Survivors of Modern Slavery in Prisons: The Blind Spot of the UK Anti-Slavery Regime

该项目审查联合王国政府是否已建立适当的制度，根据其国际义务，查明和援助监狱中的现代奴隶制幸存者，并对因与其受害者身份无关的罪行而被判入狱但仍有合法请求在监狱内外查明、保护和援助的现代奴隶制幸存者作出反应。.这项研究是重要和及时的，因为几乎没有关于联合王国监狱中现代奴隶制幸存者的人数和待遇的知识，也没有现行立法和政策是否允许他们识别和充分支持。2015年《现代奴役法》的法定执行指南明确指出，监狱有责任识别和支持受害者，并提高囚犯对这一罪行的认识。. .和工作人员。“然而，迄今为止，人们还不了解是否以及如何履行这一责任。2020年，超过三分之一的成年人提到国家转介机制（NRM）-英国识别和支持现代奴隶制受害者的框架-报告说，他们在成为现代奴隶制受害者时被迫犯罪。传闻证据表明，在许多情况下，他们作为现代奴隶制幸存者的身份在导致他们被监禁的刑事诉讼中没有得到考虑或被认为是相关的。这种做法违反了为确保在贩运者的强迫下或作为现代奴隶制受害者的直接后果而犯罪的人能够得到保护，不因这些罪行而受到惩罚而制定的立法和政策。这种做法不仅违反了为保护现代奴隶制受害者而制定的国家和国际法，而且还导致使受害者遭受现代奴隶制的责任人逍遥法外-使受害者遭受现代奴隶制的责任人和受害者被迫犯下的罪行的责任人都逍遥法外。这破坏了联合王国打击现代奴隶制的努力，以及为实现这一目标而制定的立法和政策的重要性，包括2015年《现代奴隶制法案》。通过审查关于受害者身份的现行法律和政策，以及与有监禁经历的现代奴隶制幸存者以及其他利益攸关方（如监狱官员、辩护律师和支持幸存者的非政府组织代表）进行访谈，评估现行制度的适用性。这项研究将帮助我们了解最终入狱的现代奴隶制受害者的情况，以及现行政策和立法是否为他们提供机会，使他们能够被识别并获得他们有权获得的必要支持和援助。这些调查结果将为今后的政策和法律的框架提供信息，以改进对现代奴隶制幸存者的识别和应对，除了对联合王国现代奴隶制制度的直接贡献外，这项研究还将使现代奴隶制问题能够充分纳入监狱管理和监督的政策和法律的框架的主流。这项研究将考虑目前监狱制度中对现代奴隶制问题缺乏考虑的情况在多大程度上是由于监狱官员缺乏适当的培训造成的。通过结合经验数据和对相关法律和政策的全面法律的分析，研究将提供坚实的证据基础，为所需的改革提供信息，塑造未来的做法，并促进进一步的研究。

This project examines whether the UK government has established an appropriate regime to identify and assist survivors of modern slavery in prisons in line with its international obligations and the responses to survivors of modern slavery justifiably in prison for crimes unrelated to their status as a victim but who still have a legitimate request for identification, protection, and assistance both within and outside prison. . This research is important and timely because there is almost no knowledge about the number and treatment of survivors of modern slavery in UK prisons, nor whether the current legislation and policy allow for their identification and adequate support. The statutory guidance for the implementation of the 2015 Modern Slavery Act expressly notes that prisons 'have responsibility for identifying and supporting victims and raising awareness of this crime amongst prisoners . . . and staff.' Yet, there is to date no understanding about whether and how this responsibility is implemented. This gap in our knowledge is striking given that in 2020 more than one third of the adults referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) - the UK framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery - reported that they had been compelled to commit crimes while they were a victim of modern slavery. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in many instances their status as a survivor of modern slavery has not been considered or deemed relevant during criminal proceedings resulting in their imprisonment. Such practices are contrary to legislation and policies introduced to ensure that people who commit crimes under the compulsion of traffickers or as a direct consequence of being a victim of modern slavery can be protected from being punished for those crimes. Not only do such practices contradict national and international law established to protect victims of modern slavery, but they also result in those responsible for subjecting them to modern slavery going unpunished- both for subjecting victims to modern slavery and for crimes that the latter are compelled to commit. This undermines the UK's efforts to fight modern slavery and the importance of the legislation and policies it has introduced towards this goal, including the 2015 Modern Slavery Act. The suitability of the current regime is assessed by both reviewing the existing law and policy on victim identification and by interviewing survivors of modern slavery with the experience of imprisonment, alongside other stakeholders, such as prison officials, defence lawyers, and NGO representatives supporting survivors.The research will help us to understand what happens to victims of modern slavery who end up in prisons, and whether existing policies and legislation provide the opportunity for them to be identified and access the necessary support and assistance they are entitled to. These findings will inform future policy and legal frameworks to improve the identification and responses to survivors of modern slavery.Beyond such immediate contribution to the UK's regime on modern slavery, the research will enable the issue of modern slavery to be adequately mainstreamed within the policy and legal frameworks for the administration and oversight of prisons. The research will consider the extent to which the current lack of consideration of the issue of modern slavery within the prison regime stems from the absence of the adequate training of prison officials. By combining empirical data and a comprehensive legal analysis of the relevant laws and policies, the research will provide a solid evidence base to inform the required reforms, shape future practices, and stimulate further research.