Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC)

Two fantastic new opportunities to join the Modern Slavery PEC team!

Policy Impact Lead: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Research Programmes Lead: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Definitions of child exploitation We strive for a world where people are protected from modern slavery by effective, evidence-based policies.

✅Research was led by @ecpatuk.bsky.social w. support of Freshfields LLP.
✅It was commissioned by the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and @modernslaverypec.bsky.social at @ox.ac.uk, in turn funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
www.modernslaverypec.org/resources/de...

Recommendations

The report calls on the UK Government to introduce a clear, statutory definition of child exploitation and a national child exploitation strategy.

Cartoon of an adult and a child

☝️Age is a factor which clouds practice, for example the legal age of sexual consent being a barrier in the identification of child sexual exploitation for 16- and 17-year-olds.
👉85% of the children who had their NRM cases rejected on the definitional grounds were aged 15-17

A diagram showing a route between two points

☝️In contrast to the international definition, domestic legal definitions of human trafficking focus on travel, which leads to UK practice often applying narrower thresholds and excluding children exploited online or locally.

Two hands reaching towards each other

☝️Statutory definition of CSE and guidance definition of CCE include coercion, deception or manipulation
☝️International definitions of trafficking underline children can never consent to being exploited.
☝️It means children often treated as making ‘choices’

Hand held up

Definitions of different forms of child exploitation (criminal, labour, domestic, sexual) entail different elements in separate parts of legislation & statutory guidance, causing confusion:
👉 children not identified
👉investigations & prosecutions affected.

For example...👇

Key findings

The report found that out of 1,396 negative decisions for child referrals into the NRM in 2024, over 61% were rejected on the grounds that the case did not meet the definitional threshold required to proceed.

NEW RESEARCH!
Inconsistent definitions of child exploitation are undermining the identification and protection of children who were exploited in forms such as sexual, labour and criminal exploitation, or domestic servitude.
👇
www.modernslaverypec.org/resources/de...

Sign up for this FREE lunchtime seminar to mark the launch of our research report -

More than Words: how definitions impact on the UK’s response to child trafficking and exploitation

ICYMI: sign up to our event launching new research on definitions of child exploitation.

📅 Tue 22 July, 12.30
👩‍💻Speakers:
👩‍💻 Eleanor Lyons, UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner
👩‍💻 Laura Duran & Patricia Durr, @ecpatuk.bsky.social

👇
www.modernslaverypec.org/latest/lunch...

Readiness to work as prevention of re-trafficking We strive for a world where people are protected from modern slavery by effective, evidence-based policies.

Our funded research project, led by @rightslab.bsky.social with @sophiehayesfnd.bsky.social, evaluates how SHF's employability programme providing women survivors with employment skills works to prevent re-trafficking amongst survivors of modern slavery.
👇
www.modernslaverypec.org/research-pro...

Today is World Youth Skills Day, recognising the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment and decent work.

For people who experienced modern slavery, access to decent work is a key factor in rebuilding their lives and be protected from exploitation.

Hackathon 2025 is a global online innovation competition by the AI against Modern Slavery (AIMS) initiative (from @mila-quebec.bsky.social), which uses large language models (LLMs) to analyse modern slavery statements by major corporations.

Find out more:
fundacionpasoslibres.org/aimshackathon/

NEW EVENT! Definitions of child exploitation.

📅 Tue 22 July, 12.30
👩‍💻 Presentation: Laura Duran, @ecpatuk.bsky.social
👩‍💻 Opening: Eleanor Lyons, UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner
👩‍💻 Closing: Patricia Durr, ECPAT UK.

👇
www.modernslaverypec.org/latest/lunch...

Gaps in policies and services put children with SEND at risk of… Press release: children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation due to gaps in policies and…

Read more about the research on children with SEND being at a higher risk of exploitation below.

Prof. Anita Franklin, who led this study, was one of the signatories of the letter to the Guardian.
www.modernslaverypec.org/latest/gaps-...

It’s important to note that - as PEC-funded research led by
@manmetuni.bsky.social points out - children with SEND are exposed to greater risks of grooming & exploitation. The report called for a strategy to prevent children with SEND from being exploited and increased support resources.

