Vertical Markets

Coalition hails Modern Slavery Act

by Mark Rowe

The Coalition has hailed one of its last deeds: the passing of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, to address slavery and trafficking.

The new law covers support and protection for victims, law enforcement, punishment of perpetrators, and includes a provision to ‘encourage’ business to take action to see their end-to-end supply chains are slavery-free. How businesses – and what size of business the provision applies to – actually act to show that they are keeping their supply chains ‘slavery-free’, and what happens if they don’t, are to be worked out after the May 2015 general election.

The civil liberties campaign group Liberty however pointed to the tied overseas domestic workers visa ‘which has caused such misery to so many women’.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: “The presence of modern slavery in today’s society is an affront to the dignity and humanity of every one of us. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is an historic milestone. This landmark legislation sends the strongest possible signal to criminals that if you are involved in this vile trade you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be locked up. And it says to victims, you are not alone – we are here to help you. I want to pay tribute to the campaigners, organisations, and Parliamentarians of all parties for their hard work and determination to shine a light on this hidden crime and for helping to shape this law. Our work is far from over, and everyone in all sectors of society must play their part. But we as a nation can be proud that today we are closer to consigning slavery to the history books where it belongs.

The Act also establishes the UK’s first Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner. Kevin Hyland OBE said: “Through the passing of the Modern Slavery Act the UK has the opportunity to once again lead the fight against this cruel trade in human life. But we must be clear that this is just the first step. My role has been created to spearhead the UK’s response both domestically and internationally and to ensure agencies use the new legislation to its full potential, whilst crucially also calling to account those that fail to deliver.

“I will be working in close partnership with statutory bodies and civil society groups to both strengthen efforts to pursue and prosecute traffickers and slave drivers and to ensure that the needs of victims are met in all circumstances. A key focus must also be on more effective measures to prevent these crimes from ever occurring in the first place. I aim to achieve this through working closely with communities across the UK as well driving more intelligent upstream activity in the source countries from where large numbers of women, men and children are trafficked to this country.

The Home Office admits that modern slavery is a complex problem and legislation is only part of the solution. Alongside the passage of the Bill, the government published a Modern Slavery Strategy which includes work across government and law enforcement, and with other countries to tackle the problem at source, and awareness. The Salvation Army has been appointed to continue the provision of the government’s Victim Care Contract to manage the support of adult victims of modern slavery in England and Wales.

Related News

Newsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay on top of security news and events.

© 2024 Professional Security Magazine. All rights reserved.

Website by MSEC Marketing