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

本项目审查英国政府是否建立了适当的制度，以根据其国际义务识别和援助监狱中的现代奴隶制幸存者，以及对与受害者身份无关但仍有合法请求在监狱内外识别、保护和援助的现代奴隶制幸存者在监狱中的正当行为的反应。。这项研究是重要的和及时的，因为几乎没有关于英国监狱中现代奴隶制幸存者的人数和待遇的知识，也没有关于目前的立法和政策是否允许识别他们和提供足够支持的知识。2015年《现代奴隶法》的法律实施指南明确指出，监狱有责任识别和支持受害者，并在囚犯和工作人员中提高对这一罪行的认识。然而，到目前为止，对于这一责任是否以及如何落实，人们还没有任何了解。鉴于2020年，超过三分之一的成年人参考了国家转介机制(NRM)--英国识别和支持现代奴隶制受害者的框架--报告称，他们在成为现代奴隶制受害者期间曾被迫犯罪，这一认识差距令人震惊。坊间证据表明，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入狱的刑事诉讼中没有被考虑或被认为是相关的。这种做法违背了为确保在人贩子强迫下或作为现代奴隶制受害者的直接后果而犯下罪行的人不会因这些罪行而受到惩罚的立法和政策。这种做法不仅与为保护现代奴隶制受害者而制定的国内法和国际法相抵触，而且还导致使他们遭受现代奴隶制的责任人逍遥法外--无论是使受害者遭受现代奴隶制，还是对后者被迫犯下的罪行负责。这破坏了英国打击现代奴隶制的努力，以及为实现这一目标而出台的立法和政策的重要性，包括2015年的《现代奴隶法》。目前制度的适宜性是通过审查现行的受害者识别法律和政策，以及与其他利益攸关方，如监狱官员、辩护律师和支持幸存者的非政府组织代表，与有监禁经历的现代奴隶制幸存者进行访谈来评估的。这项研究将帮助我们了解最终被关押在监狱中的现代奴隶制受害者会发生什么，以及现有的政策和立法是否为他们提供了被确认身份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参考，以改进对现代奴隶制幸存者的识别和应对。除了对英国现代奴隶制制度的直接贡献外，这项研究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框架的主流。这项研究将考虑监狱制度目前缺乏对现代奴隶制问题的考虑，这在多大程度上是由于缺乏对监狱官员的适当培训。通过结合经验数据和对相关法律和政策的全面法律分析，这项研究将为所需的改革提供坚实的证据基础，塑造未来的实践，并激励进一步的研究。

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.