Survivors still facing major barriers to accessing legal advice
/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. Her asylum appeal was refused because the Tribunal judge, following the negative trafficking decision, did not believe her account. The firm representing her had failed to prepare a detailed statement of her case, or provide a vital medico-legal report for her appeal. The cost of preparing cases properly for appeal are usually far higher than the fixed fees that legal aid provides. When her appeal was refused, the firm told her there was nothing further they could do.
ATLEU took over her case. We were granted permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal against the Tribunal's decision. They agreed with us that the judge had made legal errors in deciding Ileara wasn't telling the truth and decided that the appeal should be reheard by a different judge. ATLEU commissioned a detailed medico-legal report from a specialist psychologist, and the government then agreed to grant her refugee status without the need for another appeal hearing.
Ileara’s case demonstrates the vital importance of good quality legal advice and representation for survivors of trafficking and slavery, yet a new report funded by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre shows that survivors’ simply aren’t getting the help they need.
Key findings from the report show:
Survivors of trafficking and slavery face significant barriers to access legal aid in the UK, despite it being key to their recovery, securing their rights, immigration status and protection from re-trafficking.
The funding structure for legal aid is inadequate to deliver good quality legal advice to survivors. It discourages lawyers from taking on complex modern slavery cases and seriously limits the time they can spend on them.
Access to good quality legal advice should be put at the centre of any consideration around survivor support, particularly for securing immigration status for a minimum of one year for confirmed victims to help them recover safely.
Victoria Marks, ATLEU:
‘Trafficking and slavery cases are often complex and can take a long time to resolve. The current legal aid system simply fails to enable lawyers to provide the quality of legal support that survivors need. As a result, fewer and fewer lawyers are taking these cases which makes it even harder for vulnerable survivors to navigate our complicated legal systems so that they can access protection and rebuild their lives.”
The report, Access to legal advice and representation for survivors of modern slavery, was developed by the University of Liverpool in collaboration with ATLEU and the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham. It was funded by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (the Modern Slavery PEC), a publicly funded body created to transform the effectiveness of laws and policies designed to overcome modern slavery.
