COVID-19 Risk and Response: Impacts and Mitigations for Modern Slavery Victims, Survivors and Vulnerable Populations
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Sociology & Social Policy
Abstract
As the UN explained on May 5, COVID-19 "is likely to increase the scourge of modern-day slavery." Victims and survivors of modern slavery are at greater risk of ongoing exploitation and re-exploitation. Traffickers will increase recruitment and seek to maintain revenue during economic crisis. Victim identification has become even more challenging as States shift protection resources towards combatting the pandemic. Access to shelters is increasingly limited, and provisions in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act on victim support may be compromised. Economic contraction and resource reallocation will undermine the anti-slavery work of third-sector organisations, law enforcement and local government. NHS staff are stretched to capacity and may not recognise victims.
We respond to many warnings by the policy community that, as the UN noted, "inaction could lead to a sharp rise in the number of people being pushed into slavery" because of COVID-19. Elsewhere the UN has called upon governments to "urgently adopt inclusive measures aimed at protecting...trafficked persons in their national response to COVID-19," calling such measures "urgent and necessary." The OSCE has declared that the crisis brings an acute "obligation to combat the exploitation of vulnerable people" and that combating slavery during COVID-19 is "an urgent priority." A consortium of NGOs has warned that COVID-19 will have similar consequences to natural disasters, causing spikes in slavery.
Yet while there is an increasing number of risks being articulated across the anti-slavery sector, they are not being gathered and assessed in a robust, coherent way. There is no attempt underway to complete a full COVID-19 risk/response assessment for slavery victims/survivors in the UK, although UK-based organisations are sharing their immediate challenges. As we do not fully understand the risks, governments and third-sector organisations cannot effectively respond to calls-including those from the UN-for the urgent adoption of protection and mitigation measures. The complexity of the risk environment may impede anti-slavery mitigation unless risks can be assessed. We need to analyse risk and recommend mitigation, in order to ensure that COVID-19 does not increase enslavement and jeopardise slavery survivors' recovery.
We therefore answer the question: what are the accrued risks and mitigating responses of COVID-19 for victims and survivors of slavery? To answer this key question, we answer the sub-questions: What are the causal pathways throughout which mitigations are expected to work? Do these efforts reflect survivors' experiences? We systematically analyse risks and responses across a year, in order to provide large-scale evidence and best-practice recommendations. We do not duplicate the valuable risk mitigation work of front-line organisations, but support it with state-of-the-art risk assessment, using survivor insights and real-time data, for the sector's direct use.
Derived from disaster response techniques and public health frameworks, our participatory risk assessment includes interview, survey and web-monitoring data. Our multi-method design includes qualitative and quantitative surveys, public information monitoring, a modified e-Delphi, evidence reviews, and risk analysis. We adopt a multi-level approach to consider risk and assess against a framework adapted from our social determinants model. As we assess risk, we analyse responses and recommend mitigations. To provide lessons, this includes comparative analyses of responses by other countries and during other disasters.
We respond to many warnings by the policy community that, as the UN noted, "inaction could lead to a sharp rise in the number of people being pushed into slavery" because of COVID-19. Elsewhere the UN has called upon governments to "urgently adopt inclusive measures aimed at protecting...trafficked persons in their national response to COVID-19," calling such measures "urgent and necessary." The OSCE has declared that the crisis brings an acute "obligation to combat the exploitation of vulnerable people" and that combating slavery during COVID-19 is "an urgent priority." A consortium of NGOs has warned that COVID-19 will have similar consequences to natural disasters, causing spikes in slavery.
Yet while there is an increasing number of risks being articulated across the anti-slavery sector, they are not being gathered and assessed in a robust, coherent way. There is no attempt underway to complete a full COVID-19 risk/response assessment for slavery victims/survivors in the UK, although UK-based organisations are sharing their immediate challenges. As we do not fully understand the risks, governments and third-sector organisations cannot effectively respond to calls-including those from the UN-for the urgent adoption of protection and mitigation measures. The complexity of the risk environment may impede anti-slavery mitigation unless risks can be assessed. We need to analyse risk and recommend mitigation, in order to ensure that COVID-19 does not increase enslavement and jeopardise slavery survivors' recovery.
