Police forces are failing to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking because the cases are too difficult and senior officers believe the public lack sympathy for the victims, a highly critical report has found.

Victims are not always identified and investigations are closed prematurely, the report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said.

Failings in the approach left victims exposed and allowed perpetrators to continue to exploit the vulnerable, it added. In one case, the inspectorate was told: “The public view is, they are not our girls.”

Wendy Williams, the inspector of constabulary, said: “While modern slavery cases can be complex and require significant manpower, many of the shortcomings in investigating these cases reflect deficiencies in basic policing practice.



“We found inconsistent, even ineffective, identification of victims and investigations closed prematurely. As a result, victims were being left unprotected, leaving perpetrators free to continue to exploit people as commodities.”

Quick Guide Modern slavery Show What is modern slavery? About 150 years after most countries banned slavery – Brazil was the last to abolish its participation in the transatlantic slave trade, in 1888 – millions of men, women and children are still enslaved. Contemporary slavery takes many forms, from women forced into prostitution, to child slavery in agriculture supply chains or whole families working for nothing to pay off generational debts. Slavery thrives on every continent and in almost every country. Forced labour, people trafficking, debt bondage and child marriage are all forms of modern-day slavery that affect the world's most vulnerable people.

How many people are enslaved across the world? The UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that about 21 million people are in forced labour at any point in time. The ILO says this estimate includes trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. They calculate that 90% of the 21 million are exploited by individuals or companies, while 10% are forced to work by the state, rebel military groups, or in prisons under conditions that violate ILO standards. Sexual exploitation accounts for 22% of slaves. Where does slavery exist? Slavery exists in one form or another in every country. Asia accounts for more than half of the ILO's 21 million estimate. In terms of percentage of population, central and south-east Europe has the highest prevalence of forced labour, followed by Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Who is profiting? In 2005, the ILO estimated that illegal profits from forced labour amounted to more than $44bn. The UN's global initiative to fight trafficking says people trafficking is the third-largest global criminal industry (pdf) behind drugs and arms trafficking. The ILO estimates that people in forced labour lose at least $21bn each year in unpaid wages and recruitment fees. Slavery also exists within global supply chains, generating huge profits for those who control this industry in free labour.

In one example, in January, officers entered an address believed to be used by Chinese nationals as a brothel and arrested a 48-year-old woman on suspicion of immigration offences. The woman, who had no idea where she was in the UK and had no key to the premises, was legally in the country and was returned to the address.

On the return journey, she disclosed her fear of the man who ran the business, but she was left outside the property regardless.

Later, other officers concluded that she might be a victim of modern slavery and human trafficking, but by the time they returned the address had been vacated. The woman is now a missing person and at risk of continued exploitation and trafficking.

A number of frontline officers – in both urban and rural areas – displayed a closed mindset, the report said, with some simply dismissing modern slavery and trafficking as being “rare and only affecting certain communities”.

Furthermore, the inspectorate found examples of officers who appeared reluctant to identify and uncover cases of modern slavery because of the volume of complex work such cases may generate.

In many cases, victims of modern slavery and human trafficking were identified and treated from the outset primarily as immigration offenders, the report said. That focus on immigration meant opportunities for gathering intelligence or developing investigations were being missed.

The independent anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland, has said the number of people living in slavery in the UK is likely to be considerably higher than the current estimate of 13,000, adding the “true number is in the tens of thousands”.



Cases can occur in rural and metropolitan areas, from nail bars to construction sites, and involve activities from domestic servitude to the trafficking of children for sexual exploitation.

In August, 11 members of a Lincolnshire family were convicted of a series of modern slavery offences in a high-profile case, after forcing at least 18 victims – including homeless people and some with learning disabilities – to work for little or no pay and live in squalid conditions for up to 26 years.

The Rooney family, who were based on Traveller sites in Lincoln, targeted vulnerable people, including some with alcohol or drug addictions, and deliberately looked for potential captives on the streets.

The police inspectorate found that a poor level of awareness and understanding of modern slavery meant victims were going unidentified and remaining in the hands of the criminals who were making their lives miserable.

During the inspection, inspectors witnessed this lack of understanding first-hand when one force’s front desk turned away a “clearly identifiable victim of modern slavery” despite the individual stating he was a victim.

Inspectors said they did not believe the problems with victim identification and protection were rooted in prejudice towards victims and their background.

However, in some cases, officers in several forces said the public were not sympathetic to victims or interested in modern slavery and human trafficking unless it directly affected their lives. The public “don’t want to know about it and only see it as an issue if it affects them”, was one view expressed to inspectors.

However, the inspectorate found that when uncovered effectively, offences of modern slavery were met with concern and understanding from the public.

Once victims had been identified, inspectors found “substantial problems” with the way investigations were handled. Some officers expressed a wish to close modern slavery and human trafficking investigations as quickly as possible, the report said.

“They told us this was partly because they did not feel equipped to handle such cases, but also because of demanding caseloads,” the inspectorate said. “The serious problems we encountered as part of our review of case files supports the view that officers in some forces seek to close these cases quickly rather than investigate them properly.”

Senior officers in the forces inspected by the police inspectorate openly expressed a reluctance to “turn over the stone” and proactively look for modern slavery and human trafficking offences, the report said.

Inspectors did find “some welcome signs of progress” among the 10 police forces inspected at the beginning of 2017. Greater Manchester police were singled out for praise.

But the inspectorate said positive examples were “generally relatively small pockets of good practice, or recent first steps”.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for modern slavery, Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer, said the inspection ended in April when specialist teams came into operation to help improve the response by forces to modern slavery.

“The police service is now actively seeking out and uncovering modern slavery. Across England and Wales there are currently over 400 active investigations – an increase of 218% from November 2016, 85% of which are led by the police,” he said.

“The policing challenge ahead is considerable, but we are committed to building on our achievements and improving our approach so we consistently safeguard victims and crack down on those who make profit from people.”