Survivors of torture, human trafficking and modern slavery
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As explained above, people in detention have high levels of trauma. Home Office safeguards apply in relation to the person’s history of trauma where this fulfils the definition of torture, human trafficking or modern slavery.
The Home Office’s approach to the policy definition of victims of torture has been highly contested throughout its use of immigration detention powers. The present definition is wide and set out in a Statutory Instrument (The Detention Centre (Amendment) Rules 2018):
““torture” means any act by which a perpetrator intentionally inflicts severe pain or suffering on a victim in a situation in which—
(a)the perpetrator has control (whether mental or physical) over the victim, and
(b)as a result of that control, the victim is powerless to resist.”
Home Office’s for 2024 states that 2,427 reports were completed by clinicians setting out that a detained person had discussed a history of torture with them, so this is not an unusual issue within the detained population. The issue of the detention of torture survivors using immigration powers is a regular theme of concerns about safeguards since there is clear evidence that such individuals are at particular risk of harm as a result of incarceration:
“… a history of torture alone predisposes an individual to a greater risk of harm, including deterioration in mental health and increased risk of anxiety, depression and PTSD, than would be experienced in the general detained population.” ()
The essence of human trafficking and modern slavery is that there has been coercion or deception to ensure the exploitation of a human being.
The UN Palermo Protocol has the commonly accepted definition of human trafficking in international law. This states that human trafficking is:
the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons
by means of threat, force, coercion or deception (this element is not needed for children)
to achieve control over another person
for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation includes:
sexual exploitation
forced and bonded labour
domestic servitude
any other form of slavery
removal of organs
Slavery is a term used for activities involved when one person obtains or holds another person is compelled service and includes being:
forced to work by psychological or physical threat
“owned” or controlled by an 'employer'
dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as ‘property.
Consideration of whether people may be victims of modern slavery or trafficking can apply to many situations and can include people who are UK citizens.
Given the difficulty in identifying victims of modern slavery there is little clear information about how prevalent an issue this is. This lack of data is compounded by the fact that the Home Office does not publish the information it has on the people that are recognised as possible victims.
“Immigration detention is an unacceptable environment for survivors of trafficking, who are particularly vulnerable to harm in detention, a setting which can prevent or discourage disclosure. Even if identified, detainees are not always released and detention continues to have an accumulative and damaging impact upon their physical and mental health. A high proportion of immigration detainees are diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety, and a significant number experience suicidal ideation with the risk of self-harm. Research shows that people who have experienced trauma are at greater risk of developing mental health problems while in detention. It is impossible to envisage how a person’s recovery needs can be met when they are in continuous distress.
For survivors of trafficking, immigration detention not only increases the risk of re-traumatisation and negative long-term physical and mental health outcomes; it can also prevent victims from being identified and from receiving the support they need and to which they are entitled. This can in turn affect their willingness and ability to engage in legal processes, such as supporting criminal investigations and prosecutions of their traffickers. It can leave them at risk of being re-trafficked or exploited further. Immigration detention itself can be used as a threat by exploiters to prevent survivors from approaching authorities for support or assistance.”
(January 2025) recognises that identifying potential victims is challenging since people with this history may not identify themselves in this way or be reluctant to tell others about their experiences. Survivors can be highly traumatised, and afraid of sharing their experiences of exploitation for a multitude of reasons, including shame, fear of stigmatisation, and threats from traffickers who may still be controlling them. Survivors are also often fearful of authorities. A further factor is that people may have been wrongly criminally convicted for offences they were forced to commit by their traffickers and so particularly mistrustful of legal processes.
Analysis of official data collected under freedom of information processes included in by OpenDemocracy identified 368 potential victims held in prisons alone between March 2023 and June 2024. A similar process for obtaining access to Home Office data included in published in October 2022 found for the year 2021 across the whole immigration detention estate 1,611 people had been identified as potential victims.
on understanding human trafficking has been provided by the Helen Bamber Foundation. The charity’s view about the effect of detention on survivors is:
