Modern slavery is believed to affect up to 130,000 people at any one time in the UK – and that number is on the increase. When someone is forced, tricked, or coerced into working for free or for drastically reduced wages so that others can profit, this could constitute modern slavery. It’s important to realise that this isn’t just something that happens to foreign nationals; it happens to Britons too.
Criminals are thought to make millions of pounds from the exploitation of vulnerable people. But, as usual, it is the wider public that shoulders the financial and societal burden. Anti-slavery charity Unseen estimates the annual cost of policing trafficking gangs and providing victim support, including NHS care, in the UK at £60bn
Sheffield based anti-slavery charity, Causeway works closely with communities across South Yorkshire to provide frontline support to thousands of survivors of modern slavery, trafficking and exploitation. Causeway’s support includes safe houses, outreach programmes, trauma-informed support, and advocacy to help individuals rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.
Identifying labour exploitation
The type of modern slavery most reported in the UK is labour exploitation. It can occur in any industry but is mostly associated with low wage, low skill, high staff turnover sectors like hospitality, agriculture or construction.
Dr Matthew Young, Causeway’s Research, Policy and Participation lead, said: “Labour exploitation comes in a variety of forms, but at its heart, it involves someone working for free or extremely low wages, due to fear of reprisals from their abuser.
At its most extreme, it can see people being forced to work up to 19 hours a day, day in, day out, for years on end, for free, whilst being threatened with, or subjected to, extreme violence or emotional abuse.
The most mainstream form, however, is people working in legitimate roles and businesses, but who are having their wages stolen under the guise of paying back a never-ending debt, usually to a bogus agency who tricked them.”
Help from an online tool
Causeway regularly hears from individuals who report working 16-hour days for 30 days straight, only to receive the equivalent of £1 per hour. This is a particular problem in the care sector. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority reported a 400% surge in abuse allegations after care workers were added to the Health and Care Worker Visa Scheme shortage occupation list. Similarly, the Modern Slavery Helpline saw a 606% rise in social care casework in 2022, largely due to rogue agencies charging illegal recruitment fees and trapping workers in debt bondage.
In 2024 (the latest figures) over 6,000 people, mostly male, accessed support for labour exploitation.
In response to the situation, Causeway has launched an online Labour Exploitation Risk Checker that takes the form of an anonymous questionnaire. This, and Causeway’s other tool which identifies criminal and sexual exploitation, were designed to help people recognise the signs of exploitation in themselves or others, understand their situation and find the right support.
Two people being supported by Causeway were encouraged to come to the UK from Africa by an employment agency advertising roles in care homes, and dealing with the necessary admin, including arranging UK working visas. Having been tricked into paying fees which were later deducted from their wages, they became trapped in poverty.
Sande’s experience
Sande (not her real name) left her home in Zimbabwe with high hopes.
“At first, I liked it,” said Sande. “It was a peaceful place with welcoming people. I started work as a healthcare assistant and would leave home at five am to catch the bus, then come home around 10pm. I used to work every day as I was not permitted a day off.”
For 30 days’ straight work, Sande was paid just £441, not enough to cover rent, bills, food, travel, clothes and toiletries. Unsurprisingly, Sande fell behind and got into more ‘debt’ with her agency.
“When I told my sponsor that I ran out of money … he said I owed him money for the lawyer’s fee, solicitor’s fee, and admin fee when processing my visa.” Her UK working visa was tied to her employer, who could revoke it at any time.
Sande was relying on the support of local charities to survive before she was referred to Causeway.
Omar’s experience
Like Sande, Omar (not his real name) replied to an advert promising UK visas, good salaries and accommodation for a care sector job. Omar’s family pooled their savings to pay for his travel, hoping he would be able to send enough money home to make their sacrifice worth it.
Omar had been told he would work 40 hours a week and earn £25,000 a year, looking after elderly people in the community. He ended up working seven days a week, from 4am to 11pm. His first month’s pay was just £300.
“The agency suddenly said we owed them solicitors fees, rent, cleaning and transport costs. When I complained they threatened to revoke my visa and send me home,” said Omar.
Feeling trapped and indebted to his family as well as the agency, he spent seven months working 18-hour shifts with barely a break.
“I was told that if I worked more days, worked harder, I could expect more pay. So last December, I worked 29 out of 31 days. But the pay came and I still got next to nothing; no more than £500 … but they still said I owed them fees.”
A tipoff about the agency’s exploitation of workers resulted in a police raid and in Omar being referred to Causeway.
Real experiences
Causeway’s new online tools were developed alongside people who have experienced exploitation, making them insightful and relevant. One man who helped developed the risk checker, said: “People think modern slavery doesn’t happen in the UK or that it doesn’t happen to British nationals. When I used to see posters and information, I would think that’s not me, that doesn’t apply to me. But slowly you start to realise you’re being coerced, your friends and family are being threatened, you’re having things taken from you and being controlled and followed.
Being involved with lived-experience projects means I have the opportunity to share my insight into what happens. It starts with your time and then your money and then your sanity and then your freedom.”
Adapted from a press release.
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