Sir Mo Farah has spoken publicly about his experience of being a victim of child trafficking and slavery. In an upcoming documentary, the four-time Olympic gold medallist reveals he had been brought to the UK from Djibouti at the age of nine and forced to serve another family’s children.
Justine Currell, Director of Anti-Slavery charity Unseen, praised Sir Mo for telling his story, saying: “We will never be able to eradicate this scourge without more people appreciating the extent of modern slavery and child trafficking, and the signs to look out for. Mo has done a great job in moving understanding forward.”
Unfortunately, Sir Mo’s experience is not an isolated one, as reports of child slavery in the UK reached an all time high this year. Data released by the Home Office show that out of 3,777 potential victims of modern slavery, 1,471 (39%) were children. This was the highest recorded figure for a single quarter.
A Home Office spokesperson defended their record, saying “The UK has led the world in protecting victims of modern slavery and we will continue to identify and support those who have suffered intolerable abuse at the hands of criminals and traffickers. Since 2015 and the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act, the number of live police operations into these crimes has increased from under 200 in 2016 to over 4000 in January this year, and convictions for modern slavery increased by 68.5% between 2020 and 2021.”
Most alleged exploitation occurred on home soil, with 982 children exploited within the UK and a further 114 in the UK and overseas. UK nationals comprised the majority, with 767 children being referred. Beyond the UK, 70 Albanian, 70 Sudanese, 66 Eritrean and 59 Afghan children were referred.
Of these potential victims, 811 (55%) were used for criminal purposes, the most common type of exploitation and likely the result of county lines gangs. This was followed by 353 (24%) children exploited for labour, 260 (18%) children exploited for sexual purposes, 208 (14%) exploited for unspecified or unknown reasons and 79 (5%) children exploited for domestic purposes. As some children are exploited in multiple different ways, the sum of these numbers is greater than the total number of children exploited.
Theses figures come from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the UK’s system for identifying and supporting victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.
NRM referrals have risen year on year since records began. In 2021, there were 5,461 children referred, a 9% increase on the year before. This trend was also sustained through early COVID-19 restrictions, despite a significant drop in referrals for adults. While NRM figures only cover referrals, confirmed cases were similarly high. Of all rulings, 1,281 children were judged to be victims of modern slavery. This was 89% of all decisions made, and the second-highest figure ever recorded.
