Record High Number of Potential Victims of Modern Slavery, Government Figures Show

The number of potential victims of modern slavery received by the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) has reached record levels, according to Home Office statistics. Figures published on Thursday showed that 4,758 people were referred to the Home Office between July and September, a 15 percent increase on the same period last year and the highest quarterly figure recorded since the NRM began in 2009. A separate Home Office recording mechanism, the Duty to Notify (DtN), also found record high numbers of potential modern slavery victims. Over the same period, there were 1,501 reports via DtN, the highest quarterly figures since the process began in 2015. A Home Office spokesperson called modern slavery “a scourge that dehumanises and traumatises people for profit,” adding that the department was “committed to tackling it in all its forms.”...