We therefore answer the question: what are the accrued risks and mitigating responses of COVID-19 for victims and survivors of slavery? To answer this key question, we answer the sub-questions: What are the causal pathways throughout which mitigations are expected to work? Do these efforts reflect survivors' experiences? We systematically analyse risks and responses across a year, in order to provide large-scale evidence and best-practice recommendations. We do not duplicate the valuable risk mitigation work of front-line organisations, but support it with state-of-the-art risk assessment, using survivor insights and real-time data, for the sector's direct use.
Derived from disaster response techniques and public health frameworks, our participatory risk assessment includes interview, survey and web-monitoring data. Our multi-method design includes qualitative and quantitative surveys, public information monitoring, a modified e-Delphi, evidence reviews, and risk analysis. We adopt a multi-level approach to consider risk and assess against a framework adapted from our social determinants model. As we assess risk, we analyse responses and recommend mitigations. To provide lessons, this includes comparative analyses of responses by other countries and during other disasters.
Organisations
- University of Nottingham (Lead Research Organisation)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (Co-funder)
- Human Trafficking Foundation (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Anti-Slavery International (Collaboration)
- Polaris Project (Collaboration)
- Survivor Alliance (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- The United Way (Collaboration)
- Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) (Collaboration)
- Anti-Slavery (Project Partner)
- International Anti Human Trafficking Net (Project Partner)
- Focus on Labour Exploitation (Project Partner)
Publications
Bravo-Balso, L
(2021)
Anti-Slavery Strategic Communications During COVID-19
Brotherton V
(2022)
The unequal impact of Covid-19 on the lives and rights of the children of modern slavery survivors, children in exploitation and children at risk of entering exploitation
in Children and Society
Brotherton V
(2021)
Risks & Impacts of Covid-19 for Human Trafficking Survivors in the USA
Brotherton, V
(2021)
Risks & Impacts of COVID-19 for Modern Slavery Survivors in the UK
| Description | The research has involved: 1.Surveying 102 survivors in the UK and USA in December 2020 to understand the impact of COVID-19 to date, expected future impacts, and their suggestions/requests for how these impacts can be mitigated. 2. A rapid evidence review to analyse 106 relevant grey literature sources 3. The monitoring of strategic communications related to COVID-19 broadcast via Twitter by anti-slavery organisations and government accounts 4. Dialogue events with survivors and counter-slavery supporters including NGOs, policy makers and academics 5. The design of a new risk framework based on data from these four streams (1-4) The surveys with survivors, social media monitoring and and dialogue events revealed that the pandemic's key areas of impact include: - Psychological health - Physical health - In particular, concerns around contracting and transmitting COVID-19 - Access to legal documentation (including the rights of domestic workers) - Access to support services - Financial status - Digital poverty and exclusion - Risks to children of online sexual exploitation, trafficking, criminal exploitation and child marriage - Access to information about COVID-19 entitlements - Relationships with wider family & friends - Discrimination towards migrant workers The rapid evidence review offered a coherent and robust documentation of the actual impacts and the potential risks facing victims and survivors of modern slavery during the first seven months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also has sought to capture the range of responses that have been implemented to mitigate these risks by civil society organisations and governments in the UK and US. The complex issues facing victims and survivors have been identified and yet nationwide-level (in both jurisdictions) responses to these risks appear to be limited according to the literature. The findings of the evidence review echo the emerging academic literature which suggests that survivors of modern slavery are a population that are disproportionately at risk of contracting, transmitting or developing complications due to COVID-19. It has revealed that strategies need to be implemented to ensure that ongoing risks to this population are attended to such as the mental health of survivors. Without immediate action in relation to the digital divide, victims and survivors will continue to be hindered from accessing their basic human rights. Racial disparity both in the US and UK needs to be acknowledged and addressed so as to mitigate the risks already facing people of colour both to modern slavery, on the one hand, and COVID-19 on the other. Lessons need to be learnt from the examples of good practice of those working on the frontlines of the antitrafficking movement both in the UK and US. Finally, the voices and experiences of survivors need to be listened to and acted upon so as to mitigate actual ongoing and long term risks facing this population in the months and years to come. We then used data from the four strands of the research programme to identify the nature of the COVID-19 hazard to modern slavery victims, survivors and those at elevated risk, the degree of exposure of this population to the hazard and its context. This is drawn together in an overall risk and resilience assessment. We also explore how risk and resilience variables interconnect in ways that reinforce or offset the likelihood of exploitation