Captives held by ‘invisible handcuffs’

Case of women kept in bondage for 30 years one of the worst seen by UK police

THE arrest of a British couple for enslaving three women for more than 30 years has put the spotlight on slavery in the developed world.

A man and a woman, both aged 67 and believed to be Asian, were arrested in Lambeth, south London, this week after a charity was contacted by one of the women in October.

She claimed to have been held against her will for three decades, along with two other women.

The suspects were released on bail to a date in January after several hours of questioning.

It has emerged that the three women were held by “invisible handcuffs” because of the fear instilled in them by their captors. Detectives said the victims had been “brainwashed” and had described a “complicated and disturbing picture of emotional control over many years”, which might take months to understand.

The case, which the police said was among the worst they had seen in Britain, is reminiscent of the discovery in May of three women at the home of Ariel Castro in Cleveland, Ohio, in the US. They were missing for about a decade.

In 2009, Josef Fritzl, the Austrian who imprisoned his daughter in a secret cellar for 24 years and killed one of the seven children he fathered with her, was jailed for life.

“We are shocked, but unfortunately not surprised. Modern slavery is all too common all over the world and in the UK,” said Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International.

The group “found that, too often, people trafficked from outside of the European Union are treated merely as illegal immigrants, rather than victims of a serious crime”.

The UK government estimates that there are about 4 000 people being held in slavery in the country, according to the London-based charity.

Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland of the Metropolitan Police’s human-trafficking unit said: “Although we do not believe that they have been subjected to sexual abuse, we know that there has been physical abuse, described as beatings.

“However, there is nothing to suggest that the suspects were violent towards others outside of the address.”

The youngest woman has spent her whole life in the house, but she is understood to have had some form of basic education.

The three women were allowed to leave the house only under carefully controlled circumstances and were said to be terrified of their captors. Detectives said that far from living in isolation, the group were probably known to the authorities, including social services.

It has also been reported that one of the women was denied medical attention after suffering a stroke.

One of the victims, an Irish woman, called Freedom Charity on October 18 after seeing a BBC documentary, police said.

Calls to Freedom Charity were not immediately returned.

According to a UK government report on human trafficking, 1 186 people were identified as victims in 2012, an increase of 25% from the previous year.

“Modern slavery has been allowed to grow and develop in

We are shocked, but not surprised. Modern slavery is common all over the world

the UK because of demand,” said Andrew Wallis, CEO of the anti-slavery group Unseen, in a report earlier this year.

“Together we have allowed human beings to be bought and sold as mere commodities for profit, gain or gratification.”

In October, the UK Home Office said the maximum sentence for trafficking-related offences would be increased to life imprisonment as part of the Modern Slavery Bill.

The law is scheduled to be published in draft form this year.

The bill would “send the strongest possible message to criminals that if you are involved in this disgusting trade in human beings, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be locked up”, said James Brokenshire, the crime and security minister, at the time. —