The exploitation of men, women and children by organised criminal gangs is known as the crime of human trafficking. When I was a lawyer doing criminal prosecutions 10 years ago such an offence was a complete rarity - a novelty and throwback to a bygone age. It is not anymore. It is all around us, and we should call it what it is – modern slavery.
That might sound like an exaggeration in 2013. But there is increasing evidence that thousands of people in Britain are exploited through forced labour, being pushed into crime and being made to work in the sex industry. They are bought and sold as commodities, they are kept in servitude and they have little chance of escape. Because they are often forced into a life of crime, they fear not just their traffickers but the people who should be there to help them – the police and the authorities.
The victims are not always foreign nationals brought here by gangs. This year, in Luton, British criminals were sentenced for kidnapping homeless people and forcing them to work in dreadful conditions for no pay. They were beaten if they even talked about escape. They were British people, working for British gangmasters, in Britain – and they were being kept as slaves.
We cannot ignore this evil in our midst. And that is why I am pleased that the Government will soon publish a Modern Slavery Bill. That Bill will bring into a single Act the confusing array of human trafficking offences. It will give the authorities the powers they need to investigate, prosecute and lock up the slave drivers. And it will make sure that there are proper punishments for the perpetrators of these appalling crimes.
The Bill will send the clearest possible message. If you’re involved in this disgusting trade in human beings, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted – and you will be thrown behind bars.