and harm. These are presented as causal loop diagrams to visualise systems of risk and resilience caused by economic shock and mandated social isolation in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. While acknowledging that there is some overlap in the hazards of COVID-19, we identified five broad categories of hazard from the overall project data: 1. Economic shock 2. Mandated social isolation and restricted social movement 3. Changes in state support, including access to welfare system financial support and access to services 4. Legal, regulatory and justice interruption 5. The disease itself We conclude that COVID-19 is a syndemic pandemic that will continue to exacerbate inequalities unless deliberate action is taken at scale to intervene in pathways to harm. This novel study has, using a multi-method approach, explicitly sought to surface the challenges faced by the counter-slavery and counter-trafficking sectors by assessing the risks and the pathways to harm for people in the UK and US at risk of, experiencing or recovering from exploitation. This has been achieved through a rapid yet rigorous collation of multiple evidence streams and analysed and synthesised using modified public health risk assessment methods and a complex systems approach. Uniquely, this has enabled the identification of what risks have been experienced by populations living in vulnerable circumstances, how these risks interconnect and are offset by resilience or protective factors and how these relate to harms. Such articulation offers multiple opportunities for intervention at several levels (national, local, individual) and across a range of sectors (public, community and voluntary, advocacy and campaign, commercial): 1. National governments need to review and address how their interventions across systems both enable or constrain exploitation The examples of economic shock and mandated social isolation and restricted social movement demonstrate how COVID-19 is not solely a biological hazard. The risk and resilience assessments and demonstration of causal pathways to harm show that threats to income, to daily patterns of life and reductions in face-to-face have exacerbated risks for already at-risk populations. This assessment is not unique to victims and survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking with others evidencing increased risks and harms experienced by other marginalised people including refugees, migrants and minority ethnic populations and growing social inequalities. Opportunities for meaningful and impactful intervention are greatest at the national policy level with targeted support offered to prevent increasing risks to exploitation and harm to offset the effects of economic shock and to prevent long-term mental health harm caused by reduced social connection. National policy can explicitly protect this population by, for example, shoring up income support measures, opening up welfare support to victims and survivors and providing secure and safe accommodation for at-risk populations. This opportunity has not been fully realised in some recent national policy interventions e.g. the UK governments' temporary housing of asylum seekers in unfit military barracks during lockdowns. It is important that national policy interventions avoid further exposing populations living in difficult circumstances to further risks, many of which have been identified in this project. 2. Local interventions can reduce risks in communities and provide advocacy and support services Local services and community-level partnerships sit at the core of much counter-slavery and counter-trafficking action and advocacy. The research presented here shows the important role played by local providers and supporters to enhance resilience in local areas, communities, among families and survivors to offset the risks posed by the economic and social hazards of COVID-19. Much promising practice was revealed during the dialogue sessions of this research. For example, local NGOs provided SIM cards, mobile phones and data to survivors to reduce the risk of digital exclusion and allow families to engage in school, work and receive support during periods of reduced social contact. In particular, local organisations have the potential to relieve some of the risks of loneliness, fear and experienced social isolation; a clear mechanism through which people experience mental health harm. This was constrained, however, during severe social lockdowns; a risk that should be more fully assessed in any future social restriction policies. Maintaining contact and developing means of retaining access to community, faith, friendship groups and wider family connections appeared important throughout the pandemic. However, it was also clear that the pandemic presented multiple challenges to community organisations and NGOs in fulfilling this role, including reductions in income and delayed financial assistance for the charitable sector. The localised and patchwork nature of such interventions also suggests there would be value in reviewing promising practise in these responses and scaling-up the most effective interventions. While such national and local interventions are, on their own, valuable in disrupting pathways to harm, there is also an opportunity for systems leaders across sectors to use the pandemic and these methods of assessing risk, resilience and causality to design a coordinated, holistic, whole systems response to modern slavery and human trafficking. It requires systems leaders to embrace the complexity of modern slavery and human trafficking and how a whole systems response can prevent it. The approach adopted in our project of collating and synthesising multiple forms of data offers a useful starting point from which to form such a response. