Care sector concern as calls to anti-slavery helpline at record high
CALLS made to an anti-slavery helpline have reached a record high, with the number of potential victims in the care sector rising by almost a third and the first suspected cases of forced surrogacy reported.
There was a total of 11,700 contacts to the modern slavery and exploitation helpline in 2023, up by almost a fifth from 9,779 contacts in 2022.
Anti-slavery charity Unseen released UK-wide data ahead of its annual report, due to be published next week, showing that contacts to its helpline through calls, on its web form or through its app have risen “significantly” for the fourth year in a row.
In the care sector – an area which has for some time been seen as one of concern for exploitation of workers – the number of potential victims rose by 30 per cent to 918, up from 708 in 2022, Unseen said.
The charity said three potential victims of forced surrogacy had been indicated through the helpline last year – the first time that issue had come up and something the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner described as alarming.
One of the three cases was thought to involve various types of exploitation, the charity said, but gave no further details on any of the cases because of concerns about identifying them.
It defined forced surrogacy as involving a potential victim forced or coerced into carrying a pregnancy for another individual.
The overall rise in contacts to the helpline was described by the charity’s director Justine Carter as “indicating that we are succeeding in raising awareness of the issue and mobilising more people to act”.
But she warned that the “ever-increasing hostile environment” towards migrants and foreign workers in the UK could be putting people off reporting concerns for fear of deportation.
Giving a breakdown by police force area, Unseen said there were 99 modern slavery potential victims and 52 cases reported in Scotland, 93 potential victims and 11 cases in Northern Ireland, 811 potential victims and 259 cases in London and 90 potential victims and 19 cases in South Wales.
The latest data showed that while contacts to the helpline were up there was a fall in the number of potential victims reported – down 10 per cent to 5,876 in 2023 – and the number of modern slavery cases reported – down 16 per cent to 2,185 last year.