In a judgment handed down on Friday 9 July 2021, the Supreme Court confirmed that refusing awards of compensation, under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS), to applicants with unspent criminal convictions was lawful. The Appellants in this matter did not contend that their criminal convictions arose from their having been trafficked. The convictions occurred before their trafficking and subsequent exploitation. As such, the Supreme Court did not go on to determine the position where a victim asserts that they were compelled to commit a crime but has been unable to use the non-punishment provisions.

At the age of just 14, Rebecca was groomed, physically assaulted and raped, then forced to sell drugs by organised crime groups. Although she was identified as a potential victim of trafficking, Rebecca was forced to report to the Home Office throughout lockdown. She contracted Covid in December, quickly followed by her father and sister. Her sister was heavily pregnant and had to be put into an induced coma while her baby was delivered prematurely. She was unconscious for almost three weeks as her baby began life in intensive care. Rebecca is still required to report each week.

A new report released today by the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit, reveals how reporting in person directly threatens survivors’ physical safety and sense of security.

Ileara was born in Nigeria. She was approached by someone who promised they could find her work in the UK as a hairdresser. On arriving, she was taken to a flat and told she would have to work as a prostitute to repay the debt she owed them for bringing her here. The traffickers made threats to kill members of her family back home. She was forced into sex work in the UK for nearly a year before escaping.

Before coming to ATLEU, the Home Office decided she was not a victim of trafficking.

Modern slavery has no place in the New Plan for Immigration and risks creating policy which overlooks the needs of survivors who are first and foremost, victims of crime. Based on the limited information the government has provided, we fear that these proposals, if implemented, will put survivors at a higher risk of detention, exploitation and re-trafficking.

We are calling for all potential survivors of slavery or trafficking who are in the National Referral Mechanism to have access to work. This access must not be restricted and should be granted automatically once a person is identified as a potential victim of trafficking.

Three ATLEU clients have been awarded significant damages in a compensation claim against their former employer, Hick Lane Bedding Ltd. In a judgment handed down on Tuesday 9 March 2021, the High Court Queen’s Bench Division awarded damages in excess of £700,000 for what it described as an ‘egregious example of modern slavery’.

ATLEU has successfully challenged the family worker exemption contained within the National Minimum Wage Regulations. Under the exemption, live-in domestic workers were not entitled to receive the national minimum wage if treated as a member of the family’.

ATLEU have now launched their new online referral system to improve survivors’ access to free legal advice.

Trafficking survivors have died before receiving a single penny of compensation because of the length of time it takes to successfully get through the government’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) process, according to a new report from ATLEU.

Legal advice is an essential part of the support needed by survivors of trafficking and slavery to escape, recover and rebuild their lives. Survivors need advice and assistance to navigate and engage with the complex systems through which they are identified, access accommodation and support, regularise their immigration status and recover compensation.

Our response to this review is informed by our day to day experience of practising public law and advising survivors of trafficking and slavery and those who help them.

Four barristers previously instructed by ATLEU have now been appointed as fee paid employment judges. Niran de Silva, Anna Beale, Akua Reindorf and Louise Price have all represented our clients in some of our most influential cases.