Slavery Fight To Stop Traffickers Steps Up

By Michelle Clifford, Sky News Correspondent

People convicted of human trafficking could face life in jail under new penalties being introduced by the Government to crack down on slavery.

The Modern Slavery Bill, which Home Secretary Theresa May intends to publish in draft later this year, is due to be introduced in 2014.

Ministers want to toughen up the law to give it a "hard edge" and the aim is to have it on the statute book before the end of this Parliament.

Mrs May unveiled plans for the Bill at the Tory party conference last month and it will be informed by evidence sessions in the next two months.

Trafficking victim Rita told Sky News of her ordeal

The Government has told Sky News it is putting "the full weight of its machine" into fighting modern-day slavery.

The changes will make it easier to prosecute traffickers, after a new report showed there was a 25% rise in cases in the UK last year.

Some 1,186 victims were referred to the authorities in 2012 and trafficking from Albania saw the biggest increase - up by 300%.

Of the total, 786 were women and 400 were men, 815 were adults and 371 were children.

The greatest number of potential victims referred came from Nigeria, Vietnam, Albania, Romania and China.

The Bill will pull together the offences used to prosecute slave drivers into a single act.

Home Office minister Damian Green said tougher sentences and sanctions would target gangmasters and criminals who exploit foreigners and many Britons who are also affected.

The senior Tory said the National Crime Agency, which has operations abroad, on the borders and domestically, will have a critical role to play.

"We used to think this was just a international problem but now know there are British citizens who might be trafficked around the country and used in labour gangs," he said.

A new Anti-Slavery Commissioner will be appointed to hold law enforcement and other organisations to account.

And Trafficking Prevention Orders will be used to restrict the activity and movement of convicted traffickers and stop them from committing further offences

As he outlined the new approach, Mr Green also became the first man ever to enter one safe house for trafficked women in the south of England.

Run by the charity Hestia, working alongside the Salvation Army, the refuge houses up to six female victims at one time.

One resident told how she had been duped by a family friend into travelling from Nigeria to the UK with the promise of work and prospects and then forced to become a sex slave.

Police have carried out a series of raids to catch the traffickers

Rita, whose name has been changed to hide her identity, was forced to sleep with many men and women and threatened so that she would not try to run away.

She said: "When it happened it was like a dream to me. I was waiting for someone to wake me up. I couldn't understand what was happening. I ended up being raped by many men.

"He told me if I tried to escape he would kill me and my entire family. I was very frightened. He was evil, horrible. It was a nightmare in my life."

Mr Green pledged to target traffickers using any legal means.

"The gangs and people that traffic people may also be trafficking drugs and guns. They are unlikely to pay taxes so there are lots of ways to bring them down," he said.

In a sign of how seriously the Government is taking the issue, David Cameron personally chaired a meeting this week of all the agencies and departments involved in implementing the Bill.

At the same time, a series of police raids targeted premises believed to house trafficking victims. One swoop in Cambridgeshire saw 80 people released.

As well as legal avenues, the Government is expanding education and awareness programmes, particularly abroad.

Mr Green said they are working with foreign embassies to spread the message that people should be suspicious of promises of a perfect life or the perfect job in the UK.

That is a message Rita only wishes she had heard before she innocently left with that family friend - now a man she despises.

She told me: "I had never heard of this thing (trafficking). I did not understand what was happening. I would really like that they catch the man. I don't know who else he is doing it to."

:: Immigration UK: A week of special coverage on Sky from October 14 to 18 - watch on Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 82, Skynews.com and Sky News for iPad

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