Why slavery still exists today, and what can be done to stop it
In the 21st century, slavery has taken a new form. Matt Richardson, Social Value Lead at The Growth Company, shares his thoughts on modern slavery and the practical things organisations can do to stop it.
What is modern slavery, and why does it exist?
Modern slavery is something that nobody expects to still exist. However, it very much does and is unfortunately on the rise.
Anti-Slavery International defines it as “when an individual is exploited by others, for personal or commercial gain, whether tricked, coerced, or forced, they lose their freedom.” When I speak about modern slavery, I am often met with, “is that a thing?” or “surely that can’t be taking place?” Yet, forms and examples of modern slavery will often be all around us. From the clothes we wear, and the digital tech we use, to workers we may walk past on our daily commutes.
In many cases, it occurs through individuals aiming to escape poverty, instability and/or security. Instead, they are exploited through organised crime and unethical, inhumane business practices.
Modern Slavery in the UK
Before the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act in 2015, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) received an ongoing increase in cases of modern slavery; reported through the NRM and local police reporting figures. In addition, the UK Government released its end-of-year summary of modern slavery activity in 2021: Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify statistics UK, end of year summary, 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), which stated that over 12,000 potential victims were reported to the Home Office that year. Experts predict this figure, in general, reached or potentially exceeded 100,000 that same year.
This correlates with an increasing awareness of modern slavery across public and private sectors – again, evidence-backed globally by Unseen. They state that 24 million of the 28 million victims globally are exploited in the private sector through domestic work, construction, and agriculture.
Photo By: iStock
What are the types of modern slavery?
Modern slavery and exploitation can come in various forms. Some of these may feel closer to home than others, but awareness of some of the more common forms can hopefully provide an understanding of the activity that may be taking place.
Human trafficking The use of violence, threats or coercion to transport, recruit, or harbour people to exploit them for purposes such as forced prostitution, labour, criminality, marriage, or organ removal.
Forced labour Any work or services people are forced to do against their will, usually under the threat of punishment.
Debt bondage/bonded labour The world’s most widespread form of slavery, where people trapped in poverty borrow money and are forced to work to pay off the debt, losing control over their employment conditions and the debt.
Descent–based slavery is an ancient form of slavery where people are treated as property; their “slave” status has been passed down the maternal line.
Child slavery is when a child is exploited for someone else’s gain. This can include child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage and child domestic slavery.
Forced and early marriage When someone is married against their will and cannot leave, most child marriages can be considered slavery.
Domestic servitude Domestic work and domestic servitude are not always classed as slavery. When regulated, it can be an essential source of income for many people. However, whilst working in another person’s home, some people may be particularly vulnerable to abuses, exploitation, and slavery, as they might be hidden from sight and lack legal protection.
Source: Anti-Slavery.org
Modern slavery and social value
The definition and activity of modern slavery are the complete antitheses of social value. A subject of which The Growth Company, as an economic impact organisation, aim to support businesses to understand what suitable, secure employment and working environments look and feel like.
Social value is designed for organisations to consider and think more deeply about how their decisions and operational practices affect their staff, customers, suppliers, and communities. This activity should look at risk attribution to suppliers, the team, and the company itself.
Over the past 2-3 years, some companies have failed to complete the required due diligence and ongoing checks within their supply chain. Therefore, exploitation cases have arisen and/or continued and have eventually been exposed. From a reputational standpoint for the organisation, it is often the supplier that will avoid the media scrutiny but more so the contractor/commissioner. This is often damage that can have lasting effects on the organisation’s growth, ability to recruit talent and limitations on partnership and customer engagement.
Having secure working practices within your organisations and transparency in your supply chain allows for upskilling, sharing knowledge and productively identifying risks.
What can organisations do to stop Modern Slavery?
Photo By: istock
Ensure all staff (particularly business/client-facing staff) know what modern slavery is. This should include the signs to look for and, even more importantly, how to report a concern. As part of a business’s ongoing partnership work, it would be helpful to complete a mapping exercise. Highlight what your organisation can offer as support locally, i.e., police or national organisations such as the Slave-Free Alliance. Providing awareness to staff can impact not only professional lives but personal ones, to understand what exploitation looks like and methods/mechanisms to help remove it.
Create a modern slavery statement of intent/activity. Legally, a company with a turnover of £36m or more per year must produce a modern slavery statement. To show what that company is doing internally and externally over 12 months to reduce/eradicate the risk of exploitation. This statement must be added to GOV.UK Modern slavery statement registry, which is then made available for the public to view. An element of The Growth Company’s work is providing business support, so we would always advocate, where feasible, for an organisation to produce a statement regardless of whether they are legally bound or not. This is an opportunity to ensure good employment practices stay at the forefront of business operations and show a statement of intent to partnerships. It also demonstrates to new and existing employees that the company takes modern slavery seriously.
Supply chain engagement and support. Ensure you are obtaining as much information as possible on your suppliers. One way is to create a supplier/partnership survey that asks questions about current practices suppliers have around good employment. For example, do they pay the real living wage? What is their knowledge level regarding modern slavery? Do they have a modern slavery statement? The next step is for the business to look at ways to build ongoing engagement between supplier and commissioner. This may also include sharing articles and best practice advice from external organisations specialising in this area. If you as a business are on a journey to understanding modern slavery and reducing risks, bring your supply chain with you and support them to do the same.
Review practices regularly. Your operations as a business will no doubt be discussed and reviewed regularly. What should start or continue within those discussions are the impacts that business decisions have on stakeholders and communities and the impact those decisions could reach. The recent Enterprise Research Centre report: ‘Taking Small Steps: Business Priorities, Environmental and Social Responsibility in UK SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise)’, identifies that 3 in 4 businesses are undertaking steps to generate social and community benefits that have resulted in positive impacts on staff, suppliers, customers, and communities.
Create an ongoing partnership with experts. Building relationships with experts in this area can ensure you receive the most up-to-date information and advice possible. We have taken this approach with several organisations, listed in the ‘further reading’ section, who provide events, networking opportunities and monthly newsletters. The knowledge in the newsletters alone has taken our organisation’s awareness to the next level. It is also worth contacting local police and finding out which team members work in this area. For example, within Greater Manchester, a team provides training to businesses and staff on modern slavery awareness. However, I appreciate that this may not be available in every region.
Modern slavery is closer than you think
Please think about the human element of business decisions and how far your business can positively impact staff, suppliers, and customers to feel secure and build trust. There is significant research on why companies are becoming more environmentally and socially conscious. For balance, some are not always for the right reasons, but that conversation may be for another time. Knowing that your business, suppliers, and partners are aligned regarding their views and activities relating to secure, thriving working practices can provide some peace of mind. Taking the time to do the due diligence, upskill staff and suppliers and build strong partnerships with specialist organisations can help your business.
Modern slavery does not discriminate; it can happen in any workplace, city and at any time. Set aside time to understand this topic and utilise the links and resources below.
Further Reading:
Modern Slavery Act 2015 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
National referral mechanism guidance: adult (England and Wales) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Slave-Free Alliance | Modern Slavery Training and Services (slavefreealliance.org)
Download The App - Unseen (unseenuk.org)
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