'It has destroyed me'. New report by ATLEU reveals how a legal advice system on the brink is failing survivors of modern slavery
/Survivors of modern slavery are being left destitute and at risk of exploitation by a crumbling legal aid system that is failing to provide them with the support they need, reveals a new report out today.
A staggering 90% of support workers helping survivors reported that they had struggled to find legal advisors for their clients in the past year, with almost half reporting delays of six months or longer.
‘It has destroyed me’: A legal advice system on the brink is a new report from the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU) also reveals that the delay in finding legal representation has caused:
55% of respondents to say it left survivors in destitution or unable to access appropriate accommodation or support
97% saying it caused survivors stress, anxiety or contributed to poor mental health
64% saying it resulted in the survivor missing a deadline in their legal case
29% saying it had left survivors in a situation of exploitation.
These factors have led to the current situation where support workers are forced to carry out legal processes and survivors face delays of up to five years to be legally recognised as a victim.
The primary cause of this legal advice crisis is the legal aid funding system. Modern slavery cases are uniquely complex, long-running and costly, and as such are ill-suited to payment by standard legal aid fixed fees which do not change to reflect the time taken or level or work carried out. The fixed fee structure also deters the development of specialist expertise, and actively encourages legal aid advisors to restrict the level of work they carry out on a case, which often leads to poor quality advice and representation.
Victoria Marks, Director, Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit:
‘The government needs to recognise that the current situation is untenable. The existing legal aid regime is unnecessarily complex and bureaucratic and places a heavy burden on both legal aid providers and the state. The evidence shows that this often leads to poor or no legal support for survivors. As a result, survivors are left to languish in a system that actively impedes their recovery instead of supporting it.’
Urmila Bhoola, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery:
‘I have seen first hand throughout my work the devastating consequences when survivors are not able to access this quality and timely legal advice: destitution, homelessness, detention, criminalisation, removal and further exploitation. Therefore, I welcome this important report from ATLEU that highlights the catastrophic impact that the current legal aid funding crisis has on survivors.’
ATLEU are now calling on the government to urgently reform the legal aid system for survivors by:
Making legal aid automatically available to victims and potential victims, without means testing, so that they can access advice and representation when they need it
Paying immigration legal advisors for trafficking and modern slavery cases on an hourly basis, and raising these rates so that this vital work doesn’t die out completely
Introducing a legal aid contract for trafficking and modern slavery compensation claims to encourage more providers to engage in this work.
