Abstract
Modern slavery is less overt than historical state-sanctioned slavery because psychological abuse is typically used to recruit and then control victims. The recent UK Draft Modern Slavery Bill, and current UK government anti-slavery strategy relies heavily on a shared understanding and public cooperation to tackle this crime. Yet, UK research investigating public understanding of modern slavery is elusive. We report community survey data from 682 residents of the Midlands of England, where modern slavery is known to occur, concerning their understanding of nonphysical coercion and human trafficking (one particular form of modern slavery). Analysis of quantitative data and themed categorization of qualitative data revealed a mismatch between theoretical frameworks and understanding of psychological coercion, and misconceptions concerning the nature of human trafficking. Many respondents did not understand psychological coercion, believed that human trafficking did not affect them, and confused trafficking with immigration. The public are one of the most influential interest groups, but only if well informed and motivated towards positive action. Our findings suggest the need for strategically targeted public knowledge exchange concerning this crime.
Highlights
Modern day slavery is akin to the state-sanctioned chattel slavery common in imperial Rome [1] and America in the 1600s [2]
The aims of the research were to collect a novel data set recording public perceptions and understanding of psychological coercion and human trafficking in the West Midlands, the objective being to shed some light on current awareness, which may feed into programmes to improve understanding
Little is known about public understanding of human trafficking despite the fact that the Modern Slavery Bill is imminently to become law, and the UK government’s human trafficking strategy postulates ‘shared responsibility’ whereby members of the public are charged with assisting the authorities to identify and report instances of this crime
Summary
Modern day slavery is akin to the state-sanctioned chattel slavery common in imperial Rome [1] and America in the 1600s [2]. In contrast to historical slavery systems characterized by whips, chains, and physical imprisonment, modern day slavery is less overt, typically with no obvious visible signs of restraint. Psychological abuse, coercion and mental manipulation play a powerful role in forcing modern day slaves to work in a variety of industries [3, 4]. Psychological abuse and coercion are easier to conceal than more physical forms of restraint and control and so modern slavery represents significant challenges in terms of both recognition and prevention. Over the past few years, prompted in part by the draft Modern Slavery bill [5], there have been a number of high profile calls for the UK public to ‘open their eyes and ears’ and assist the authorities in combating one form of modern slavery, namely human trafficking [6,7,8]Human
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