Human trafficking/modern slavery

FEATURE: With online platforms, smart devices and digital tools offering unprecedented opportunities for the criminal networks involved in human trafficking, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at collaborative efforts by European countries to improve the intelligence picture and strengthen the fight against people trafficking through more effective use of technology, better understanding, awareness raising, and improved training.

FEATURE: While Operation Global Chain, the major international operation focused on human trafficking, resulted earlier this month in significant successes, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the ongoing challenges facing law enforcement across Europe in tackling a crime which is now reaching record levels in the UK.

FEATURE: While politicians and the media have focused on the political rhetoric of ‘smashing the gangs’ and ‘stopping the boats’ to tackle the continuing problem of cross-Channel illegal immigration, a new round of EU grants – open to police, academics, charities and the private sector in the UK – are on offer for innovative solutions to dismantle and disrupt criminal networks, their ringleaders and enablers behind criminal activities including people and drug trafficking, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

ANALYSIS: With nearly 50 million people estimated to be in modern slavery, and global money laundering flows reaching up to $2 trillion a year, the connection between human trafficking and financial crime has never been more consequential for international policing; strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda examines how Interpol co-ordinates measurable responses across 196 member states – despite resource gaps, the political misuse of some tools, and persistent corruption continuing to constrain what it can achieve.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime (OC), Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to Former West Midlands Police Detective Inspector Dr David Wilson and now West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit lead for modern slavery and organised immigration crime (MSOIC), and a recognised expert in Chinese OC, about the reach of Chinese OC, the growth of state-sponsored crime, and the challenges of policing OC with a 43-force structure.

INTERVIEW: Human trafficking and exploitation are challenges that law enforcement cannot “police your way out of”, warns UCL’s Ella Cockbain, Professor of Human Trafficking and Exploitation, with more focus on a public health approach, improved listening to the voices of victims and survivors, and a better understanding of what really works among the key steps to meeting those challenges, as Prof Cockbain explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: The latest report from Europol’s European Migrant Smuggling Centre is warning that criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling and people trafficking are now more agile than ever and operate in scalable, structured, global networks, with the exploitation of digital tools and social media alongside a growing willingness to use violence all increasingly parts of the criminals’ armoury, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Developed by an academic team at the University of Sheffield, the Sexual Trafficking Identification Matrix (STIM) assesses adverts on adult service websites and analyses factors such as the photographs, language and details used to help law enforcement identify victims and perpetrators of human trafficking or sexual exploitation, as Dr Xavier L’Hoiry explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: Despite an estimated 4.8 million people being forced into the sex trade each year, surveys indicate just 4% of law enforcement personnel believe human trafficking is a problem in their community; research by Dr Dara Mojtahedi, University of Huddersfield Associate Professor in Forensic and Investigative Psychology, found that myths around the scale of the issue and perceptions of victims are damaging those victims and creating barriers to tackling the problem, and suggests steps to dispel those myths.

FEATURE: Following this month’s EMPACT day of action across Europe to tackle human trafficking, co-ordinated by Europol, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explores the scale of the problem as well as the efforts of EU members to combat labour exploitation, and takes a closer look at the background and vital role that Europol now plays in leading and supporting operations to target and investigate transnational European crime.

OPINION: Developing an effective response to modern slavery requires an understanding of the extent of the issue, but estimates for the number of UK victims vary considerably; Professor Todd Landman and policy engagement and impact lead Vicky Brotherton of the University of Nottingham-based Rights Lab believe a change to the way data is recorded would provide a more accurate estimate that is likely to be much higher than current figures.

FEATURE: A new report from Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons into how the UK policing response to modern slavery has changed over the past 10 years warns that the Whitehall rhetoric and political focus on organised immigration crime has left forces under resourced and officers with ‘one hand tied behind their backs’ in the fight against modern slavery – despite the significant impact on victims and the economy – as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: In the second in a series of articles exploring the links between sport and organised crime – from street level to international syndicates – Policing Insight’s Chris Dalby looks at the issue of modern slavery in football across the UK and Europe, where young players from Africa and Asia are trafficked thousands of miles from home on the promises of opportunities that don’t exist, often to end up broke and abandoned, or further exploited through illegal labour, drug dealing and the sex trade.

FEATURE: A report commissioned by the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and published earlier this month highlights an increasing number of potential modern slavery victims who are refusing to consent to a referral by first responders to the National Referral Mechanism; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at why more people are choosing alternative avenues for support, and what the report’s authors say should be done to address the problem.

OPINION: With the number of victims of human trafficking and modern slavery continuing to increase, Professor Darren K. Stocker of Cape Cod Community College argues that law enforcement could benefit from applying a sociological-based model towards tackling human trafficking.

INTERVIEW: Human trafficking and exploitation stretches far beyond borders. Former MPS Superintendent Bernie Gravett who led the first joint trafficking investigation in Europe and who now specialises in counter-trafficking training tells Policing Insight’s Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons that training overseas officers is key to helping tackle serious and organised crime in the UK.

FEATURE: New research by the University of Nottingham Rights Lab and ECPAT UK has found that dwindling police and local authority resources, increased workloads, lack of training, institutional biases, and changing political priorities have led to a significant rise in child exploitation through modern slavery, prompting calls for a comprehensive national strategy, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: A recently published article on Policing Insight regarding modern slavery highlighted concerns about the impact of UK Government reforms on victims of trafficking, but the outcome in Scotland differs significantly to England and Wales, says SNP policing spokesperson Allan Dorans MP, who believes researchers and others need to pay closer attention to the emerging divergence in policing north and south of the border.

ANALYSIS: Last year the UK Government reformed the National Referral Mechanism – the framework for identifying potential victims of modern slavery – in an effort to speed up decision making and police action against those accused of exploitation; but Research Assistant Ying Zhang and Professor Chee Yew Wong of the University of Leeds argue that the reforms have actually made the situation considerably worse for potential victims.

FEATURE: A roundtable of UK politicians, experts and corporate partners has urged businesses to be more open about their experiences with modern slavery in supply chains, and called for an overhaul of existing legislation, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: As we welcome in 2024, Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter looks back over what the past 12 months have meant for policing in the UK and internationally, how those issues have been covered by Policing Insight, and the continuing challenges and opportunities for the year ahead.

ANALYSIS: A new report by the University of Nottingham Rights Lab has highlighted the link between climate change and human trafficking as families look to migrate from threatened environments or place children in forced marriages to alleviate debt; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons looks at the key points in the report, and spoke to Dame Sara Thornton, former UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner and now Professor of Practice in Modern Slavery Policy at the Rights Lab, about its findings.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to former police superintendent Colin Carswell, Director of the Counter Trafficking Network, about his investigations into large-scale human trafficking as a police officer, the importance of partnership working, and the need to ‘follow the money’ to combat organised crime.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Alan Edwards, a former Royal Military Police officer and detective chief inspector who now works as a civilian expert specialising in serious organised crime, about the growing pressures of investigating online crime, the potential of the ChildLight initiative, and why law enforcement in the West could and should be doing much more to tackle Africa’s barbaric people traffickers.