Signs of modern slavery and suspicions of its awareness are an important current issue in the local community, urges Devon’s Safer Devon Partnership.

The director of the National Crime Agency (NCA), Will Kerr stated last week that: “The more that we look for modern slavery the more we find the evidence of the widespread abuse of the vulnerable.” He emphasised that: “The growing body of evidence we are collecting points to the scale being far larger than anyone had previously thought. The intelligence we are gaining is showing that there are likely to be far more victims out there, and the numbers of victims in the UK has been underestimated.”

There exist numerous examples where modern slavery occurs including construction, agriculture, food processing and others being sold illegally into sex work.

Kerr stresses that this crime affects all types of communities across every part of the United Kingdom, but the difficulty is spotting its appearance. He explains how: “It is difficult to spot because often victims don’t even know they are being exploited. Nevertheless we need those communities to be our eyes and ears.”

Such victims will come into contact with other people’s everyday lives and thusly Kerr has stated some significant signs that will help in identifying modern slavery. The public he says: “May see something they feel is not quite right. That might be someone seeming afraid, vulnerable or being controlled, moved around or forced to work against their will.” If this is the case, Kerr urges the public to speak to the NCA.

This call is echoed by Devon’s Safer Devon Partnership whose Chairman, Dr Virginia Pearson has explained that: “So often, people think that issues such as modern slavery don’t effect people living in Devon, and the misconception is that these things only happen in big cities.”

In fact, this is not the case: “Devon has had cases of modern slavery, and it’s really important that people know the signs to look out for, so that we can work together to help prevent further cases in the future.” Pearson encourages people to come forward if they have any suspicions or to speak to another individual that they trust.

For this cause, The Safer Devon Partnership launched a campaign this year to raise awareness of modern slavery, child sexual exploitation and violent extremism in Devon, called ‘Be Curious’. It uses short animations with the intention of highlighting potential signs of all three issues to aid people to spot these illegal situations. The signs for modern slavery include: people’s movements being restricted, being transported for work at unusual times to avoid being noticed by the public, visible injuries, malnourishment, wearing the same clothes everyday which may appear dirty or unsuitable for the weather or working conditions, people who appear to be forced to work or unhappy in the work place and lastly, people who rarely interact with others and appear unfamiliar with their neighbourhood or where they work.

The history of modern slavery in Devon is not unheard of. Last year, two individuals were arrested for modern slavery and three potential victims of modern slavery in Devon and Cornwall were supported into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which gives victims help and support. Thus, this is a relevant issue for the South Hams.

The Devon Partnership Inspector for Devon and Cornwall Police, Julian Pezzani said that: “Keeping everyone safe in the community is everyone’s responsibility…Anyone with suspicions can call their local police force on 101 or the Modern Slavery helpline 08000 121700.”

These animations are available on Youtube here:

Additionally, for more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/modern-slavery