Human Trafficking Foundation Newsletter March 23

Posted on 20 March 2023

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 online events here.  This newsletter goes out to over 1400 individuals working in anti-trafficking. To share information for the newsletter, please contact [email protected]     Reports & Publications National Survivor Study Findings Polaris has published the first national survivor survey which aims to learn directly from survivors of modern slavery on what they have experienced and what they need to heal. Survivors themselves designed and implemented the survey as full partners in the project. The result is anti-trafficking research that focuses on survivors’ futures as much as their past and reveals concrete pathways for action. Findings from the survey can be found in their report ‘in Harms Way: How Systems Fail Human Trafficking Survivors’. Homes for Ukraine: Learnings to Inform and Shape Future Hosting Schemes The University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab and  Hope at Home have published a new report to understand hosts’ motivations and experiences, and to inform and improve existing and future hosting schemes. The report found that hosts were generally favourable to the scheme, motivated by extensive media coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine with three-quarters of hosts who would consider hosting again. Criticisms included a lack of checks on properties, the bureaucratic process, and a lack of affordable and appropriate move-on accommodation. The report made several recommendations for future hosting including collaboration from a range of stakeholders.   National Police Insight Team Data  This MSOIC Unit overview of live modern slavery investigations covers data for the month of February 2023. There are currently at least 3724 live Modern Slavery police investigations being undertaken across the UK. There are active investigations across all policing regions. This document is produced to help inform the work that non-law enforcement agencies are doing in response to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.     Announcements Illegal Migration Bill Second Reading  The Illegal Migration Bill has now passed Second Reading with a 62 majority. The Illegal Migration Bill states that people who arrive in the country illegally and are subject to removal, will not be able to access protections or support as a victim of trafficking or modern slavery. The Refugee Council, The Taskforce for Victims of Trafficking in Immigration Detention and the Law Society have published useful briefings on the detail of the Bill.The Refugee Council and the Migrant Children Consortium’s joint briefing also considers the impact of the Bill on children.  Changes to the Rate of Financial Support for Survivors of Modern Slavery ATLEU has announced that in response to their claim for judicial review on behalf of YH, the Secretary of State for Home Department (SSHD) confirmed that the rate of financial support for victims and potential victims of trafficking under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract will be amended. From the 1st March 2023 all potential victims of modern slavery will receive the same rate of support regardless of their accommodation status. The SSHD has also confirmed that they will provide the same level of financial support to potential victims whether or not they claim asylum. The new financial support rate will be set at £71.14 per week. Find out more here. Funding Call to Address Prevention of Modern Slavery The prevention of modern slavery is complex, and relatively underdeveloped aspect of the response to modern slavery, with limited evidence of what effective prevention means in principle and practice. The Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre has issued a new funding call which will address four distinct areas of prevention in modern slavery: identification of child trafficking, cultural competency and understanding, homelessness, poverty and the cost of living crisis. The deadline for final applications is 6th April 4pm, find out here. Migrant Help Strategy Stakeholder Survey Migrant Help’s current strategy was released in early 2020, days before the pandemic had a profound impact on services. Migrant Helps is keen to include as wide a range of voices as possible within the strategy development process, from staff, clients and other organisations working in the sector. They would appreciate your response to this survey. This is a chance to feed into their upcoming strategy and share your thoughts on how Migrant Help can best support their clients and work in partnership with the sector. The survey is open until 19th March.     Events & Training Do No Harm: Business and Human Rights in Transplantation Medicine Event Organ trafficking, forced organ harvesting, and unethical organ transplantation are global issues.  Join Columbia University for a presentation by Wayne Jordash KC followed by a panel discussion where they will explore the risks of international collaborations in transplant medicine, research, and training and the hard and soft law obligations that govern those partnerships. The panel will highlight high-risk countries such as China, provide practical advice for mitigating risk, outline circumstances where disengagement may be required, and covers strategies to protect human rights in organ transplantation. 22nd March 12pm, register here. Are Labels like Fairtrade The Answer to Ending Exploitation in Supply Chains? Freedom United is hosting an event to explore exploitation in the seafood, chocolate and textile industries exploring questions around whether certification bodies confirm products haven’t been made with forced labour or deforestation or whether companies are sustainable if they source certified products. In this event experts on human rights and environmental protection in the cocoa, seafood and cotton sectors will be answering these important questions. 16th March at 11 am, registration link and more information can be found here.  Anti-Trafficking & Modern Slavery Roadshow Events The Salvation Army’s Anti-Trafficking & Modern Slavery Team is holding 9 events across the country to celebrate and champion their volunteers, and to raise awareness of modern slavery. The events will connect current volunteers and offer sessions on awareness raising where you can hear about the work The Salvation Army do to support survivors of modern slavery. Anyone is welcome to attend. Advancing a Child Rights-Informed Approach to Anti-Slavery Policy  This Bonavero Institute of Human Rights event will launch the findings of a systematic literature review that has synthesised the two traditionally separate fields of children’s rights and modern slavery to deliver new theoretical insights that will help reshape practice, taking understandings of both fields in new directions. It demonstrates the value of applying the child rights framework to pressing issues of global concern, considering awareness of children’s rights as key to tackling modern slavery. 24th April 1 pm.  Book Launch: Structural Injustice and Workers’ Rights The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights is hosting the launch of the book Structural Injustice and Workers’ Rights, by Prof. Virginia Mantouvalou. This book questions the heavy focus on individual responsibility for precarious work and develops the concept of ‘state-mediated structural injustice at work’. This is a hybrid event. It will be held in person in the Gilly Leventis Meeting Room at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. To attend the event online, please register here. 24th May 5 pm.      Vacancies Employment Pathways Fellowship Program Vacancy The Freedom Fund is looking to hire a Trauma-Informed Fellowship Coach within their Employment Pathways Fellowship Program. The purpose of the Employment Pathways Fellowship Program is to enhance survivor representation within the anti-trafficking sector. The fellowships will provide survivors with a competitive part-time salary and the opportunity to build a career. The role of the Trauma-Informed Fellowship Coach (TIFC) is to support survivors of modern slavery and their supervisors, as part of a professional fellowship placement program at the Freedom Fund. In one-on-one coaching sessions, the TIFC will provide fellows with trauma-informed coaching, which recognizes the importance of, as well as the historical exclusion of, lived experience expertise in anti-slavery organisations. Proposals should be submitted by 9 am 17th March. Please submit all proposal materials to [email protected]. Causeway Vacancy Causeway, formally City Hearts, is looking to hire a Research and Development Coordinator to provide the opportunity to support Causeway’s involvement in Research and the development of innovative programmes. Part of Causeway’s vision is to contribute to a society that hears and values the voices of the vulnerable and marginalised. This new role is a great opportunity to actively work towards this, helping to build a platform for survivor voices to be heard and to help Causeway in becoming the go-to organisation for involvement in research related to modern slavery and criminal justice. Find out more here. Barnardo’s Vacancies  Barnardo’s National Counter Trafficking Service runs several different services across England and Wales. This includes the Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship Service, a statutory provision set out in Section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Barnardo’s is looking to hire Independent Child Trafficking Guardians, both home-based and in London. Guardians work directly alongside young people who do not have a figure of parental responsibility for them in the UK, guiding them through immigration, social care and criminal justice processes.      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 (online, pre-recorded and in person), work with organisations to create or redesign training packages, provide expert advice on policy documents, research and guidance on supporting survivors of trafficking, join round tables on specific areas of modern slavery, sit on interview panels, undertake group focus groups and partake in 1 on 1 interview. 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, and 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] Updated 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 request access to the directory or for 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 jasmine@humantraffickingfoundation.org