Anti trafficking coalition calls for potential victims of trafficking to have the right to work
/‘That’s what I feel, like I’m nothing in this world, I can’t move…One year, almost two years in this August I feel like I’m nothing in this world, your life is useless you know?’ Maria
We are calling for all potential survivors of slavery and trafficking who are in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) 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.
The government’s NRM has been in place for almost 15 years, yet little is known about the extent to which it helps survivors to recover and rebuild their lives.
What is clear is that preventing survivors from working while in the NRM can compound the trauma of trafficking, leaving people vulnerable to re-exploitation and trapping people, who need to earn an income, in slavery.
In coalition with leading anti-trafficking organisations*, we are calling for change to help ensure that survivors are appropriately supported and empowered to move on from their exploitation and rebuild their lives.
As the government looks to embark on the NRM transformation programme, we believe that allowing people who have been identified as potential victims of trafficking access to work, is a vital step towards supporting survivors in a way that is ‘sustainable and centred on their needs’.
*We have joined with Anti Slavery International, The Anti Trafficking Monitoring Group, Co-Operative Group, Focus on Labour Exploitation, Kalayaan, Sophie Hayes Foundation and Survivor Alliance to produce this briefing.