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings from this research can be used by individuals and organisations working in the anti-slavery sector to advocate for the rights of survivors of modern slavery and for improved access to services and justice. Service providing organisations can use the findings to identify and address the gaps in their service provision. Policy actors working at the regional and national level can use the findings to inform service provision, funding decisions and policy development. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | Our findings have been used across the anti-slavery sector (including NGOs and service providers) to shape their approaches to survivor support and risk planning. For example, we were contacted by Justice and Care in response to a project paper for input on how to apply a systems-thinking approach to the anti-trafficking field, in support of the development of their organisational research and evidence strategy. The project's novel methodological approach has therefore informed the development of third sector organisation's research and development strategy. Other ongoing impact from the project is the ongoing application of the learning gleaned from the involvement of the project's Peer Researcher (Lived Experience) Advisory Group (PRAG), made up of 10 survivors who supported the research design, delivery, analysis and dissemination. This learning has now informed the development of a Lived Experience Advisory Panel, established to steer the direction of a new Health & Wellbeing programme within the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham. This ensures that modern slavery research is of maximum relevance and benefit to survivors and the wider anti-slavery movement in the UK, as well as being of benefit to the individual survivors involved in the LEAP in terms of developing their skills and experience, and supporting them to be leaders in the sector/movement. This learning in relation to survivor inclusion/peer researcher involvement in research is now being shared beyond academia with the wider anti-slavery sector. Members of the research team have been approached to sit on the Anti-Trafficking Lived Experience Coalition (anti-slavery NGOs, survivor consultants and survivor-led organisations and legal practitioners) which was established in early 2023 to share learning, identify opportunities for joint working, to build a network to strengthen the voice and impact of survivors and those with lived experience in the sector. In collaboration with Survivor Alliance, a project partner, the team further built on the project's PRAG to launch Involving Survivors in Policy & Intervention Research (InSPIRe). This long-term joint initiative (https://www.survivoralliance.org/inspire) aims to: Co-produce original research that supports sustainable freedom for survivors of slavery and human trafficking. Disseminate and translate research for anti-slavery policy makers and practitioners whose work directly impacts survivors of slavery. Train and develop survivors of modern slavery into community-based scholar-activists. Share best practices for conducting survivor-informed and survivor-led research. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Invited presentation, Modern Slavery Strategy Unit, Home Office |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Scottish Government Action Area 1 meeting |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Written evidence submitted to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee Call for Evidence on the impact of coronavirus on businesses and workers |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | The committee published its report and recommendations in 2021, with the Government's response to those recommendations in May 2021. |
| Description | Written evidence submitted to the Foreign Affairs Committee Call for Evidence on UK Policy Towards Afghanistan |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/39985/pdf/ |
| Description | Written evidence submitted to the Joint Committee on Human Rights's call for evidence on the Government's response to Covid-19: human rights implications |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | The Joint Committee on Human Rights published their Report on the Government's response to COVID-19: human rights implications, which proposes that the Government must urgently address a number of issues to ensure that its handling of the Coronavirus pandemic is human rights compliant. |
| URL | https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/2064/html/ |
| Description | Written evidence submitted to the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | In its report to the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur used our evidence submission to analyse how increasing poverty and rising unemployment caused by the Covid-19 health crisis pushed people into exploitative employment and increased their vulnerability to forced labour, the worst forms of child labour and other slavery-like practices such as bonded labour, as well as forced marriage. The impact on those who are already in a situation of enslavement was also highlighted, given that resources for anti-slavery initiatives were further limited in the context of the economic crisis, disrupting services for the prevention and response to contemporary forms of slavery. Finally, the report offered recommendations with regards to interventions that are required to address these problems and to protect the most vulnerable groups. The report cited our evidence submission 5 times. |
| URL | https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Slavery/SR/CfI_COVID19/Rights_Lab.docx |
| Title | SOLACE (Social Listening and Communications Engagement) dashboard |
