The government has announced a package of fresh support to
assist child victims of modern slavery and fund innovative
ways to improve our response to this abhorrent crime.
During a speech to the McCain Institute in London, where
she was presented with an award in recognition of her work
fighting modern slavery, Prime Minister announced a £5 million
fund to test new approaches to tackling this crime.
The fund is now open for applications, and is the second
round of an £11 million Modern Slavery Innovation Fund
designed to build the evidence base around new approaches
to tackle modern slavery around the world. So far it has
supported projects such as GoodWeave and AllianceHR to
tackle modern slavery in supply chains linked to UK
companies in India and South Africa, and The Salvation Army
and Retrak which are supporting victims in Nigeria, the
Philippines and Ethiopia.
Speaking at the event last night Prime Minister said:
More than 40 million men, women and children are
suffering in modern slavery across the world, with
between 10,000 and 13,000 in the UK alone.
That is why - first as Home Secretary and now as Prime
Minister - I made tackling modern slavery a personal
mission.
The announcement comes as Minister for Crime, Safeguarding
and Vulnerability announced to Parliament that the latest
Independent Child Trafficking Advocates scheme, run in
partnership with Barnardo’s, would officially open next
week in the West Midlands. So far, the early adopter sites
have helped over 200 children who are potential victims of
modern slavery access support and help as they rebuild
their lives.
Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate yesterday, Minister
for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability said:
It is horrendous that victims of modern slavery have
their freedom denied and that is why this government is
absolutely determined to do all we can to tackle this
crime.
Today, I am delighted to announce that the Independent
Child Trafficking Advocates service will be extended to
children in the West Midlands next week. These advocates
provide invaluable specialist support to child victims of
modern slavery.
The minister also announced that the service will be rolled
out to help children in the East Midlands from January
2019, and in Croydon from April 2019. Last year, across the
three new sites over 480 children were referred into the
National Referral Mechanism.
Barnardo’s Chief Executive Javed Khan said:
We are really pleased the Home Office has announced the
expansion of our Independent Child Trafficking Advocates
Service to vulnerable children in the West Midlands, East
Midlands and Croydon.
It’s crucial all trafficked children get the help they
need to recover from the exploitation and trauma they
have suffered. And children at risk of this horrific
crime must be protected from harm.
By developing this much-needed service we will be able to
support more children who are trafficked into the UK or
from one part of the UK to another. We will also be able
to upskill more professionals working with children to
understand their vulnerabilities, including the risk of
being trafficked internally.
