73 victims of modern slavery from Wales referred to The Salvation Army in the last year

73 PEOPLE from Wales have been identified as victims of modern slavery and referred into The Salvation Army’s specialist support service over the past year, a report released today has revealed.It comes ahead of Anti-Slavery Day (18 October), which aims to raise awareness of modern slavery and the victims of this appalling crime.

The number of people referred from Wales is a 9 percent drop on the same period a year ago, when 82 people were referred. 

The report outlines key data gathered during the seventh year of The Salvation Army’s UK Government contract through which it has managed the delivery of specialist support services to all adult victims of modern slavery in England and Wales since July 2011.

Across England and Wales, a total of 1,856 people were referred into the service – an increase of 19 percent compared with the same period a year ago – taking the total number of victims supported by the church and charity this year to 3,354.

The majority of victims were female with 1064 referred; 790 were males and two identified as transgender. The highest number of women were trafficked from Albania (308) and Nigeria (111), and the highest number of men were trafficked from Vietnam (130) followed by Romania (123) where there was a 173 percent increase on the previous year.

45 percent of victims were trafficked for labour exploitation, 42 percent for sexual exploitation, and 14 percent for domestic servitude.

The number of British adult victims nearly doubled in the past year with 86 referred between July 2017 and June 2018, up from 44 the year before – an increase of 95 percent. 

The Salvation Army saw a large increase in British victims referred following forced criminality in dealing drugs, often where traffickers used their addiction problems to coerce them. Their stories show how traffickers systematically target and exploit vulnerable people, those with mental health problems, people without secure family networks or experiencing homelessness or others with substance addiction.

Director of Anti Trafficking and Modern Slavery for The Salvation Army Kathy Betteridge says:

“The increase in the number of British victims referred in the past year is significant; many are being forced into criminality and exploited because of their vulnerabilities.

“We have supported people from 86 different countries and every story is different. What is important is that anyone in this situation right now needs to know we are here to help and support is available to keep them safe and help them move on with their lives.

“Our dedicated referral line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we strongly urge anyone who sees something which doesn’t look right, a person who seems to be in a situation against their will or without autonomy to please report it. 

“This is a crime that is happening right across the country and we all need to play a part in supporting victims and bringing it to an end.” 

The Salvation Army has held the UK Government contract to provide specialist support to adult victims of modern slavery in England and Wales for seven years and has supported more than 7,000 victims in that time.

The report outlines the work The Salvation Army and its partners are doing to improve outcomes for victims of modern slavery. This includes working with organisations from the point of referral to providing support once people leave its care, including Border Force, the Department of Work and Pensions, high street banks, the Crown Prosecution Service and commissioners of substance misuse services. 

The report covers how, alongside and often interlinked to the delivery of specialist support through its UK Government contract, The Salvation Army runs programmes in the UK and overseas to extend support available to protect potential victims and those rebuilding their lives after exploitation.

Victims seeking help have been trafficked to or within England and Wales and are referred to The Salvation Army’s service through a dedicated referral line 0300 303 8151 available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.