| Description | To advance data analytics reporting: we developed the SOLACE (Social Listening and Communications Engagement) dashboard as part of this project (also using the open-source R ecosystem) (Lucas et al., 2020a). The aim was to present information related to high-level thematic and semantic changes in the strategic communications of organizations engaged with SDG 8.7 during the COVID-19 crisis in an engaging and accessible (and interactive) manner. We did so against a backdrop of recent interest in using visualization tools to support faster insight generation and decision making around (1) anti-slavery (e.g. Allain and Schwarz, 2020), (2) COVID-19 (e.g. Lucas et al., 2020b; Rufai and Bruce, 2020), and, (3) other major societal challenges (Nica-Avram et al., 2020). |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This toolkit allows users (our research and impact 'audience') to visualize key trends in the terms and topics used in anti-slavery strategic communications during COVID-19, meaning that they can interact with, and draw insights from our dataset without the need for specialized knowledge. |
| URL | https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/e9rbh |
| Title | Survey |
| Description | Survey designed with survivors of modern slavery, reflecting the input of lived experience |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Additional co-design work with survivors of modern slavery on further research tools |
| URL | https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/documents/ukri-covid-uk-list-... |
| Title | Text mining / information retrieval based toolkit to query Twitter data |
| Description | Central to this project we developed a text mining / information retrieval based toolkit to query Twitter data using a combination of open-source R packages (Bravo-Balsa et al., 2021). This toolkit allows for customization of queries along the lines of natural language, giving users the ability to ask questions of social media datasets based on any choice of input search terms. This includes queries directly linked to modern slavery, as well as ancillary topics related to other major societal topics, such as climate change and international elections. To make this process more systematic, we focused on a proof-of-concept rule dictionary, capturing the 32 discrete dimensions within Gardner et al's (2020) SDRCS framework. We extended this list to 36 test dimensions based on a combination of splitting dimensions in the original framework, and adding additional dimensions relevant to the specific context of modern slavery (and its presentation) during COVID-19. "Victims", "Immigration" and "Survivors" are the most prominent dimensions in our test dataset. This toolkit acts as a basic 'search engine' apparatus, and allows us to analyse temporal trends present in a given social media dataset representing: (a) the usage volume of specific terms and topics, and (b) the engagement levels received by given terms and topics (i.e. from the public audience). |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Enables analysis of temporal trends present in a given social media dataset representing: (a) the usage volume of specific terms and topics, and (b) the engagement levels received by given terms and topics (i.e. from the public audience). |
| URL | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13669877.2020.1864009 |
| Description | Anti-Slavery International/Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group |
| Organisation | Anti-Slavery International |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The research team has regularly updated colleagues from Anti-Slavery International (ASI) as well as members of the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG) - a coalition of 14 anti-slavery organisations, of which ASI is the secretariat - on the project's progress as well as on emerging research findings through verbal and written briefings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ATSI/ATMG has supported the project by contributing written materials and reports to the project's rapid evidence review (https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf), reviewing briefing papers stemming from the project (https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf), and supporting the facilitation of the UK-focused dissemination and dialogue event in March 2021. |
| Impact | ASI/ATMG provided feedback/input into the drafting of this project briefing - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf ASI/ATMG contributed written materials to the project's rapid evidence review on the risks, impacts and mitigating responses to COVID19 for modern slavery survivors - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) |
| Organisation | Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The research team has regularly updated colleagues from FLEX on the project's progress as well as on emerging research findings, both verbally and in writing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This research partner has supported the project by contributing written materials and reports to the rapid evidence review, reviewing briefing papers stemming from the project (https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf), and supporting the facilitation of the UK-focused dissemination and dialogue event in March 2021. |
| Impact | FLEX provided feedback/input into the drafting of this project briefing - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf FLEX contributed written materials to the project's rapid evidence review on the risks, impacts and mitigating responses to COVID19 for modern slavery survivors - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Human Trafficking Foundation |
