UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner joins new Elmore podcast about modern slavery

Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM, the UK’s current Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (2019-2022), has joined a new Elmore podcast for a conversation about modern slavery.

In the podcast Dame Sara helps to raise people’s understanding about modern slavery, how to spot the signs of the crime when it’s in action, how to report modern slavery, and the kind of support available to survivors. The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner also shared more information about her work nationally to prevent modern slavery and ensure survivors can receive the right support at the right time.

The conversation follows the launch of a ground-breaking new report commissioned by Oxford City Council and delivered by Elmore to uncover the true extent of modern slavery in Oxford. Researching the extent and nature of modern slavery in Oxford uses a case-based methodology that suggests that there may have been between 319 and 442 ‘possible’ or ‘very likely’ cases of modern slavery in Oxford City from April 2016 to January 2020. This is considerably higher than the 123 cases recorded by Thames Valley Police.

Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM, the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

Modern slavery includes the crimes of sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced labour, forced criminality and organ harvesting. Victims might be working for organised groups or family members, and in a range of settings. It can be a hidden crime and the nature of the coercive control used to enslave people means victims are often themselves unaware of the true nature of their exploitation. Victims can be too scared to report their abuse to police. As a result, it can be the support services victims turn to that have the most contact with them.

The report was funded by the Controlling Migration Fund of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for the initial 15 months of research, and by Oxford City Council for a six-month project extension. Elmore Community Services was commissioned to carry out the research based on its expertise in supporting survivors of modern slavery. 

Tom Hayes, Chief Executive of Elmore Community Services, and the co-chair of the Oxfordshire Anti-Slavery Network, said: “As this conversation with Dame Sara shows, slavery isn’t something that happens in some faraway country, it’s happening right here; slavery doesn't belong to a distant past, it’s happening right now. We’re delighted to have been joined by the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner following the launch of ground-breaking new research by Elmore Community Services which shows that slavery may be happening in far greater numbers than we thought. Indeed, previous figures may just have been the tip of the iceberg.

Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM, the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, said: "Accurately assessing the prevalence of modern slavery is extremely challenging and has been the subject of much debate with estimates ranging from 10,000 to 136,000 victims in the UK. While there have been significant increases in the number of potential victims of modern slavery identified in recent years, I am keenly aware of the extent to which these crimes can remain hidden. I therefore welcome this work by Elmore Community Services which has sought to better understand the scale of modern slavery in Oxford City in all its forms. 

 “I am pleased to see the commitment to developing an action plan to help take forward the recommendations made by the report. Local partnerships involving a wide range of players are well placed to ensure a co-ordinated approach to tackling this devasting crime and I encourage the various partnership structures that exist in Oxfordshire, supported by the recently appointed Anti-Slavery Co-ordinator for Oxfordshire, to continue to build on their work to date to tackle the ever-changing nature of exploitation.”