Trafficking and Modern Slavery: What this means for Cheshire
CCG Responsibilities
The CCG constitution sets out the arrangements made by NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical
Commissioning Group to meet its responsibilities for commissioning care for the people in
Eastern Cheshire. Our constitution describes the governing principles, rules and procedures that
the group has established to ensure probity and accountability in the day to day running of the
clinical commissioning group; to ensure that decisions are taken in an open and transparent way
and that the interests of patients and the public remain central to the goals of the group.
Central to the residents within our community The Care Act 2014 has provided the needed
legislative framework for Adult Safeguarding. One of the key components has been identifying
statutory partners. Health, social care and police are all statutory partners and have a statutory
responsibility to the Safeguarding Adult Board.
All statutory partners have participated and signed up to the Safeguarding Adult Board Constitution
and the safeguarding principles that drive the work undertaken by the SAB and respective subgroups. One of the key priority areas in Adult Safeguarding is Trafficking and Modern Slavery, and
raising the awareness of these issues amongst residents and professionals within our local
population. This will empower the public to make informed decisions when reporting potential
trafficking or modern slavery issues in their area.
What is Human Trafficking?
Human Trafficking involves men, women and children being brought into a situation of exploitation
through the use of violence, deception or coercion and forced to work against their will. People can
be trafficked for many different forms of exploitation such as forced prostitution, forced labour,
forced begging, and forced criminality, domestic servitude, forced marriage and forced organ
removal.
When children are trafficked, no violence, deception or coercion needs to be involved: simply
bringing them into exploitative conditions constitutes trafficking.
The difference between Smuggling and Trafficking
People trafficking and people smuggling are often confused. People smuggling is the illegal
movement of people across international borders for a fee and upon arrival in the country of
destination the smuggled person is free.
The trafficking of people is fundamentally different as the trafficker is facilitating the movement of
that person for the purpose of exploitation. There is no need for an international border to be
crossed in cases of trafficking, it also occurs also nationally, even within one community.
Where and how big is the problem?
Lindsay Ratapana Designated Nurse Adult Safeguarding
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As many trafficked persons are never identified, it is difficult to get accurate statistics on the
numbers affected, but the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that worldwide, at any
one time there are some 2.5 million people who have been trafficked and are being subjected to
sexual or labor exploitation.
Although trafficking for sexual exploitation gets the most attention, most of all trafficked people are
used exclusively for labor exploitation.
Cheshire is a large agricultural area that also has pockets of deprivation across the Eastern footprint.
The information in the illustration below information suggests that 10% of victims are trafficked to
work in the agricultural sector. Across the Eastern Cheshire footprint there are hand car washes and
nail bars that are also potential areas for exploitation. As residents of all ages utilise the services
offered, it is important that they are aware of the signs indicating neglect of workers and know what
do if they witness abuse. Similarly, residents and communities need be empowered to share
information on significant population changes in their local areas with relevant authorities, if they
suspect that the changes are due to trafficking.
The charts below illustrate both the number of victims trafficked and the exploitation types of
victims around the country. The numbers also demonstrate the significant increases from 2012 to
2013 in domestic servitude, labour and sexual exploitation:
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Why does it exist?
Many individuals who are trafficked are seeking to escape poverty and discrimination, improve their
lives and send money back to their families. Often they get an offer of a well-paying job abroad or in
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another region through family, friends or recruitment agencies. But when they arrive at their
destination, they find that the work they were promised does not exist and they are forced instead
to work in jobs or conditions to which they did not agree.
The use of violence and physical abuse, rape and threats against victims and their families is
reported by many victims of exploitation. In many cases of UK Nationals trafficked internally for
sexual exploitation, potential victims are controlled by the use of drugs and alcohol as well as the
use of violence, threats and general fear of the traffickers.
What Now?
The impact on the individuals is terrifying and has long term effects on their physical and mental
health, equally the disruption within the communities they are trafficked into can be distressing for
all involved with increasing criminal activity.
The embryonic stage of the Cheshire Anti-Slavery Network is gaining momentum with all statutory
partners now attending to offer expertise and intelligence on local developments within Cheshire.
There now needs to be investment by the CCG to meet both their constitutional and statutory
requirements for Adult Safeguarding in supporting the work required to meet the educational needs
of the public in raising awareness of these issues.
Lindsay Ratapana Designated Nurse Adult Safeguarding
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