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

监狱中现代奴隶制的幸存者：英国反奴隶制制度的盲点

• 批准号: AH/X001091/1
• 负责人: Marija Jovanovic
• 金额: $ 27.62万
• 依托单位: University of Essex
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX001091%2F1
• 关键词: Survivors; Modern; Slavery; Prisons; Blind

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.

本项目考察英国政府是否建立了一个适当的制度，根据其国际义务来识别和援助监狱中的现代奴隶制幸存者，以及对现代奴隶制幸存者的回应，这些幸存者的罪行与他们作为受害者的身份无关，但他们在监狱内外仍然有合法的身份，保护和援助请求。这项研究是重要和及时的，因为几乎没有关于英国监狱中现代奴隶制幸存者的数量和待遇的知识，也没有现行的立法和政策允许他们的识别和足够的支持。2015年《现代奴役法》实施的法定指导明确指出，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，人们对是否以及如何履行这一责任还没有了解。考虑到2020年，超过三分之一的成年人被提交给国家转介机制（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，我们的知识差距是惊人的。轶事证据表明，在许多情况下，在导致其监禁的刑事诉讼中，她们作为现代奴隶制幸存者的地位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可以得到保护而不因这些罪行而受到惩罚而制定的立法和政策。这种做法不仅违背了为保护现代奴隶制受害者而制定的国内法和国际法，而且还导致使受害者遭受现代奴隶制的责任人不受惩罚- -无论是使受害者遭受现代奴隶制的责任人还是使受害者被迫犯下的罪行责任人。这破坏了英国打击现代奴隶制的努力，也破坏了英国为实现这一目标而引入的立法和政策的重要性，包括2015年《现代奴隶制法案》。评估现行制度的适宜性，既要审查有关受害者身份识别的现行法律和政策，又要采访有监禁经历的现代奴隶制幸存者，以及监狱官员、辩护律师和支持幸存者的非政府组织代表等其他利益攸关方。这项研究将帮助我们了解那些最终被关进监狱的现代奴隶制受害者的遭遇，以及现有的政策和立法是否为他们提供了被识别并获得他们有权获得的必要支持和援助的机会。这些发现将为未来的政策和法律框架提供信息，以改进对现代奴隶制幸存者的识别和回应。除了对英国现代奴隶制制度的直接贡献之外，该研究还将使现代奴隶制问题在监狱管理和监督的政策和法律框架内充分主流化。这项研究将考虑目前对监狱制度内现代奴隶制问题缺乏考虑在多大程度上是由于监狱官员缺乏适当的培训造成的。通过结合实证数据和对相关法律和政策的全面法律分析，本研究将提供坚实的证据基础，为必要的改革提供信息，塑造未来的实践，并促进进一步的研究。