Modern slavery helpline received record calls last year as experts warn new law will force victims underground

The number of people reporting potential cases of modern slavery and severe exploitation hit a record high last year, according to a leading charity.

The number of potential victims of modern slavery indicated from calls to the helpline increased by more than 100% last year, with a significant rise in calls relating to labour exploitation and domestic servitude.

Experts say the increased number of calls can be seen as a positive, as it shows a higher awareness of modern slavery and related issues, but there are concerns that new laws around immigration could ‘force victims underground’.

Reports of modern slavery in care sector up 1000%

The main helpline for reporting potential modern slavery cases received calls relating to more than 6,500 victims last year, up 116% from 2021.

Anti-slavery Unseen operates the helpline, which receives calls from potential victims themselves, as well as concerns members of the public as well as professionals in the NHS, local government and business.

The reports cover potential victims from 99 countries, including Romania, India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and China.

The helpline saw a major increase in calls relating to potential victims in the care sector, with an increase of more than 1,000% compared with the previous year, and a total 708 reports.

Most modern slavery cases reported to the helpline related to labour exploitation, followed by sexual exploitation and domestic servitude.

This increase in calls relating to modern slavery aligns with official government data which shows that a record number of referrals were made to The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) last year.

The NRMis the official system through which trained first responders flag potential cases of modern slavery.

The number of referrals to the system reached an unprecedented level last year, up 33% compared with the previous year and more than at any other time since the system was introduced in 2009.

There were 16,938 potential victims of modern slavery referred to the Home Office in 2022.

More Albanians were referred through the system than any other nationality, followed by UK nationals and Eritreans. This is the first time that people from the UK haven’t been the most commonly referred nationality.

Last year, NationalWorld reported that more than a quarter of modern slavery victims in the UK are from Albania. The UK Government recognises that Albanian men, women and children are at risk of being trafficked internationally, and that the number of citizens who have been trafficked “is likely to be in the thousands”.

The government has also been widely criticised over its failure to appoint a new anti-slavery commissioner, despite the post being empty for almost a year.

Justine Carter, Director of Unseen, said: “Every call we get is one too many as slavery should not exist today. However, it’s encouraging that more people are contacting us so that we can help them out of a life of misery.

“There are around 100,000 people in the UK in modern slavery, so these figures are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s still a lot we can and must do to prevent vulnerable people from falling prey to callous exploiters.”

“To be serious about tackling modern slavery in the UK we need much more awareness of the true size of the problem, better support for victims, and many more resources going into targeting the criminals behind the exploitation.

“Instead, the UK is bringing in new migration laws that criminalise some victims of modern slavery, forcing them underground and keeping them vulnerable to traffickers. We should be doing more to expose the extent of slavery – not driving it further into the shadows.”