The Perpetrators of Modern Slavery Offences: Motivations, Networks and Backgrounds

自世纪之交以来，国际社会越来越关注现代奴隶制问题。尽管如此，政策制定已经领先于对这一主题的学术研究，而这方面的学术研究确实很匮乏。虽然国际机构和政府试图估计问题的严重程度，但并非总是成功，现在有几项研究记录了被贩运者的困境，但几乎没有对被认为是贸易肇事者的研究。该项目的目的是通过与被判犯有这些罪行的人进行第一手访谈，更好地了解现代奴隶制问题。它将使用逮捕和定罪数据来描述肇事者，并对根据2015年《现代奴隶法》被定罪的人进行深入采访，以探索一些人如何以及为什么贩卖他人，哪些情况和社交网络导致了他们的违法行为，以及是什么阻碍了他们的违法行为。该项目将：1.绘制自《现代奴隶法》颁布以来三年来警方记录的现代奴隶制的轮廓。征求犯罪者自己对他们在被定罪的罪行中所扮演的角色--无论是“授权者”、“招募者”还是“剥削者”--的描述，他们如何为自己辩护，他们对被贩卖的人具体说了什么，他们在多大程度上了解他们正在违反的法律，以及他们试图摆脱现代奴隶制企业的任何尝试。这些账户将被匿名并存档，以供其他研究人员使用。发展对罪犯如何参与现代奴隶制的了解，包括他们第一次参与贸易、以前参与其他类型的犯罪、移民及其便利、卖淫或色情、毒品和毒品贩运和/或暴力能力。利用高度响应性的深度访谈技术和社交网络方法，该项目将进一步推断犯罪者与从事此类活动的人之间的关系，包括亲情、浪漫和亲密关系和(或)经济债务如何影响他们参与贩运和/或移民之旅，以及他们如何认识受害者。将密切审查当权者--无论是教师、家庭成员、参与犯罪企业的人还是官员--所发挥的作用。贡献现代奴隶制的新模式，从中可以衍生出实践和政策干预。这项研究将有助于制定处理被判犯有现代奴隶制罪行的罪犯的新框架。该研究小组由两名犯罪学家和两名方法学家组成，研究小组将力求证明贩运人口是如何跨越家庭关系、犯罪网络、合法企业和散居国外的社区以不同方式促成贩运的。这项研究将在国家缓刑服务局的支持下进行，重点是通过了解和理解犯下这些罪行的人以及大曼彻斯特和西约克郡警方来减少再次犯罪。该项目将定期向一个由政策制定者、警察、移民、罪犯管理和受害者工作组织组成的指导小组报告。该申请还得到了大曼彻斯特非政府组织现代奴隶制论坛的支持。在这一项目的同时，正在与正义希望组织一起开展以受害者为重点的博士生项目。

Since the turn of the century, increasing international attention has focused on the problem of modern slavery. Policy development has nevertheless raced ahead of academic research on the subject, of which there is a genuine dearth. While international bodies and governments have tried - not always successfully - to produce estimates of the scale of the problem, and there are now a handful of studies documenting the plight of those trafficked, there are hardly any studies that have been undertaken with those regarded as the perpetrators of the trade. The aim of this project is to produce a better understanding of the problem of modern slavery informed by first hand interviews with those convicted for these offences. It will use arrest and conviction data to profile perpetrators together with in-depth interviews with those convicted under the 2015 Modern Slavery Act to explore how and why some people traffick others, what circumstances and social networks have contributed to their offending, as well as what has impeded it. The project will: 1. Map out the contours of modern slavery as recorded by the police over the three years since the inception of the Modern Slavery Act.2. Solicit offenders' own accounts of their role in the crimes for which they were convicted - whether 'enablers', 'recruiters', or 'exploiters' - how they justified this to themselves, what specifically was said to those they trafficked, to what extent they understood the laws they were breaking and any attempts they have made to leave the businesses of modern slavery behind. These accounts will be anonymised and archived for use by other researchers.3. Develop an understanding of how offenders become involved in modern slavery, including their first engagements with the trade, previous involvements in other types of crime, or migration and its facilitation, prostitution or pornography, drugs and drug trafficking and/or capacity for violence. Using highly responsive in-depth interviews techniques and social network methods the project will further extrapolate the relations perpetrators have with those who worked alongside, beneath and above them in such activities, including how kinship, romance and intimacy, and/or financial indebtedness have impacted on their engagements with trafficking and/or migration journeys, as well as how they knew their victims. The roles played by people in positions of authority - whether teachers, family members, those involved in criminal enterprises or officials - will be closely examined.4. Contribute new models of modern slavery from which practice and policy interventions can be derived. The research will help contribute to the development of a new framework for dealing with offenders convicted of modern slavery offences. It will also enable those working with victims to develop approaches to safeguarding that are informed by empirical research on how offenders operate, alone, collectively and through the exploitation of vulnerable people who are highly dependent on each other and/or illicit activity for their subsistence.The research team - which consists of two criminologists and two methodologists - will seek to demonstrate how trafficking is variously facilitated across family ties, criminal networks, legitimate business, and diaspora communities. The research will be conducted with the support of the National Probation Service with a focus on reducing reoffending by developing knowledge and understanding about the people who commit these offences, as well as Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire Police. The project will report routinely to a steering group comprising policymakers, police, immigration, offender management and organisations working with victims. The application is supported also by Greater Manchester NGO Modern Slavery Forum. A PhD studentship focused on victims is being undertaken in conjunction with Hope for Justice in parallel to this project.