility for the care and protection of children and adults.  Any form of trafficking humans is an abuse.

Trafficking of persons means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat of, or use of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability.  It also includes the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

It is important to note that some cases involve UK-born people being trafficked within the UK, e.g. people being trafficked from one town to another.  The consent of the victim of trafficking is irrelevant where any of the above methods have been used.

Trafficked people may be used for sexual exploitation, agricultural labour including tending plants in illegal cannabis farms and benefit fraud. Children as well as adults are trafficked.

If you have a concern regarding the possible trafficking of a person you should immediately contact the Designated Safeguarding Officer or make a referral direct to the appropriate team.  Practitioners should not do anything which would heighten the risk of harm or abduction to the child or adult.

Points of Contact for the general public:-Please use our Safeguarding Points of Contact