Anti-Slavery Day marked by networks, backed by former Prime Minister

On Anti-Slavery Day, three Anti-Slavery Networks spanning the Thames Valley hosted an Anti-Slavery conference to raise awareness of modern slavery and develop new plans to tackle it. As the co-chair of the Oxfordshire Anti-Slavery Network, Elmore has helped to put together and taken part in the conference.

The conference opened with a video from The Rt Hon Theresa May MP, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 2016 and 2019, who oversaw the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to tackle slavery.

Hosted by the Anti-Slavery Networks for Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Berkshire—a grouping of agencies committed to ending modern slavery —the conference sought to raise awareness of the fact over 40 million people in the world and an estimated 136,000 in the UK, are trapped in conditions of modern slavery.

Anti-Slavery Day takes place every year on the 18th October, and is a time to encourage governments, businesses, friends, family and colleagues to prevent human trafficking and protect victims of slavery.

The conference involved a presentation by students from the Trevelyan School in Windsor. Organisations with speaking roles included Elmore, Thames Valley Police, Migrant Help, the Office of the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, the Human Trafficking Foundation, and a responsible car wash scheme.

Modern slavery includes the crimes of sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced labour, forced criminality and organ harvesting. Victims might be working for organised groups or family members, and in a range of settings. It can be a hidden crime and the nature of the coercive control used to enslave people means victims are often themselves unaware of the true nature of their exploitation. Victims can be too scared to report their abuse to police. As a result, it can be the support services victims turn to that have the most contact with them.

A report into the extent and nature of modern slavery in Oxford was published in February 2022. The report by Elmore, commissioned by Oxford City Council, found that slavery may be 200% higher than the level of cases reported to the police.

Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM, the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner until May 2022.

Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner from 2019 until May 2022, recently joined an Elmore podcast for a conversation about modern slavery. The podcast aims to raise awareness about modern slavery, how to spot the signs and report modern slavery, and the kind of support available to survivors.

In the Thames Valley, the Victims First Specialist Service (VFSS) commissioned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, provides specialist support for victims and witnesses of exploitation and modern slavery.

The service employs exploitation specialists to work with victims often in long-term interventions to help them rebuild their lives. If you would like to find out more or make a referral into the service please visit the Victims First website or talk to a member of the team directly on 01844 487987.

Co-chairs of the Oxfordshire Anti-Slavery Network, Oxford City Council’s Anti-Slavery Coordinator Nicola Bell and Elmore Chief Executive Tom Hayes, said: “Slavery is right here, right now, and our Network is committed to ending it and supporting victims. Slavery often takes place in plain sight, with vulnerable people working excessively long shifts, obviously undernourished, or in situations that just look wrong. Today we focused on how slavery can be stopped in its tracks and developed new plans to do just that.”

The Oxford Mail covered this news story here.