AFC Bournemouth Business Workshop

Today, I attended a modern slavery and human trafficking workshop at the AFC Bournemouth Vitality stadium. The event was ran in partnership with Bournemouth Churches Housing Association (BCHA) liberty project with the aim of educating people about the current state of modern slavery. People from a variety of different companies and establishments came to the workshop to find out more about how it could directly affect them in the workplace or their business as a whole.

The conference underpinned the countries which are the most severely affected by modern slavery. The UK was shown to have the third highest number of people reported as slaves in the World, with Vietnam second and Albania number one. A spokesperson from BHCA said that the reason the UK has one of the highest numbers of reported slaves is due to the severity of homelessness and that this makes the person more vulnerable to be victimised and easier to move around without people knowing. They also spoke about the way in which people are reported as slaves through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Last year 3,804 people were reported as slaves but the UK government estimates there are actually almost 15,000 people being enslaved in the UK. The workshop also discussed the ways in which people can be enslaved around the world, the most common types of slavery are: - Forced labour - Domestic servitude - Drug trade - Benefit fraud

- Forced crime

- Organ harvesting - Forced marriage

I was familiar with the majority of these forms of slavery, but the one that shocked me the most was organ harvesting. Although this form of slavery is less likely to be happening in the UK, the magnitude of the problem leads me to believe that this is more common than people are aware.

The most common forms of slavery which happen in the UK and the ways in which you can spot someone being enslaved were addressed in the meeting. Information leaflets were handed out to help each person understand the problem further and help lines for those in danger or those that believe they have witnessed someone in danger. The workshop was insightful to see the progress being made through means of interactivity and informational talks. Yet it also addressed the changes that still need to be made in order to eradicate slavery. The following numbers were given on the day and should be contacted if you believe that somebody or yourself are in a position where slavery is happening:

Helpline Numbers

If you suspect slavery is happening: In an emergency: Call the Police on 999 or 101 if not urgent Anyone can report or seek advice on:

Modern Slavery Helpline 0800 0121 700 Anonymously: Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 Victim Support: Salvation Army (England/Wales) 03003038151