HTF Advisory Forum Newsletter 11th December

Posted on 11 December 2024

Human Trafficking Foundation – Advisory Forum Newsletter View this email in your browser

Advisory Forum Newsletter   This newsletter is an opportunity for Human Trafficking Foundation (HTF) Forum members to publicise events, projects, research, campaigns and job opportunities. You can see recordings or download minutes of our previous events here.  This fortnightly newsletter goes out to over 1,600 individuals working in anti-trafficking. To share information for the newsletter, please contact [email protected].     Announcements   Save the Date: Human Trafficking Foundation Advisory Forum HTF invites you to join our upcoming in-person Advisory Forum which provides an opportunity for anyone working in the anti-trafficking space to come together, network and hear the latest updates on modern slavery policy and practice. The event will be held on Wednesday 26th February at 1 Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8HQ. Details on how to book your space will be published in the coming weeks so please save the date until then. In preparation for the event, we invite interested attendees to complete a short survey to make suggestions for topics, speakers and format. Access the form here. Deadline: COP Monday 23rd December.   LEAP Survivor Identification Tool Survey The Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) are developing a Survivor Identification Tool (SIT) to assist survivors self-identify when being interviewed in justice and law enforcement settings. Poorly carried out interviews can be intrusive and require people to relive their trauma. This often leads to non-engagement, reinforces victim blaming and makes survivors feel questioned rather than interviewed. The SIT will help communication in interview settings between all participants. This survey will help guide the contents and format of the tool. Responses will not be for public use, and no individual or organisation will be identified publicly. Deadline: Wednesday 8th January. Fill in the survey here. Historic Increase in Legal Aid The Ministry of Justice has announced that subject to consultation, an additional £20 million will be invested into the legal aid sector every year, once fully implemented, making sure vulnerable people forced into unfair housing legal battles and at risk of losing their home have access to legal advice. The investment will also support lawyers who provide advice to victims of modern slavery and trafficking. A consultation on these increases will launch in January and forms part of the government’s wider plans to make the legal aid sector more sustainable and tackle the backlog in civil courts. Survey: Support Workers on the Voluntary Return and Reintegration of Survivors  The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is inviting support workers working with survivors of modern slavery across the UK to complete this research survey, which is part of the ‘Improving Reintegration Outcomes for Survivors of Modern Slavery’ project, funded by the Home Office’s Modern Slavery Unit. The survey will take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete and can be completed anonymously. Access the survey here. Deadline: Friday 27th December.     Reports and Publications Improving the Estimate of Trafficking in Human Beings and Modern Slavery  This new research by Royal Holloway, and Lancaster University, provides an improved global estimate of the amount of trafficking in human beings and modern slavery, by integrating data from the International Labour Organization, Walk Free and International Organization for Migration, with administrative data from the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime, rather than from the Counter Trafficking Global Data Collaborative. The new estimate is more than 30% larger. Read the full research paper here.  Sexual Exploitation and Sex Work Briefing This new briefing from After Exploitation, Anti-Slavery International, Decrim Now, English Collective of Prostitutes, Freedom United and UCL Security and Crime Science outlines the dangers of conflating trafficking, modern slavery and sexual exploitation with all prostitution or sex work. It addresses the issues of the terms ‘sex work’ and ‘sexual exploitation’ being used interchangeably. It also explores the harm caused to both victims and sex workers by further criminalisation. Read the briefing here. Proceed Without Caution: The Impact of ‘Prostitute’s Cautions’ and Convictions on Sex Workers Thousands of women in the UK have received a ‘prostitute’s caution’ and/or been convicted for prostitution offences. A new report from the English Collective of Prostitutes was launched in the House of Commons on 12th November. This community-based research was conducted by sex workers, many of whom have convictions themselves, who interviewed their colleagues and friends on the lifelong and devastating impact of ‘prostitute’s cautions’ and convictions on their lives. Read the report here. Modern Slavery & Organised Immigration Crime (MSOIC) Programme Annual Report 2023/24 The MSOIC have published their 2023/34 Annual Report. It outlines training events and reviews that have been pivotal in empowering officers with the skills and knowledge to lead on their work. Read the report here.  