The right to an education, health and care plan must be retained | Letters Letter: Jane Asher, Carrie Grant, Chris Packham, Anna Bird, Fazilet Hadi, Sally Phillips, Jon Sparkes and 100 others call on the government not to remove the right to an EHCP from children attending m...

Over 100 campaigners, academics & parents of children with special needs and disabilities (SEND) called on the Government not to scrap the education, health and care plans (EHCPs), which outline a child's needs and the support they need.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Preventing debt bondage in healthcare supply chains We strive for a world where people are protected from modern slavery by effective, evidence-based policies.

The team, incl. a worker consultant, spoke on benefits & challenges of survivor engagement, and on strategies to mitigate potential risks.

The project is by @bsmsmedschool.bsky.social, @newcastleuni.bsky.social‬, Impactt Limited &
@unseenuk.bsky.social
👇
www.modernslaverypec.org/research-pro...

We are delighted to report that the team behind our funded research on preventing debt bondage in the healthcare supply chains spoke at the ILO Regulating Decent Work Conference in Geneva on the ‘Worker Voice and Labour Governance’ panel on including survivors in the research
🧵

Ten years on, have we moved Beyond Trafficking and Slavery? We started BTS in 2014 to help everyone better understand the root causes of exploitation. Did we succeed?

. beyondslavery.bsky.social by openDemocracy is marking its 10th anniversary by publishing a series of articles taking stock of the anti-trafficking field.

TBS has been a crucial critical voice to the “modern slavery sector” and this series is a must-read.
👇
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...

Congratulations to Jane Lasonder, member of our Lived Experience Advisory Panel, who spoke about meaningfully engaging people with lived experience of exploitation in the work and policies addressing modern slavery at the UN Global Forum for Human Trafficking Survivors by UNODC.

LAST CALL for our lunchtime seminar today at 12.30 👇

📣 Identifying Child Criminal Exploitation in Northern Ireland

👩‍💻🧑‍💻 Dr Gillian Kane from Ulster University and Andrew Chisholm from the International Organization for Migration United Kingdom.

Register: www.modernslaverypec.org/latest/lunch...

In her speech, Jane will touch on the need to include people with lived experience of exploitation in policies on modern slavery in a meaningful way, with adding lived experience councils at the heart of organisations as one of the first steps towards it.

We are proud that Jane Lasonder, member of our Lived Experience Advisory Panel, will speak today at the first-ever United Nations Global Forum for Human Trafficking Survivors 'Voices of Resilience' organised by UNODC (Office on Drugs and Crime).

Read & watch here 👇
www.unodc.org/unodc/en/hum...

If we want to prevent modern slavery, we must start with preventing homelessness Nearly half of the survivors supported by Westminster charity The Passage's modern slavery service were homeless when they were recruited.

Mick Clarke of ‪@passagecharity.bsky.social, and Eleanor Lyons, the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, write on preventing exploitation in the context of homelessness, following their report earlier this week.

www.bigissue.com/opinion/mode...

Towards principles for equitable engagement Research on equitable engagement of lived experience, with six separate reports from four continents.

This is the team behind the research on equitable engagement of lived experience in development work by
@livunipol.bsky.social. The speakers include Sophie Otiende, @christianashnc.bsky.social, Benedetta Rossi (UCL) & Yuki Lo (Freedom Fund).
Report: www.modernslaverypec.org/resources/to...

25-27 June 2025: Panel timetable Accepted panels for DSA2025 conference at Bath

We’re looking forward to the conference by
@devcomms.bsky.social ‘Navigating crisis - dangers and opportunities in development’, 25–27 June.

Our team is convening a roundtable on the intersection of development work and interventions to address modern slavery. 👇
www.devstud.org.uk/conference/c...

Preventing debt bondage in healthcare supply chains We strive for a world where people are protected from modern slavery by effective, evidence-based policies.

📢 NEW PROJECT! A research project by @bsmsmedschool.bsky.social, @newcastleuni.bsky.social‬, Impactt Limited & @unseenuk.bsky.social is evaluating the effectiveness of the Employer Pays Principle (EPP) in preventing debt bondage in healthcare supply chains.
👇
www.modernslaverypec.org/research-pro...

Important research from the Passage Charity in partnership with the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner on prevention of exploitation in the context of homelessness, is being published on Monday, still time to register! 👇
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/8a21f1...