Sheffield based anti-slavery charity Causeway has launched a new online tool to help people recognise the signs of labour exploitation and understand where to seek help.
Modern slavery affects up to 130,000 people at any one time in the UK, and occurs when a person is forced, tricked, or coerced into working for free or for drastically reduced wages so that others can profit.
The number of people affected by modern slavery is on the increases, and Causeway, which supports survivors across its safe houses and outreach services in South Yorkshire and recently partnered with Hollyoaks on a child exploitation storyline, has launched its new new online Labour Exploitation Risk Checker, an anonymous questionnaire designed to help people identify potential exploitation in their own lives or in the lives of others.
This risk checker, which follows the launch of Causeway’s self assessment tool earlier this month, as well as another made by Causeway to identify criminal and sexual exploitation, was developed with the help of people with lived-experience of exploitation, whose insight will help others understand their situation and find the right support.
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One man helped by Causeway, who has now himself helped to develop the risk checker, said: “People think modern slavery doesn’t happen in the UK or that it doesn’t happen to British nationals. When I used to see posters and information, I would think that’s not me, that doesn’t apply to me. But slowly you start to realise you’re being coerced, your friends and family are being threatened, you’re having things taken from you and being controlled and followed.
Being involved with lived-experience projects means I have the opportunity to share my insight into what happens. It starts with your time and then your money and then your sanity and then your freedom.”
Labour exploitation is the type of modern slavery most reported in the UK, with latest figures showing that over 6,000 people, most of them male, accessed support in 2024. It happens to both British and foreign nationals, and can occur in any industry, but is most likely to happen in sectors associated with low wages, low skills and high turnovers of staff such as hospitality, agriculture, and construction.
While criminals make millions from exploiting vulnerable people, the wider public shoulders the financial burden. Anti-slavery charity Unseen estimates the annual cost of policing trafficking gangs and providing victim support, including NHS care in the UK, at £60bn.
Dr Matthew Young, Causeway’s research, policy and participation lead, said: “Labour exploitation comes in a variety of forms, but at its heart, it involves someone working for free or extremely low wages, due to fear of reprisals from their abuser.
“At its most extreme, it can see people being forced to work up to 19 hours a day, day in, day out, for years on end, for free, whilst being threatened with, or subjected to, extreme violence or emotional abuse.
“The most mainstream form, however, is people working in legitimate roles and businesses, but who are having their wages stolen under the guise of paying back a never-ending debt, usually to a bogus agency who tricked them.”
