By  Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX)

Labour exploitation must be recognised as part of a continuum of experiences which range from decent work through to minor and major labour law violations, all the way to severe exploitation, including human trafficking. When workers are unable to access rights or to challenge poor employment conditions at those ‘earlier stages’ or ‘lower levels’ of exploitation, it paves the way for more severe exploitation including trafficking. 

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 focused on identifying trafficking which had already taken place. For those people who have been trafficked, this is too late. Ten years later, and with an Employment Rights Bill going through parliament, policy-makers should turn their attention to prevention, by addressing the conditions which have allowed trafficking for labour exploitation to thrive.

The Employment Rights Bill provides significant opportunity here. The Bill must be amended to ensure that all workers can access rights early, knowing that the authorities will focus on addressing their exploitation and delivering justice. 

London: FLEX, 2025. 5p.

By Elizabeth Such and Habiba Aminu

This report, titled “The prevention of Adult Exploitation and Trafficking: A Synthesis of Research Commissioned by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC)”, offers a comprehensive synthesis of studies commissioned by the Centre on adult exploitation and trafficking, identifying the profile of prevention in its research, the characteristics of studies, the themes of prevention-relevant research and the gaps in the evidence base.

The synthesis draws on research conducted between 2020 and 2024, organised into a public health model with prevention strategies at multiple stages: primary (before harm occurs), secondary (early intervention), and tertiary (after harm occurs) and preventing re-trafficking). This framework, known as the BETR continuum, serves as a guiding structure for categorising research findings and gaps across various studies in the PEC portfolio. The report emphasises the need for a multi-agency, system-level approach and highlights areas where prevention is under-researched, notably in primary and secondary prevention and systemic responses to prevent re-trafficking.

Nottingham, UK: Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre, 2024. 32p.

By Jukka Könönen

Notwithstanding claims about the emergence of ‘crimmigration’ systems, immigration law and criminal law entail two different sets of instruments for authorities to control foreign nationals. Drawing on an analysis of removal orders for foreign offenders in Finland, this article demonstrates that significant administrative powers in immigration enforcement are employed largely autonomously from the criminal justice system. Immigration law enables the police and immigration officials to issue removal orders based on fines or penal orders for (suspected) minor offences, without obtaining criminal convictions. In addition to disproportionate administrative sanctions for foreign nationals, removal orders involve a preventive rationale targeting future risks for the society based on the assumed continuation of criminal activities. While criminal courts adjudicate all severe offences, punitive application of immigration law enables authorities to bypass criminal justice procedures and safeguards, resulting in a distinct, administrative punitive system for visiting third-country nationals.

Theoretical Criminology Volume 28, Issue 1, February 2024, Pages 70-87