Exploitation of Vulnerable Groups: Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery

Throughout this essay it will explore two different types of vulnerable groups get exploited. Also be looking into how effective the investigative methods and legal process that are used to overcome certain obstacles to ensure that the safety of these vulnerable groups is maintained.

The two crimes where vulnerable people get exploited and those that will be discussing are Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery and the second type will be Domestic Violence.

Human trafficking is described as the movement of people, from children to adults and they are then forced into different environments. This movement could be meaning such as force, fraud, coercion or deception. This then would mean that the person who is making the victims do this has then the aim of exploiting them in many different ways (Unseen.Uk).

A person commits an offence of Modern Slavery if, the person holds another person in slavery or servitude and the circumstances are such that the person knows or ought to know that the other person is held in slavery or servitude. (Modern Slavery Act 2015).

In regard to this act it suggests that anyone commits an offence if they make someone no matter who this might be become a slave which is then against there wishes. This could be making them work in a nail salon, doing long hours for hardly any money but the reason they stay is due to fear and also the use of threatening behaviour they use to keep them there. This threatening behaviour could be anything from threatening them with violence to threatening them with violence towards there families.

A person commits an offence if the person arranges or facilitates the travel of another person who might then be exploited. They could commit an offence if they travel to recruit or transferring the other person against their wishes (Modern Slavery Act 2015).

An understanding of this would be the fact that if a person takes another person abroad in order for them to marry someone they do not know and then exploited this is an offence.

There are many different ways people can get trafficked and it doesn’t just happen in the UK. Some things that people get trafficked for is prostitution, forced labour, forced begging, domestic servitude and forced marriage (Anti-Slavery).

It is estimated that over 40.3 million people become victims of human trafficking and modern slavery and are trapped. 24.9 million people or victims were exploited for labour and 15.4 million were in forced marriages. (International Labour Organsiation).

Domestic Abuse victims experience a systematic pattern of behaviour and this is a way which the abuser which could be a family member or partner use to control the victim. There are several ways in which the abuser can control the victims, and these can be physically, emotionally, psychologically, financially and also sexually. A lot of the time the victims change the way they act in order to please their partner and this might be used to the fact they want the abuse or stop, or they are just scared and frightened of their partner (Refuge.org).

According to the Crime survey for England and Wales in March 2019 an estimated percentage of 5.7% of adults (2.4 million) experienced domestic abuse in the last year (Office for National Statistics 2019 ).

There are many other forms of exploitation such as, Forced and Arranged Marriages, Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), Elder Abuse, Hate Crime and Disability Crime. These are just some groups of vulnerable people that get exploited.

There have been numerous cases of human trafficking within the UK and example would be were two men were jailed for gang related human trafficking offences. Two gang members who ran a so-called “county line” drug network have been jailed for human trafficking offences. Mahad Yusuf, 20, and Fesal Mahamud, 19, pleaded guilty in December to trafficking a vulnerable 19-year-old woman who was forced to transport drugs from London to Swansea (Crown Prosecution Service 2018). This is just one of many cases where young girls and boy get forced into these sorts of situations.

On the 28th of October 2019 39 bodies were found on the back of lorry in Essex, these bodies were Vietnamese victims. The police confirmed that all the victims who were found were believed to have been involved in a global human trafficking network and have been taken from were there live in Vietnam. This example of human trafficking is a very recent case and shows that even though there are prevention orders in place it still doesn’t stop people trafficking those from a lower income back grounds and forcing them to move to what they think is a better life to provide for their families. The people who got arrested were charged with 39 counts of manslaughter as well as conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. Other offences that they got charged with is conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a break of U.K immigration law (The BBC 2019).

The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is a framework for identifying victims of Human Trafficking or Modern Slavery this then ensures that the victims receive the appropriate support. This was introduced in 2009 to meet the UK’s obligations under the council of European Convention on action against trafficking in humans (ECPAT.UK).

Between its inception in 2009 and September 2014 approximately 6,800 people were referred to the National Referral Mechanism (Home Office 2014).