| Organisation | Human Trafficking Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The research team has been in regular contact with the Human Trafficking Foundation to share updates on project progress and emerging research findings, and to discuss dissemination events. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This research partner has supported the project by contributing written materials and reports to the rapid evidence review, reviewing briefing papers stemming from the project (https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf), and co-hosting the UK-focused dissemination and dialogue event in March 2021. |
| Impact | https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | IAHT Network |
| Organisation | Human Trafficking Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The research team has regularly updated colleagues from the IAHT Network on the project's progress as well as on emerging research findings, both verbally and in writing. Members of the research team also supported the IAHT Network to develop a survey for its members focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on the operation of anti-slavery organisations internationally. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This research partner has supported the project by contributing written materials and reports to the rapid evidence review, reviewing briefing papers stemming from the project (https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf), and helping to facilitate the UK-focused dialogue and dissemination event in March 2021. |
| Impact | IAHT Network provided feedback/input into the drafting of this project briefing - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf IAHT Network contributed written materials to the project's rapid evidence review on the risks, impacts and mitigating responses to COVID19 for modern slavery survivors - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Polaris Project |
| Organisation | Polaris Project |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Members of the research team provided a verbal and written overview to Polaris about the project and the emerging findings in order to frame discussions around organising a 'dialogue and dissemination' event in the USA. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Polaris have helped to organise a US-focused virtual event to share the project findings and hear from survivors regarding the ongoing impact of COVID-19. Polaris have agreed to co-badge the event, disseminate invitations, and will help facilitate discussions during the event. |
| Impact | Written outputs will be developed following the event on 8th April 2021. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Survivor Alliance |
| Organisation | Survivor Alliance |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | A member of the research team trained two members of Survivor Alliance to develop interview schedules and conduct interviews, and supported a third member of staff with the transcription of these interviews with survivors in the US and UK. Members of the research team have presented emerging findings to colleagues in Survivor Alliance on two occasions to aid their understanding of the progress of the other project workstreams. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Four members of Survivor Alliance are directly supporting the work of the project, including by disseminating surveys; arranging payment for survey respondents; conducting interviews with survivors of modern slavery in the US and UK; transcribing interviews; establishing, facilitating and supporting the work of a lived experience Research Advisory Group (RAG); co-hosting a US-focused dialogue and dissemination event in April 2021; and reviewing written materials produced by the project. |
| Impact | https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/briefing-risks-impacts-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk.pdf https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/january/impact-of-covid-19-on-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk-usa-feb21.pdf https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/march/risks-impacts-and-mitigating-responses-of-covid-19-for-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk-and-the-usa.pdf |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | United Way Worldwide |
| Organisation | The United Way |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Members of the research team provided a verbal and written overview to United Way colleagues about the project and the emerging findings in February 2021 in order to frame discussions around organising a 'dialogue and dissemination' event in the USA. |
| Collaborator Contribution | United Way have helped to organise a US-focused virtual event in April 2021 to share the project findings and hear from survivors regarding the ongoing impact of COVID-19. United Way have agreed to co-badge the event, disseminate invitations, and will help facilitate discussions during the event. |
| Impact | Written outputs will be developed following the event on 8th April 2021. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | A COVID-19 Response to Modern Slavery using AI Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Column for the United Nations University platform Delta 8.7 about the possibilities of using real-time commentary to guide the modern slavery research community, as well as an opportunity to rethink priority research domains to preserve efforts geared towards tackling modern slavery during the pandemic with rapid-response, adaptability and scalability in mind. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://delta87.org/2020/06/covid-19-response-modern-slavery-using-ai-research/ |
