UK: Charity receives record number of calls to modern slavery helpline in 2023, incl. 30% increase in victims in adult social care sector
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Modern slavery and exploitation are heinous crimes that have no place in a modern, progressive UK that cares about human rights…It is encouraging that we are continuing to see rising numbers of calls and contacts to the Helpline, indicating that we are succeeding in raising awareness of the issue and mobilising more people to act.Justine Carter, Director of Unseen
In April 2024, UK civil society organisation Unseen released its executive summary of its annual assessment of calls to its helpline during 2023. It says the helpline saw a record number of calls in 2023 and a 30% increase in victims in the UK adult social care sector. Further, while the overall number of modern slavery cases was less than in 2022, there were increases across all other types of cases, including a 11% increase in labour rights abuse.
The number of calls rose by 14% in comparison to the number of calls to the helpline in 2022, and the number of webforms received increased by 40%.
Labour exploitation was the most prevalent form of abuse, comprising 35% of all cases and 58% of potential victims.
The nationality most commonly reported was Indian, followed by Romanian, Albanian, Vietnamese, and Chinese. Indian workers were predominantly victims of labour exploitation in the care sector.
The report suggests more people may be contacting the helpline amid Government migration policies leading to undocumented workers potentially contacting the helpline for support. It highlights the care sector continued to be an industry of concern amid rising numbers of victims of abuse.