Modern Slavery: 

Statutory Guidance for England & Wales (published June 2021) CLICK HERE to read the full document

Modern Slavery is a serious and often hidden crime in which people are exploited for criminal gain. The impact can be devastating for the victims. Modern slavery comprises slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking. There were an estimated 40 million people in slavery globally in 2016 and 10,000 –13,000 potential victims in the UK, however many victims are not identified or reported. The common factors are that a victim is, or is intended to be, used or exploited for someone else’s (usually financial) gain, without respect for their human rights. The perpetrators seeking to take advantage of them could be private individuals, running small businesses or part of a wider organised crime network. For adult victims, there will be some element of coercion involved, such as threats, use of force, deception, or abuse of power. For example, perpetrators may:

• Find out personal information about the victim and then use threats against their family in order to manipulate and control the victim.
• Use the victim’s fears about their immigration status to control them.
• Deceive them with false promises of legitimate jobs.

There are many more examples. Victims may appear to give consent, but in reality they have little ability to choose leave the exploitative situation and the perpetrators have still committed a crime. Child victims and vulnerable adults are not able to give informed consent and therefore exploitation even without any element of coercion could constitute modern slavery.

Gloucestershire Anti Slavery Partnership

The Gloucestershire Anti Slavery Partnership is a multi-agency response to the evils of human trafficking and modern slavery within the county.

Bringing together a number of key local agencies that could come into contact with potential victims and perpetrators of these crimes, the purpose of the partnership is to tackle these issues at a local level through strategic collaboration, information and intelligence sharing, in accordance with the Government’s 4Ps modern slavery strategy: Pursue, Protect, Prevent and Prepare. 

CLICK HERE to read more

Free Modern Slavery training available for all staff, partners and members CLICK HERE for more information

CLICK HERE to read The Children's Society Guide for Professionals

THIS LINK Brings together documents and promotional material related to the government’s work to end modern slavery

Keeping Children Safe in Education

The Department for Education (DfE) has  published the ‘for information’ version of Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021. This comes in to effect on 1st September 2021. (Schools will use the current version until then.)  The Gloucestershire Safeguarding in Education Team have produced a briefing on the changes coming into force in September 2021.

Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2021-2024

Violence against women and girls is an unacceptable, preventable issue which blights the lives of millions. Crimes of violence against women and girls are many and varied. They include rape and other sexual offences, stalking, domestic abuse, ‘honour-based’ abuse (including female genital mutilation and forced marriage and ‘honour’ killings), ‘revenge porn’ and ‘upskirting’, as well as many others. While different types of violence against women and girls have their own distinct causes and impacts on victims and survivors, what these crimes share is that they disproportionately affect women and girls.

The strategy focuses on priority areas:

• Understanding Violence Against Women and Girls
• Prioritising prevention
• Supporting victims
• Pursuing perpetrators
• A stronger system
• Delivery

CLICK HERE to read the full Strategy