MSOIC Unit Investigations Overview November 2024 The Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit have published their Non-LEA Overview of Live Modern Slavery Investigations in UK Policing for November 2024. This document is produced to help inform the work that non-law enforcement agencies are doing in response to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. Read the data here.  The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel – I wanted them all to notice Between 2018 and 2023, the independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel received over 130 reviews which featured child sexual abuse in the family environment. The Panel considered that the volume of incidents and the severity and complexity of the issues highlighted required further exploration and analysis. This national review set out to explore the challenges that feature in the identification, assessment and response to child sexual abuse within the family environment. It recommends changes to local and national multi-agency safeguarding policy and practice to better reflect evidence about how to protect children and support family members. Read the review here.  Child Trafficking in the UK 2024: A Snapshot Report  This new report from ECPAT UK and the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner reveals the UK’s failings to protect trafficked children, with systemic barriers preventing them from receiving appropriate care and justice. It urges the UK Government to invest in children’s services and long-term prevention with a cross-departmental and UK-wide Child Exploitation Strategy to combat this terrible criminal abuse of children. Read the report here.  Appropriate Language Guide When talking about children and exploitation, the use of appropriate language can be the difference between a child being properly safeguarded or put at further risk of exploitation. The Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Taskforce commissioned The Children’s Society and the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) to update an Appropriate Language Guide, which can be used by multi-agency professionals. Access the guidance here.  An After Thought: What does new data tell us about modern slavery training, stereotypes and cultural sensitivity in the UK? The UK BME Anti-Slavery Network (BASNET), in partnership with After Exploitation, has has published a report that highlights significant disparities in the delivery of training on modern slavery, equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and cultural sensitivity by local councils in England and Wales. Rooted in Theme Five of BASNET’s Race Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan, the findings underscore the urgent need to enhance access to local authority services, care, and support for trafficking survivors and victims from ethnic minority backgrounds. Read the report here.  Ready, Willing & Able: The cost of not allowing survivors in the National Referral Mechanism to work Kalayaan has released one more report in their series of reports highlighting the benefits to be gained and costs saved in allowing those in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) who do not currently have the right to work, to do so. Report 4: Preventing Re-Exploitation is available now and will be followed by a final report in the series in January. When Rescue from Modern Slavery Does Not Mean Freedom: Research Flags Reality of Post-Rescue Life Survivors of modern slavery are often cast into years of bureaucratic wrangling and legal limbo or forced back into exploitative work, highlighting the need for anti-trafficking organisations to give greater focus to long term support, new research from the University of Bath shows. The study of survivors of labour exploitation in India showed many were marooned in the legal process for up to 37 years after their exploitation had ended as they slowly progressed through courts, district welfare offices, NGOs, and other bodies to determine their status and entitlement to state support. Read the report here.      Events & Training. Knowledge Sharing Sessions The Human Trafficking Foundation is hosting a series of Knowledge Sharing sessions for the anti-slavery sector. If you have a topic of expertise that you would like to share, or if there is a topic that you would like to learn about, please contact Divya. Upcoming sessions: Financial Exploitation of Children and Young People (The Children’s Society) 5th February 12pm-1pm Ethics of Modern Slavery Research This online seminar, hosted my Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC, will present research on the Ethics of Modern Slavery Research. The research reviews the current landscape and evaluation of research ethics appropriateness’, carried out by the University of Liverpool and the University of Nottingham. The study identifies four critical areas for improvement: ethical governance, co-production and participatory methods, trauma-informed approaches, and ethical legacies. Tuesday 17th December 12.30pm-1.15pm. Register here. GLAA Online Meeting for Stakeholders and Partners Once a quarter, the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) invites stakeholders from various backgrounds to come and listen to what the GLAA is seeing within the labour market and the regulatory framework and how changes and improvements can be made to stop worker exploitation. Welcomed attendees include GLAA licence holders or one of their clients, trade associations, unions, NGOs and retailers as well as anyone else connected with the UK’s fresh produce supply chain. The next meeting will be on Tuesday 14th January 2025 11.00am. To be added to the Stakeholder meeting mailing list or to suggest topics for future meetings, email here. A Place at the Table  Supported by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and in collaboration with The Voice of Domestic Workers, this photography exhibition by Camila Almeida highlights the often hidden voices of migrant domestic workers. 