Reports from The Passage, a London-based homelessness charity with a modern slavery service, have demonstrated the intersection between modern slavery and homelessness, highlighting the pivotal role of organisations from the homelessness sector in identifying and supporting survivors.
Over the past five years, The Passage Modern Slavery Service has found that 94% of survivors supported by the service faced homelessness either as a consequence of or following their exploitative experiences, even while receiving Government support.
The UK, as a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT), is obliged to provide survivors of modern slavery with safe accommodation. It does so through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM, the system to identify and support potential victims of modern slavery). Despite the critical role of the NRM in providing access to safety, legal protections and tailored support, survivors often encounter significant housing challenges.
The Passage Modern Slavery Service Five-Year Report also reveals that 34% of the service users did not require NRM referral, even though they might be experiencing homelessness, including rough sleeping. These individuals remain exceptionally vulnerable, yet their experiences are often under-researched and poorly understood.
The Passage, in collaboration with the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC), is conducting a study to respond to these challenges. By examining the housing issues faced by survivors who decline to enter the NRM or who rely solely on outreach support within the NRM, this study brings to light the complexity of their experiences.
It also aims to explore the interaction between statutory responses to modern slavery support and homelessness, identify existing gaps and suggest improvements to prevent homelessness among people with lived experience of modern slavery. Additionally, it seeks to identify best practices for integrating modern slavery considerations into homelessness policies.
Furthermore, the project examines the impact of the new UK destitution policy in reducing the risk of homelessness for survivors of modern slavery, in order to identify best practice for local authorities, frontline organisations and NRM subcontractors.
The researcher is carrying out an evidence review on the links between the two areas; gathering data from local authorities, frontline organisations and those with lived experience of either or both homelessness and modern slavery through a survey and interviews, as well as workshops with research participants to test the findings and recommendations identified from the research.
Researcher: Dr Júlia Tomás (The Passage)
We need your help
We need help with this project to gather as comprehensive evidence as possible both from people with lived experience of modern slavery and homelessness and from practitioners working with people with such experiences.
If you have received or are currently receiving outreach support under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) in England, your experiences are invaluable to us.
By sharing your experiences in an interview, you can contribute to improving support systems for others in similar situations. The interview will be carried out anonymously and you can withdraw at any moment. It will last no longer than one hour and you will be compensated for your time.
If you’re interested, please contact Dr Júlia Tomás at julia.tomas@passage.org.uk.
Thank you for considering this opportunity to contribute to this research.
Survey for practitioners
If you are a member of a regional or local anti-slavery network or partnership, please consider filling out this survey.
