Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre

NEW RESEARCH! Children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) are at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation due to gaps in policies and little recognition of their vulnerability. Opportunities to protect children and young people with SEND from being groomed and exploited in what amounts to modern slavery are being missed by services meant to protect them because of the lack of funding, of little recognition of their vulnerability in the official guidance, and of the strategic approach to prevent it. ➡ Many children are waiting years for recognition of their needs, diagnosis and the right support. ➡ This leads to isolation, segregation within or being excluded from school, and periods of missing, exposing children to greater risks of grooming and exploitation. ➡ Despite the parents’ desperate efforts to get support, this is leading to devasting consequences such as attempts by children to take their own lives and self-harm, enforced house moves and children placed away from home. Many families are living in fear of violence and with intense levels of stress, sometimes leading to family breakdown. The research was carried out by The Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Portsmouth, in partnership with Portsmouth City Council, and funded by the Modern Slavery PEC, which in turn is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Read the full story on our website at https://lnkd.in/es-H9kyD

Artificial Intelligence shows promise in helping to understand survivors' needs at scale and in real time, but it still needs humans to set it up and oversee it, according to the findings of recently published research. Here, you can read THREE short blogs from lived experience experts with their take on the project they took part in: https://lnkd.in/ghPA2GzZ

NEW BLOG! Three lived experience experts reflect on their experiences of working on the project exploring AI’s potential to improve survivor support. 1️⃣ Overcoming Barriers: Applying AI in supporting survivors of modern slavery 2️⃣ Empowerment through technology: my journey with the Mel app 3️⃣ Empowering my journey with the Mel app: a tool for modern slavery survivors Read the three blogs on our website: https://lnkd.in/ghPA2GzZ Thanks to Causeway Charity for working with the Lived Experience Experts on developing the blog.

Today we’re publishing a legal analysis which found that Section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (NABA) is incompatible with the UK’s international obligations on modern slavery. Section 63 of NABA disqualifies from protection people who are potential or confirmed victims of modern slavery on public order grounds – the so-called ‘public order disqualification’, which includes cases where a person is found to be ‘a threat to public order’ or has claimed the victim status ‘in bad faith’. The analysis found that Section 63 of NABA breaches the obligation to identify and protect every victim of modern slavery without discrimination and without exception contained in the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) and in the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT). The legal analysis adds to the recent Modern Slavery PEC-funded research recently published by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) indicating that NABA had a ‘profound’ negative impact on the identification of modern slavery survivors. The analysis was commissioned by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC and conducted by Dr Marija Jovanovic from the University of Essex. The Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC, hosted by the University of Oxford, is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). 👇 https://lnkd.in/evyYSBf8

Very worrying news that Ake Achi, founder of MIGRANTS AT WORK LTD, received death threats. We stand in solidarity with him, his colleagues at Migrants and Work, and people who come to fill skill shortages in the UK and end up exploited that Ake works to support. https://lnkd.in/eaXpVP6r Ake also authored a report on lived experience leadership in addressing the exploitation of migrants who come to the UK to work on sponsored visas. Read his report here: https://lnkd.in/e6aR9Vnv ...and listen to him talk about it on our podcast: https://lnkd.in/ec2NyasF

NEW BLOG! ❓ What does it mean for research to be trauma-informed? ❓ Are we all speaking the same language when we refer to a ‘trauma-informed approach’? ❓ What might this look like in practice? Dr Dr Wendy Asquith and Dr Bethany Jackson blog on three key takeaways from a recent workshop on trauma-informed approaches to research. 1️⃣ All six elements of a trauma-informed approach need equal attention. 2️⃣ One-size-fits-all solutions fall short 3️⃣ We can be creative when developing safe, supportive spaces for research engagement. 👇 https://lnkd.in/eCMV9q7j

This post was written by Jane Lasonder, a member of the Modern Slavery PEC Lived Experience Advisory Panel: The third Constructive Dialogue on Trafficking in Persons was convened earlier this month by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Some 300 participants from Member States and civil society organizations discussed trafficking in people for the removal of organs, problems related to trafficking in individual nations and priorities concerning child trafficking. I am proud to report I was one of the speakers. Although I am a member of the Modern Slavery PEC Lived Experience Advisory Panel and Vice Chair of the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC) at the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), here I spoke in personal capacity about the most effective ways to increase the rates of identification of children affected by trafficking throughout the world. In my view the way forward is: ➡ Mandatory training on modern slavery and human trafficking for health care workers & medical students ➡ Mandatory lessons on awareness of trafficking for school children ➡ Ethical Survivor inclusion in creating policies ➡ National Survivor Councils ➡ First responder training, in a trauma informed way.

Children with special educational needs & disabilities (SEND) are often waiting years for recognition of their needs, diagnosis and the right support, despite concerns raised by parents. This leads to increased levels of isolation, segregation within school and periods of missing, or being excluded from, school - exposing children to greater risks of grooming and exploitation. A recent study by The Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Portsmouth, in partnership with Portsmouth City Council funded by the Modern Slavery PEC, found that gaps in policies and services in the UK put children with SEND at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation. Read the full story 👇 https://lnkd.in/gtiFqUuv

What does the evidence say about describing people who are affected by exploitation in a way that's preferable for them and that's effective in evoking empathy, not pity, for the public? A recent research project carried out by the Public Interest Research Centre (PIRC) in close collaboration with the Modern Slavery PEC found that: ✅ People with lived experience of modern slavery found the term ‘victim’ disempowering. It defines who they are in relation to their exploitation. ✅ Amongst the public ‘victim’ evoked sympathy rather than empathy, whereas ‘survivor’ evoked respect for the individual’s strength and resilience. ✅ ‘Person with lived experience’ also elicited that such a person had a role in leading change. ✅ However, the term ‘survivor’ can be gendered and associated with particular forms of exploitation (particularly sexual exploitation). Read more in our guidance on framing modern slavery 👇 https://lnkd.in/eiaqsUB8

"The research starkly indicates the need for parents and children and young people with SEND to be listened to when raising concerns about unmet needs and treated with paramount importance when they raise concerns about exploitation.” It was good to see the Independent's coverage of the recent research which found that children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) are put at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation by gaps in policies and services. The study found that many children are waiting years for recognition of their needs, diagnosis and the right support, despite concerns raised by parents. The research was carried out by The Manchester Metropolitan University, in partnership with the University of Portsmouth and Portsmouth City Council.