10th December-5th January 2025. Chelsea Library Gallery Space SW3 5EZ. Before visiting, you can check the library’s opening hours here.  Sophie Hayes Foundation Referrer Information Session Employability Programme: Next cohort The Sophie Hayes Foundation’s is hosting an upcoming online information session which will be an opportunity to connect, collaborate, and learn. This event is designed to provide insights into the work of the Sophie Hayes Foundation, share updates on their latest initiatives, and foster a shared understanding of how  survivors of modern slavery can be supported on their journey to sustainable independence. Monday 16th December 11am-12pm. Join the meeting here.      Vacancies After Exploitation After Exploitation gathers hard-to-reach evidence on the challenges facing survivors of modern slavery in the UK. Through their research, media work and parliamentary advocacy, they work collaboratively with survivors and stakeholders to document injustices facing survivors. They are currently looking for freelance support in campaigns and research. Deadline: Friday 27th December. Find out more and apply here.  The Medaille Trust  The Medaille Trust provides frontline support to survivors of modern slavery through safe housing, community awareness projects and partnerships with local authorities and law enforcement. They are recruiting for 3 Modern Slavery Case Worker Assistants in Manchester (Deadline: 10am Thursday 9th January), a Modern Slavery Case Worker Assistant in Halton (Deadline: 10am Monday 13th January and a Modern Slavery Support Worker in Thanet (Deadline: 10am Thursday 2nd January). Find out more and apply here. NWG The NWG Network is a network that covers voluntary and statutory services and private companies who offer support, guidance and raise the profile, provide updates, training, share national developments, and influence the development of national and local policy informed by practice on the issue of child exploitation and trafficking within the UK. They are currently recruiting for a Grant Writer and Fundraiser. Deadline: Tuesday 31st December. Find out more and apply here.      HTF Resources   Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) Consultancy The Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) was established to ensure the expertise of those with lived-experience is embedded in the work of the anti-trafficking sector and is made up of independent consultants who co-work with HTF. LEAP can offer the development and delivery of training, provide expert advice on policy documents, and more. Find out more here and submit a request for LEAP consultancy.  HTF’s Survivor Hub  Survivor advocates and HTF have created an online Survivor Hub, a place for survivors to find opportunities for work and paid research participation, to find resources on education, housing support, the NRM, mental health support and includes directories of support providers and legal advisors across the country. Please share this widely in your networks. If your organisation has resources or opportunities that you would like included please email [email protected]. HTF’s Emergency Support Fund The Human Trafficking Foundation’s Trafficking Emergency Support Fund is available to help victims of human trafficking and modern slavery with small one-off grants to meet their immediate needs when no other sources of funding are available. If you are a support worker, you can see guidelines and complete an application form here on behalf of your client and email it to [email protected]. London Modern Slavery SPOC Directory  The Human Trafficking Foundation has been working with local authorities in the Greater London area to support the development of their response to modern slavery and human trafficking. As part of this, we produce an annual directory of Modern Slavery Single Points of Contact/Champions in statutory authorities across London including representatives within the NHS, police and local authorities. Please contact [email protected] to gain access or to make any amendments. London Directory of Services  HTF has created a Directory of Services, bringing together details of support agencies for survivors of modern slavery across London. The Directory is a live document, with more organisations added all the time. Access it now on our website under resources. If there is an organisation you think should be included, or to amend any information please email [email protected]. Mapping Survivor Support Services Our map of UK survivor support services aims to be a useful tool for people working with survivors to see what services are available in their area. View the map here. If your organisation provides support of any kind to survivors of trafficking and would like to be added to the map, please email [email protected].