| Description | Engagement with Research Advisory Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | To date, the research team has met on 2 occasions with the 'Research Advisory Group' (RAG), an advisory board consisting of 10 survivors of modern slavery established specifically for the purposes of supporting this research project. The first meeting, held on 15th September 2020, the RAG were provided an overview of the research and provided the opportunity to feedback on research design. At the second meeting in February 2021, the RAG were provided an overview of the key findings from the survivor survey (completed by 102 survivors in December 2021) and provided feedback to assist in the analysis of the findings. Members of the RAG also reviewed survey questions during the drafting process. RAG members will also be in attendance at the following 2 'dissemination and dialogue' events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| Description | Four Nations webinar series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Invited speaker (Dr Liz Such) at the Four Nations webinar series: A public health approach to modern slavery (>700 attendees globally) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Next steps for tackling modern slavery |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Westminster Legal Policy Forum keynote seminar, featuring project findings on a panel about Improving support for victims, also featuring the Chief Executive of Hestia and the Director of teh Shiva Foundation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Re-trafficking: The current state of play |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Roundtable and workshop chaired by the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner about our report Re-trafficking: The current state of play. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | The Benefits and the Barriers to Accessing Employment: Considerations for Survivors of Modern Slavery |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Workshop and roundtable chaired by the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (online) to discuss the implementation of 4 recommendations from our research report on the Benefits and the Barriers to Accessing Employment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | The impact of COVID-19 on Modern Slavery |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Panel about the impact of COVID-19 on Modern Slavery at the Universitas 21 annual ECR workshop (workshop hosted in 2020 by the Rights Lab/PI) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | UK Dissemination & dialogue events |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Two, virtual 'dissemination and dialogue' events are planned in March and April 2021 to allow the research team to share the findings of the research to date with a UK and US-based (respectively) audience. Both events are intended to be highly participatory. The first event, to be held on 18th March will be co-hosted by one of the external research partners on the project, the Human Trafficking Foundation, who play a key coordinating role in the UK anti-slavery sector and act as the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. Following a presentation on the research findings to date, attendees will be asked to join one of three break-out rooms to discuss key themes stemming from the research - we want to hear from attendees about the ongoing challenges they face, to hear examples of good practice of how the sector has met the challenges posed by the pandemic, and discuss ways forward to address ongoing and future issues. Minutes from the meeting will be written up and shared with attendees, as well as disseminated to a targeted list of key stakeholders and policy actors following the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ongoing-and-future-challenges-faced-by-survivors-due-to-covid-19-tick... |
| Description | US Dissemination & Dialogue event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | This second dialogue and dissemination event will be held on the 8th April for US audiences and co-hosted by one of the research partners, Survivor Alliance, in collaboration with two other US-based NGOs - Polaris and United Way. This event will bring together survivors of human trafficking in the US, as well as organisations that support survivors, to share experiences about the impact of COVID-19 to date, and discuss ideas on how to address ongoing and future challenges caused by the pandemic. Research findings from this project will be shared at the start of the event to help frame the break-out room discussions. Again, notes will be taken at the event and translated into a short, policy-focused briefing to be shared with attendees and a targeted list of key policy actors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.survivoralliance.org/covid19usa |
| Description | Uni of Nottingham Diversity Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Research findings will also be presented at the University of Nottingham's Diversity Festival on 17th March 2021 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/events/2021/diversity-festiva... |
| Description | Westminster Legal policy Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Preliminary survey findings - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2021/january/impact-of-covid-19-on-modern-slavery-survivors-in-the-uk-usa-feb21.pdf were also shared with attendees at Westminster Legal Policy Forum on the 27th January 2021 )(entitled 'Next steps for tackling modern slavery - the impact of COVID-19, UK policy and organisational practice, and the global response'). Attendees included the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, senior officials from the Home Office; the Ministry of Justice; UK Visas and Immigration; the Crown Prosecution Service; the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |