Supporting Victims of Modern Slavery

Slavery is a crime which harms the vulnerable, and it’s happening right here, right now.

Elmore is committed to eliminating slavery and supporting survivors in the following ways:

  • Supporting services as co-chair of the Oxfordshire Anti-Slavery Network

  • Supporting survivors directly and working alongside services to support victims of modern slavery

  • Providing  our New Beginnings service for adult survivors of child sexual exploitation

  • Publishing ground-breaking research which shows that modern slavery in Oxford may be 200% higher than reports to the police

  • Publishing podcasts to keep you in the know about our work to eliminate modern slavery, including conversations with the then-UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, our Elmore modern slavery researcher, and other experts

  • Publishing a multi-lingual explainer on how to identify and refer potential victims (please see below)

  • Publishing booklets with useful knowledge about Albanian and Vietnamese populations (please see below)

  • Sharing our knowledge about supporting survivors from delivering an Independent Trauma Advisory Service to them

Accessing support as a victim of modern slavery

The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is a system for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery and ensuring that you receive the appropriate support. If you want the UK Government to recognise you as a victim of modern slavery, you can request they consider your claim by asking a first responder to submit an NRM referral.

Elmore is grateful to the West Midlands Anti-Slavery Network for producing a multi-lingual booklet (and allowing its replication across Oxfordshire) which explains the NRM for first responders for survivors of modern slavery when they are identified.

The booklet has realistic and accurate information from professionals about the process a survivor could expect to take part in if they consented to an NRM referral. It includes helpful information about potential outcomes for survivors if they decided not to consent to an NRM referral. You can read the booklets in various languages below.

Vietnamese and Albanian cultural information booklets

We can engage more Albanian and Vietnamese survivors of modern slavery, and support them better, by improving frontline professionals’ cultural knowledge.

The project focuses on Vietnamese and Albanian cultural information because research by Elmore has shown that the predominant nationalities of potential victims in Oxford between 2016 and 2020 were British at 43%, Albanians at 16% and then Vietnamese at 6%. This more or less mirrors the national picture, as measured in 2019. The most common nationalities of potential victims who were referred to the NRM were British 27%, Albanian 16%, and Vietnamese 8%.

Elmore is grateful to the West Midlands Anti-Slavery Network for producing a booklet filled with useful knowledge about Albanian and Vietnamese populations (and allowing its replication across Oxfordshire).

The booklets are written for professionals within policing, the criminal justice system, and survivor support services working with anyone from Albania and Vietnam. They were developed by the West Midlands Anti-Slavery Network, involving consultation with statutory and non-statutory services and co-design with Albanian people with lived experience.

Albanian modern slavery booklet

Vietnamese modern slavery booklet

Elmore’s research about modern slavery in Oxford

Ground-breaking research by Elmore has identified between 319 and 442 cases of modern slavery in Oxford from 2016 to 2020. This is considerably higher than the number of cases recorded by Thames Valley Police.

Listen to a conversation with the Anti-Slavery Commissioner

Dame Sara Thornton is the UK's Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (2019-22), and she spoke with Elmore about how to spot the signs of modern slavery, ensure victims get support, prevent modern slavery, and enhance the support received by survivors.

Evaluating Elmore’s Modern Slavery Service (2016-2017)

Elmore innovated and provided an Independent Trauma Advisory Service to victims of modern-day slavery in Oxfordshire. Running from 2014-2016/17, the service was evaluated to determine benefits and identify factors that enabled and limited work with clients.