The Modern Slavery Agenda: Politics, Policy and Practice in the UK

THE MODERN SLAVERY AGENDA
Dedication
Contents
List of tables, figures and boxes
	Introduction
	Is modern slavery either ‘modern’ or ‘slavery’?
	International action against slavery
	‘Modern slavery’ in the UK: developing understandings
1. Modern slavery in global context: ending the political economy of forced labour and slavery
	Introduction
	The constituent elements of slavery
	The political economies of slavery
	Slavery and the rule of international law
	The state we are in
	Transforming the global political economy
	Conclusion
2. The UK’s response to modern slavery: law, policy and politics
	Research and policy: key influences
	The criminalisation of human trafficking, forced labour, slavery and servitude
	The development of a human rights approach to modern slavery
	Implementation of policy on support and assistance to victims
	The enhancement of a regulatory response
	Development of the MSA
	Current and future concerns about the criminal justice response
	Conclusion
3. Defeating ‘modern slavery’, reducing exploitation? The organisational and regulatory challenge
	Introduction
	Trafficking, forced labour or business and human rights?
	Joined up or papering over the cracks? Addressing labour exploitation post-MSA
	From outputs to outcomes?
	Conclusions
4. Class Acts? A comparative analysis of modern slavery legislation across the UK
	Introduction
	Examining the Acts
	Implementation and use of the non-punishment provision
	Conclusion
5. Child trafficking in the UK
	Introduction
	Definitions and offences
	The current picture
	Issues with data
	Identification of child victims
	Legal guardianship and issues with support
	Children at risk of going missing
	Assessing age
	Conclusion
6. Human trafficking: addressing the symptom, not the cause
	The current policy context
	The ODW visa in practice
	Migrant domestic workers, the UK’s ODW visa, restrictions and exploitation
	Modern slavery responses: undermined by the hostile environment
	What happens to trafficked people?
	An ‘inexcusable’ lack of support
7. Still punishing the wrong people: the criminalisation of potential trafficked cannabis gardeners
	Introduction
	Trafficking for cannabis production in the UK
	Vietnamese nationals
	The research
	Convictions of cannabis gardeners not identified as trafficked
	The punishment of cannabis gardeners informally identified as trafficked or slaves
	Conclusion
8. Modern slavery and transparency in supply chains: the role of business
	Introduction
	What is ‘modern slavery’?
	Why is modern slavery relevant to business?
	Mandatory reporting trends: the global picture
	Voluntary reporting frameworks: the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
	Drivers for transparency
	The risk of legal liability as a driver for good practice: recent court cases
	Key aspects of the MSA relevant to business
	The impact of the TISC provisions and the corporate response to these issues
	Act into action: the MSA in practice
	How have companies reacted otherwise to the MSA?
	Media and NGO scrutiny
	Conclusions
9. Migrant illegality, slavery and exploitative work
	Introduction
	Creating binaries out of complexity
	Migrants, low-wage labour and exploitation
	Migrant labour exploitation, ‘illegality’ and coercion
	Migrant illegality or labour exploitation? Troubling identification, questioning solutions
10. The UK’s approach to tackling modern slavery in a European context
	Introduction
	Law enforcement cooperation in Europe
	The rule of law and policy coherence
	Extraterritorial jurisdiction
	Conclusion
Index