There are some difficulties when it comes to either identifying the victims or getting the victim to open up about possible human trafficking that they might for be facing. Certain victims have struggles of their own which makes them a lot more vulnerable than others. these struggles could be dealing with poverty meaning there either homeless or come from a low-income family and other mental health issues. This then makes them vulnerable and those who are the traffickers look for people who they can “prey “ on meaning that they will use something which might solve or answer their problems. The trafficker may offer a young girl how is sleeping on the streets a place to live or they simply might offer love and support in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship (Bayer, B). This is then something that the victims is wanting as they may not of experienced this affection from someone before and after a while it then becomes the norm.

This is a difficulty for the police as those that are victims feel as though those that have trafficked them are there friends. Due to them not having bonds like this in their own personal lines they feel that this is there only way of making friends meaning the victim feels like it’s a norm.

There is a term called ‘Trauma Bonding’ and it describes a deep bond which forms between a victim and their abuser. Victims for human trafficking often develop a strong bond between themselves and the abuser and there will be a sense of loyalty towards the abuser (Parents Against Exploitation). This makes it difficult to then break the bond between the victim and the abuser. This idea of the trauma bonding also relates to other types of exploitation such at Child Sexual Exploitation, Domestic Abuse and Elder Abuse. Each of the victims of the different types of exploitation all create bond with their abuser and this is due to them being vulnerable and easily led to believing that these abusers are there friends and actually care for them. The trauma bonding relates a lot with Domestic Abuse as the victim creates a bond with their husband or boyfriend. The victim then feels safe with them and trusts, and loves thins individual.

There also has been a number of cases in relation to domestic abuse. In February 2009 Clare Wood was killed by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton and he was known to have history of violence to women. Her body was discovered in her home she had been strangled and set on fire (The BBC 2011).

In result of this the government released a law which allows police forces to disclose information to a potential victim and have a duty to protect members of public form domestic abuse.

A disclosure under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (Clare’s Law) may be generated by a: Right to know obligation on the police to disclose; or Right to ask application from a member of the public (Gov.uk 2013).

Clare Law is a vital part in people stopping domestic violence and it allows women or men to go and ask about their partner if they feel as though they might be violent or have history of domestic abuse.

There are many reasons why victims don’t come forward to the police and hold back information. A lot of the time victims don’t actually know or understand that they are a victim. The victim believes that this abuse is the norm and the victim may not know what a healthy relationship looks like and this started from when they were growing up, meaning when growing up they experienced abuse making them like when in happens in later life it is common and normal (The hotline.org). This then make it difficult for people such as the police to help them get out of an abusive relationship or slavery.

Another difficulty could be language barriers, a lot of the time those that get trafficked into slavery are those with a foreign nationality.

Many people who fall victim of trafficking want to escape poverty, improve their lives, and support their families. Often, they get an offer of a well-paid job abroad or in another region (AntiSlavery.org).

Having a language barrier makes it difficult for the victim to communicate with others, this might be to try and get help to get out of slavery. Another reason for language barrier being difficult is the fact that when they get help, they cannot communicate with the police that are trying to help them. However due to the police knowing that language barriers are common they have specialist that translate for them and this happens within the police stations and also within the courts if the trial goes to court (Crown Prosecution Service 2019 ).

Protecting family members is also a difficulty the police face when trying to engage with the victim. This is because sometimes the offender is a family member and the idea of the victim to speak and get their family member into trouble is hard for the victim to do. This is more common in forced marriage and arrange marriage situations, as the family members will force their daughters and sons into marrying someone they don’t want to. Due to the offender being a family member the victim will find it hard to expose them. Due to this there are protection orders that the police can put into place in order to stop force and arrange marriages from happening. These orders are Forced Marriage Protection Orders. An FMPO can be used to protect a person being forced into marriage or in a forced marriage. In order to apply for a FMPO they will need to agree with handing over passports and other travel documents, this will then stop intimidation or violence. They will also have to reveal where the person was meant to go which will stop them being taken aboard. If some breaches a forced marriage protection order is also a criminal offence and if your abuser is found guilty of breaching the order, they can be sentenced to prison for up to 5 years (GOV.UK 2013).

Sometimes the victims are scared to come to the police and to tell them what has happened. This isn’t just victims of domestic abuse or human trafficking it could be anything such as child sexual exploitation or forced and arranged marriages. Some of the reason they don’t come forward is the fear of losing their jobs, fear they won’t find another job, fear they will be passed over for a promotion, fear of being branded a troublemaker, fear of being blackballed in their industry, fear of their physical safety (Engel, B 2017).

