Government launches strategy to end slavery as number of victims found to be up to four times higher than thought

 

A young Lithuanian woman who was a victim of trafficking and forced into prostitution in the UK. Photograph: Karen Robinson for the Guardian

David Batty and Chris Johnston

Saturday 29 November 2014 04.34 EST Last modified on Saturday 29 November 2014 07.15 EST

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As many as 13,000 people in Britain are victims of slavery, about four times the number previously thought, analysis for the government has found.

The figure for 2013 marks the first time the government has made an official estimate of the scale of modern slavery in the UK, and includes women forced into prostitution, domestic staff, and workers in fields, factories and fishing.

The National Crime Agency (NCA)’s human trafficking centre had previously put the number at 2,744.

Launching the government’s strategy to eradicate modern slavery, the home secretary, Theresa May, said the scale of abuse was shocking.

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“The first step to eradicating the scourge of modern slavery is acknowledging and confronting its existence,” she said. “The estimated scale of the problem in modern Britain is shocking and these new figures starkly reinforce the case for urgent action.”

The data was collated from sources including the police, the UK Border Force, charities and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority. The Home Office described the estimate as a “dark figure” that may not have come to the NCA’s attention.

Professor Bernard Silverman, the chief scientific adviser to the Home Office, said the new statistical analysis aimed to calculate the number of “hidden” victims who are not reported to the authorities.

“Modern slavery is very often deeply hidden and so it is a great challenge to assess its scale,” he said. “The data collected is inevitably incomplete and, in addition, has to be very carefully handled because of its sensitivity.”

The modern slavery minister, Karen Bradley, told the BBC the issue was a hidden crime. “What we have to do today is not make people acknowledge it’s wrong - everybody knows it’s wrong - but we have to find it,” she said.

“It’s going on in streets, in towns, in villages across Britain and we need to help people find the signs of it so we can find those victims and importantly then find the perpetrators.”

The modern slavery bill going through parliament will provide courts in England and Wales with powers to protect victims of human trafficking. Scotland and Northern Ireland are planning similar measures.

May said: “Working with a wide range of partners, we must step up the fight against modern slavery in this country, and internationally, to put an end to the misery suffered by innocent people around the world.”     READ MORE