Modern slavery continues to exist in the UK. Some of the British products we buy today and the services we receive may have involved the use of forced labour.
Anti-Slavery International estimates that in addition to the thousand men, women and children who are trafficked (transported away from their communities through coercion or deception) for forced labour to the UK at any one time, hundreds more people who have not been trafficked are estimated to be working in conditions of forced labour.
Despite the introduction of legislation in 2004 that makes trafficking for all forms of labour exploitation a criminal offence in the UK, there is no clear stand-alone offence for forced labour. Therefore, current prosecutions are limited to the use of anti-trafficking legislation making it impossible to obtain a conviction where trafficking is difficult to prove.
Forced labour will remain a reality in the UK unless adequate legislation is put in place and enforced. The existing legal provisions fail to protect victims or ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice.
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Please write to the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, urging him to support amendments to the Coroners and Justice Bill to ensure that the Government fulfils its obligations to protect victims of slavery in the UK.
Fill in your name, address and email on the form below and click on submit.
If you are in the UK, please also write to your MP and ask him or her to raise your concerns with the Justice Secretary about this issue. You can use the following websites to find out who your MP is and send then an email
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