This is general the case for domestic abuse victims and those that have experienced some kind of sexual assault or harassment.

A big problem for the police is the fact that victims do not come forwards and this is because the victims fear that they believe the police could not do anything about it and fear they have wasted their time. Victims who have little faith in the police system, believing it to be ineffective or inefficient, are less likely to report the crime (Thompson,J 2019).

Other victims of unreported crime may have worries about intimidation or reprisals if they involve outside authorities (Victim Support). This suggests that people fear that the offender will intimidate them if they find out they have reported them to the police. This is then why they don’t report as they feel that the backlash of this will be too much for the victim to handle.

Some of the ways police help victims and get them to speak out about their issues is by having specialist teams that understand the signs of domestic abuse and other sign of people getting exploited. The police also work in partnership with other organisations such as women’s aid in order to protect the victim and also children that have been involved. There is also a freephone which is available 24/7 and it the National Domestic Violence Helpline which is run in partnership between Women’s Aid and Refuge. From these phone calls the helpline flags up any concerns with the police (womensaid.org).

Another thing the police have in place are for domestic abuse victim’s police can offer domestic abuse protection orders (DVPO) or domestic abuse protection notices (DVPN). These notices are given if there has been a domestic incident that has happened, and these notices provided short term protection to the victim. This will be because an arrest has not been made but the police want the victim to feel safe so a positive action would be made like one of these notices whilst the investigation is taking place (College of Policing 2015).

Domestic abuse victims can also be referred by a MARCA application which is a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference. A MARAC will allow all the relevant agencies to share information and decide upon the most appropriate way to reduce or manage the identified risks around each case of Domestic Abuse that is the subject of a MARAC. This is in place to share information between partnerships and to make sure the victim is safe and not in any risk (Crichton,J, 2011).

Another way victim can get help and safety from their offender is by getting a restraining order against there partner. Section 12 of the Domestic Violence ,Crime and Victims Act 2004, came into force on 30th September 2009. This act previously permitted a criminal court to make a restraining order only when sentencing or of an offence of harassment or an offence of putting someone in fear. However, Section 12 of the Domestic Violence ,Crime and Victims Act gives any person mentioned in a restraining order the right to make representations in court if an application is made to vary or discharge that order (Crown Prosecution Service 2004).

There is also protection order in place for human trafficking and modern slavery victims and these are Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Order and the purpose of the prevention orders is to prevent slavery and human trafficking offences being committed by someone who has already committed such offences. This then protect the victim from getting trafficked again by the same offender, once they have trafficked someone they won’t if they are court traffic someone again.

As mentioned above there is the National Referral Mechanism is also in place to protect victims. The national referral mechanism (NRM) is a way of location or potentially identifying victims of either human trafficking or modern slavery. The NRM will allow the victims of human trafficking and modern slavery to get the support and protection that they need in order to get themselves away from this lifestyle or to help them rebuild their life after being a victim. The NRM is also allows other agencies to be involved which allows them to share information between each other in order to help someone or to assist victims (College of Policing 2015 ). If it involves a child they automatically get registered to the NRM however if it’s an adult they need to sign a consent form which then may become a difficulty for the police however the police need to form a relationship with the victim in order for them to trust the police which will get them to then consent to be referred to the mechanism.

To conclude from this essay, you can see that there are many difficulties that the police and other partnerships face when dealing with vulnerable victims that have been exploited. Such as language barriers, the idea that the victims don’t understand they are a victim, the victim wants to protect the offender due to their bond or the fact that they are a family member and finally the fact that they feel that they don’t want to both the police due to fear. However, the police have developed strategies in order to help prevent exploitation from happened and also if it does happen there are protections orders in place in order to prevent this happening again to them. They also work very closely with different partnership in order to support the victims through everything that they face, from court trails to life after the trail. These partnerships such as Women’s Aid and Domestic Abuse Helplines. This essay has only covered a few different types of exploitation but there are many other different forms, but they all have the same common themes when it comes to the difficulties and this is because ever type of an abuse is a form of exploitation.