London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jul 25, 2025

Lockdown brings alarming rise in modern slavery

Lockdown brings alarming rise in modern slavery

Sexual exploitation rose by a quarter and criminal exploitation by 42% in 2020, analysis of helpline data shows
Reports of sexual and criminal exploitation have risen alarmingly during the pandemic, according to new data measuring the scale of modern slavery and trafficking in the UK.

Cases of sexual exploitation, which includes people held captive in brothels and coerced into prostitution, rose by a quarter in 2020 compared with the previous year. Nearly a quarter of cases involved children.

Criminal exploitation, which includes forced shoplifting and forced begging, increased by 42%, with a fifth of potential victims said to be minors. Dozens of cases referred to drugs-related activity involving county lines gangs, where youngsters are used to transport narcotics and money.

Analysis from the annual assessment of the modern slavery helpline indicates that more children are involved in slavery than ever before.

The statistics, which incorporate data for every police area of the UK, are used to shed light on the dynamics and extent of modern slavery.

Last Tuesday, more than a dozen Romanian women were rescued by police during a series of raids in west London on an alleged sex-trafficking ring. Less than 24 hours later, 11 alleged members of a drug-dealing network were arrested for human trafficking and modern slavery offences in the south of the capital.

The earlier operation prompted a senior Metropolitan police detective to warn that the public may encounter victims of modern slavery every day, but without realising it.

Reports to the helpline, which is run by anti-slavery charity Unseen, indicated that Romanians make up the largest victim group, followed by people from China, Albania and England.

During the pandemic, a 95% increase in reports relating to modern slavery on cannabis farms were received, further proof that the UK drugs market remained buoyant.

In total, the helpline had almost 8,000 contacts from victims and professionals working in services such as the NHS last year. As a result, a potential 3,481 victims of modern slavery were identified, 10% of them children, up from 7% in 2019.

Justine Currell, executive director of Unseen and co-author of the assessment, said: “A year on from the first lockdown, the number of reports relating to sexual and criminal exploitation, and those involving children, is particularly alarming.”

She said that although lockdown made visibility of exploitation, such as people being forced to work in car washes and nail bars, less obvious, the data suggested that modern slavery was still thriving. Despite the difficulty of reaching victims, cases of sexual exploitation rose from 219 to 273 and cases of criminal exploitation increased from 179 to 254.

The helpline assessment will be launched on Wednesday by the UK’s independent anti-slavery commissioner, Sara Thornton, who said it was an “important alternative mechanism” for victims to seek help. Since its launch in 2016, the helpline has identified more than 20,000 potential victims of exploitation.

Currell added: “There is still a general lack of awareness of modern slavery, which could involve as many as 100,000 people in the UK alone.”

Separately, official figures reveal that more than 10,000 suspected victims of trafficking, slavery and forced labour were identified in the UK last year.

The latest Home Office statistics show a huge rise in people entering into the national referral mechanism, which supports victims of modern slavery. The most common nationalities it identified were people from the UK, Albania and Vietnam.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
×