Today on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, the council has launched its Modern Slavery Plan, to help tackle modern slavery in the borough.
Modern slavery is the exploitation of people who have been forced, deceived, or coerced into a life of labour and servitude. There are an estimated 100,000 people in slavery across the UK, and experts think this number is an underestimate.
Through the Modern Slavery Plan, the council will work with partners to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable people in Haringey, increase identification of victims, and provide support to those who have been affected.
The strategy prioritises the following areas:
- Data and Intelligence: analysing the local evidence base to ensure that we can understand the scale of issues relating to modern slavery in Haringey
- Awareness and Training: a training to equip Haringey staff and residents to spot the signs of modern slavery
- Reporting Concerns: a network of Haringey Council specialists, trained to refer a potential victim to the National Referral Mechanism
- Support for Victims: a referral pathway to help victims get the support they need
- Disruption, Prosecution and Procurement: investigations into our supply chains to work out where hidden exploitation might be happening
- Community Engagement: working with the community to raise awareness of modern slavery and increase identification and referral of potential victims
Modern slavery can take many forms including sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude, and criminal exploitation.
Spotting the signs
Someone in modern slavery might:
- appear to be under the control of someone else and reluctant to interact with others
- not have personal identification on them
- have few personal belongings, wear the same clothes every day or wear unsuitable clothes for work
- not be able to move around freely
- be reluctant to talk to strangers or the authorities
- appear frightened, withdrawn, or show signs of physical or psychological abuse
- dropped off and collected for work always in the same way, especially at unusual times, i.e. very early or late at night
Cllr Sarah James, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said:
“The sad truth is that Modern Slavery is happening today in every single part of the UK, and we continue to see the numbers rise each year.
“At Haringey we are determined to stamp this out and prevent vulnerable people from falling victim to Modern Slavery.
“If you need help, we can help you to get the support you need, please email [email protected] or 0208 489 1802 for access our confidential service. I also urge the community to come forward if they suspect that someone may be victim of Modern Slavery.”
Learn more about what the council is doing to tackle Modern Slavery.
If you believe someone may be a victim of modern slavery: contact Modern Slavery Coordinator on [email protected] or 0208 489 1802 You should also:
- Call or email the Haringey First Response Team on 020 8489 1400/ [email protected] to report a concern about an Adult
- Contact the Haringey Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 020 8489 4470 to report a concern about a child (under 18)
- Call 999 if there is immediate danger
