Ground-breaking research on modern slavery in Oxford published by Oxford City Council and Elmore

A ground-breaking new report commissioned by Oxford City Council and delivered by Elmore uncovers 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.

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.

The report brings together data from partners across the public and voluntary sector that deal with the issue, and the analysis reveals that modern slavery in Oxford may be 200% higher than the level cases reported to the police. 

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 also be too scared of consequences 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 City Council has recently appointed Nicola Bell as its first Anti-Slavery Coordinator to manage ‘disruption’ activities in Oxford and across the county, coordinating campaigns, victim support, multi-agency operations and taking forward the recommendations from the report in partnership. She will co-chair the Oxfordshire Anti-Slavery Network alongside Elmore’s Chief Executive Tom Hayes, and work with local communities to gain insight and develop interventions to address modern slavery.

An Action Plan will now be implemented to ensure the report’s recommendations are brought into effect. The Oxfordshire Anti-Slavery Network, in partnership with Oxford City Council, is hosting a Modern Slavery Summit on 18 February to discuss the context of modern slavery in Oxfordshire. 

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: “Slavery isn’t something that happens in some faraway country, it’s happening right here. Slavery doesn't belong to some distant past, it’s happening right now. As this ground-breaking new research by Elmore Community Services shows, slavery may be happening in far greater numbers than we thought. Indeed, previous figures may just have been the tip of the iceberg. Modern slavery has many faces, and they can all be seen in this report commissioned by Oxford City Council.

 “As the co-chair of the Oxfordshire Anti-Slavery Network, Elmore is passionate about playing our role in the multi-agency response, building on our years of innovating and delivering an Independent Trauma Advisory Service to support survivors of exploitation and modern slavery across Oxfordshire. Together, we can implement the recommendations of this report and spot the signs of modern slavery, stop it, and drive it from Oxford.”

Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM, the 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.”

Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for a Safer, Healthier Oxford at Oxford City Council, said: “These are complex and brutal crimes that completely take away a person’s sense of self and leave them with lifelong trauma. The chains put on people are often psychological rather than physical and that can make it hard for people to understand why people don’t just leave.

 “It may come as a surprise to many, but a lot of the identified victims of modern slavery and exploitation in Oxford, and across the UK, are British nationals. 

 “The City Council is committed to tackling modern slavery in the city by raising awareness of the issue and helping people to spot the signs. It’s very likely people have come in contact with victims but don’t necessarily recognise them as being enslaved.”

Paul Gerrard, Campaigns and Public Affairs Director at The Co-op, said: “There’s a human cost to putting profits ahead of people, and modern slavery is one of the most glaring and outrageous examples of that cost. Lives are ruined and futures are lost through the exploitation of people’s labour. That’s why the Co-op Group has campaigned against modern slavery and, as a business founded on ethical responsibility, tackles this blight on global commerce.

“The Co-op Group welcomes this ground-breaking research by Elmore Community Services into the extent and nature of modern slavery in Oxford. It finds that there is a considerably higher number of cases of modern slavery in the city between April 2016 and January 2020 than previously recorded by law enforcement. This research is built upon a strong evidence base including the perspectives of 290 people, drawn upon through the use of a case-based methodology and quantitative data from 42 teams of service providers across key local organisations. By collecting information in this way, it is clear that the fight against modern slavery requires the very best partnership of local service providers and law enforcement agencies to identify and support victims, but also put in place disruption strategies.

“Ensuring victims can receive the right support is not just the right thing to do for their recovery, it is important to bring traffickers to justice and stop them exploiting others in the future. Without protection, support and stability victims cannot give help to end the cycle of exploitation. With this new research by Elmore, and the spreading of its recommendations and insights locally, the fight against modern slavery has taken a big step forward.”

The Oxford Mail covered this report here.