The Legal Enforcement of Modern Slavery
This project reviews the legal enforcement of modern slavery, analysing Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act and offering recommendations for improvement.
Project summary
The Challenge
There was a need to review the impact of some areas of legislation to fight human trafficking and modern slavery abuse.
The Approach
Phase 1 of this research focused on Section 45, the statutory defence for those compelled to commit a crime through their experience of modern slavery.
The Outcome
The research produced a wide range of findings and recommendations to improve the use and understanding of Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act.
Institutes and centres
Lead academics
Project funded by
Reviewing the evidence: case by case
We recommend changes in policy and practice so that perpetrators are punished and victims are protected.
We do this by analysing case law, independent reviews and academic literature to establish how Section 45 Modern Slavery Act Section 45 is used and understood.
The Challenge
While there is no universally agreed definition of modern slavery, it is a form of extreme exploitation that reduces a victim’s liberty in order to generate profit or benefit for the perpetrator.
To be a victim of modern slavery means suffering from extreme exploitation for the profit or gain of other people, including labour exploitation, sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation, domestic servitude and organ harvesting.
Researchers at the Wilberforce Institute have examined the impact of legislation to fight human trafficking and modern slavery abuse. Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 relates to:
- Legal enforcement
- Modern slavery defence, or 'statutory defence' for individuals who were compelled to commit a criminal offence as part of their slavery experience
- Prevention orders
- Penalties and sentencing
The Act received Royal Assent on 26th March 2015. The intention was to 'give law enforcement the tools to fight modern slavery and to ensure that perpetrators can receive suitably severe punishments for these appalling crimes and enhance support and protection for victims' (Home Office, 2018).
Along with consolidating existing, related offences into a single act and introducing the Section 45 defence, the Modern Slavery Act introduced certain new duties and enforcement measures, including increased sentences, reparation orders, prevention orders and risk orders.
The Approach
Phase 1 of this research project analysed the evidence base to understand how Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act has played out in practice since its introduction.
The Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (Modern Slavery PEC) was established in 2019 with £10 million in government funding. The Centre brings together a consortium of universities and independent research organisations with a track record in world-class work on modern slavery, including the Wilberforce Institute. Dr Alicia Heys, Lecturer in Modern Slavery at the Wilberforce Institute, leads one of the Modern Slavery PEC's priority research strands, looking into the legal enforcement of modern slavery.
The research focused specifically on Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act. This is the statutory defence for individuals who were compelled to commit a criminal offence as part of their slavery experience.
By scrutinising the available information from government and non-governmental organisation reports, as well as relevant academic literature, this project provided insight not only into how effective the statutory defence is in practice, but also on the reliability and robustness of the evidence base.
The Impact
This research has analysed case law, independent reviews and academic literature to generate an understanding of how Section 45 is currently used and understood. It offers key findings, looking at gaps in knowledge and areas for improvement around the use of the statutory defence.
The research highlights strengths and weaknesses in the evidence base, and provides recommendations so that changes can be made in policy and practice to better meet the goals of the Modern Slavery Act; to punish perpetrators and protect victims.
More information can be found on the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre website.
Dr Heys is project managing the next phase of work on the legal enforcement of modern slavery. This phase will have two workstreams: 'Prosecution of Modern Slavery Cases in the UK' (Workstream 1- led by Dr Heys) and 'Understanding Child Exploitation by Analysing Perpetrator Characteristics' (Workstream 2 - led by Dr Craig Barlow).