Sabrina Hewitt is an entrepreneur and mum of three. She is also a survivor of modern slavery. As a child, Sabrina was exploited by a family member and as a teenager she was groomed by a boyfriend and forced into county lines. Sabrina has now produced a film with the Yorkshire-based charity Causeway, to share her story and kick-off the charity’s latest fundraising campaign, which culminates with September’s Sheffield 10k.
It’s estimated that over 50 million people around the world are currently trapped in modern slavery, with more than 100,000 of those in the UK. Sabrina Hewitt is a modern slavery survivor and long-term supporter of Causeway, a charity which help people from across our region. She has now partnered with Causeway to share her own story as part of their Survivors: Life Beyond Exploitation campaign.
Causeway is one of the largest providers of modern slavery support in the UK, and the campaign aims to raise awareness of modern slavery by empowering survivors to tell their own stories in their own words. The campaign is also appealing for people across Yorkshire to take on the Sheffield Mutual Sheffield 10k run on Sunday 29 September. Causeway is welcoming supporters old and new to join it in taking on this fundraiser as part of ‘Team Causeway’, to support modern slavery survivors in the region.
Sabrina’s story
When Sabrina looks back at her own childhood, she recalls an upbringing filled with violence and fear. From a young age, she was scared of lots of the adults around her.
“My home life wasn’t good at all. There was a lot of domestic violence. We weren’t cared for or looked after in the way you expect children to be. I remember once waking up to armed police, it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced. From a really young age I’d be running away from home. I just wanted to be out of that environment.”
As the eldest sibling, Sabrina often found herself particularly exposed to the trauma and abuse that was happening. Before she’d even turned ten, one of Sabrina’s family member began using her to carry drugs.
“A close family member of mine was a prolific drug dealer in the area. From about eight, they’d take me out and make me hold drugs for them. I didn’t even know I had drugs on me most of the time.”
Sabrina was later taken into care, and when she was 16 years old she was then moved into an adult hostel. It was here that Sabrina was exposed to another situation of exploitation. This time, by a new boyfriend she met whilst living there.
“I hadn’t even turned 17 when I was moved to live in a hostel with all these adults. Looking back now, I was still just a child. I met a man who was living in the hostel, and we began a relationship. It was textbook grooming. He played the boyfriend role very well, but it’s only when I look back that I see he was manipulating and grooming me.”
Sabrina’s relationship became abusive, however by this point she felt both scared of her boyfriend and isolated, with no support network and nowhere else to go. He began criminally exploiting her. Sabrina was forced to help her boyfriend and his gang with their drug deals, and was groomed into county lines.
“That relationship became violent. My boyfriend would be really aggressive and threatening. He had weapons. I was first made to hide and carry drugs for them. I was then sent around the country doing drug runs across the drug supply network.”
Crime and coercion
Criminal exploitation refers to a person being forced to take part in criminal activity against their will or through coercion. The majority of UK victims are British nationals, often teenagers and vulnerable adults. Whilst higher numbers of those identified as criminal exploitation victims are male, Causeway is keen to emphasise that it can also affect females, as Sabrina’s story demonstrates.
Sabrina’s exploitation continued for a number of years. She was then arrested and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. At this point, Sabrina hadn’t yet acknowledged or come to terms with the exploitation and grooming that she’d experienced. This realisation came when she was in prison.
“When I went to jail, I was separated from my children. Not being able to be with them is the worst thing I’ve been through. It made me determined to turn my life around for when I got out. I worked on educating myself about everything that had happened. This is when I realised I’d been exploited, and began to understand what modern slavery and criminal exploitation is.”
Making a difference
When Sabrina was released from prison, she started volunteering with young people at risk of criminal exploitation and county lines. This led to a paid role, and soon Sabrina began to build a career as a caseworker, focusing on at-risk young people and victims of exploitation.
Sabrina is currently studying a postgraduate degree in London in modern slavery, organised crime and human trafficking. She has also setup her own business called SH Consultancy and Training, where she consults and delivers training on county lines and exploitation to professionals that work with at-risk young people. Sabrina is determined to create the change needed so others don’t go through what she did.
“I don’t want all of my experiences to be in vain. Knowing my story could potentially help save the life of a young person gives me this extra drive to keep doing what I’m doing. Modern slavery and exploitation is hidden in plain sight. It can take many forms, and it’s happening everywhere we go”, Sabrina said.
How to get involved
Those interested in signing up for the Sheffield Mutual Sheffield 10k fundraising run as part of ‘Team Causeway’, can email fundraise@wearecauseway.org.uk. Causeway’s CEO, Helen Ball, said:
“We are really grateful to have Sabrina as a committed Causeway supporter, and for her to be bravely telling her own story for our new campaign. We strongly believe that modern slavery survivors need to be empowered and given the agency to tell their own stories in their own words. Sabrina is an inspiration, and everything she has gone on to do over the years is truly remarkable.
“The survivors of modern slavery that Causeway support are still in the very early stages of their recovery journey. They often arrive into our care with few or no belongings, shattered confidence, and isolated from their support networks. We need to raise additional funds to continue our work supporting survivors in the region. ‘Team Causeway’ are going to be our mammoth Yorkshire running squad who will be coming together to take on the Sheffield 10k fundraiser in September. We’re actively looking for new supporters to sign-up to run with us – so please get in touch!”
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