Modern slavery can take many forms including the trafficking of people, forced labour, servitude and slavery. Recent statistics show that 47% of all potential victims who cite the UK as the location of exploitation, were trafficked into forced labour. Traffickers and illegal/unlicensed gangmasters target a range of industries including those involved in the agricultural sector.
How Your Industry Is Affected
As of 2014,13% of the 464,000 people employed on agricultural holdings being seasonal or casual workers, farms could find themselves targeted by unscrupulous gangmasters who may be offering a ready supply of labour at knocked down rates. In 2016, 8% of potential forced labour victims referred to services came from the agriculture and food sector (2% to agriculture and 6% to food processing) While the numbers coming to light are small (68 victims in 2016), slavery’s hidden nature means actual numbers are likely to be much higher.