Anti-Slavery Day

Anti-Slavery Day is celebrated each year on 18th October. In 2017, we brought together speakers from IOM, UNICEF UK and the Rt Hon Fiona Mactaggart (former co-chair of the APPG on Human Trafficking) for a panel discussion. The event drew on the findings of the IOM and UNICEF joint report Harrowing Journeys which highlights the high levels of abuse, trafficking and exploitation faced by children and youth on the move via the Mediterranean Sea routes to Europe.

To mark the UK’s Anti-Slavery Day 2016, alarming reports of human trafficking and exploitation along the Eastern and Central Mediterranean migrant routes were the object of further analysis by the British Red Cross (BRC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a joint evening seminar.

IOM and BRC provided the wider counter-trafficking and modern slavery community with up-to-date and relevant information on trafficking concerns in Europe. International guest speaker, Simona Moscarelli from IOM Italy, gave a first-hand account of efforts to identify and assist victims of trafficking in southern Europe, particularly along Italy’s maritime border.

To mark Anti-Slavery Day 2018, IOM UK launched new reports into vulnerabilities to human trafficking in Albania, Nigeria and Viet Nam

An IOM UK research project with the University of Bedfordshire aims to improve understanding of the causes, determinants and vulnerabilities to human trafficking in Albania, Nigeria and Viet Nam, as well as the support needs of people from these countries who have experienced trafficking into the UK. The project also seeks to identify good practice in prevention, identification, protection and interventions that support people who have experienced trafficking. The research builds on IOM’s ‘Determinants of Vulnerability’ model to help understand human trafficking and migration more broadly. This model focusses on both the vulnerabilities and capacities of people who have experienced trafficking.

Shared Learning Events in Albania, Nigeria and Viet Nam were held to explore what is already known about vulnerability to human trafficking. These events involved a range of governmental, international and national stakeholders who work closely with people who have experienced forced labour, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation or other forms of exploitation associated with human trafficking. Reports sharing the key findings from each of these events are now published (links below). Analysis of the qualitative data from 160 interviews with adults who have experienced human trafficking and expert stakeholders will add much needed depth and nuance to understandings of the causes of trafficking and the experiences of those who are trafficked.

The project is funded through the Modern Slavery Innovation Fund at the UK Home Office.

Timelines from Shared Learning Events:

• Albania Timeline
• Viet Nam Timeline
• Nigeria Timeline

Anti-Slavery Day 2017

In October 2017, we brought together speakers from IOM, UNICEF UK and the Rt Hon Fiona Mactaggart (former co-chair of the APPG on Human Trafficking) for a panel discussion. The event drew on the findings of the IOM and UNICEF joint report ‘Harrowing Journeys’, which highlights the high levels of abuse, trafficking and exploitation faced by children and youth on the move via the Mediterranean Sea routes to Europe.

Anti-Slavery Day 2016

To mark the UK’s Anti-Slavery Day 2016, alarming reports of human trafficking and exploitation along the Eastern and Central Mediterranean migrant routes were the object of further analysis by the British Red Cross (BRC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a joint evening seminar. IOM and BRC provided the wider counter-trafficking and modern slavery community with up-to-date and relevant information on trafficking concerns in Europe. International guest speaker, Simona Moscarelli from IOM Italy, gave a first-hand account of efforts to identify and assist victims of trafficking in southern Europe, particularly along Italy’s maritime border.