Modern slavery: how to identify and support victims

Describes the signs that someone may be a victim of modern slavery, the support available to victims, and the process for determining whether someone is a victim.

On 24 March 2020, the UK Home Office published statutory guidance under section 49(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This guidance covers indicators that a person may be a victim of modern slavery, the support available to potential victims and victims, and the decision-making process for determining if someone is a victim.

This guidance sets out how the system works at present. Modern slavery policy is a rapidly evolving area and as such, the Statutory Guidance will need updating periodically to reflect future changes and will require collaboration with partners to deliver this. Tackling the most complex challenges in modern slavery requires a joined-up approach as the breadth of policies and responsibilities around identification and victim support set out in the guidance go beyond the Home Office alone.

The statutory guidance replaces a number of existing guidance documents:

•         Guidance: Duty to Notify the Home Office of potential victim of modern slavery
•         Victims of modern slavery: frontline staff guidance
•         Victims of modern slavery: competent authority guidance
•         Multi-Agency Assurance Panels Guidance

When published, the statutory guidance will be available at the following URL:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modern-slavery-how-to-identify-and-support-victims<https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fmodern-slavery-how-to-identify-and-support-victims&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca6af8027cbb04353ef2008d7d004a24d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637206590621576415&sdata=2XLUaKGe%2FiHmLhl1LlkyyRLR9pH2qUAYjuHrtkGtZRc%3D&reserved=0>

Any questions or comments about the guidance should be sent to: NRMReform@homeoffice.gov.uk<mailto:NRMReform@homeoffice.gov.uk>.

For statutory guidance and other updates on developments please sign-up to the NRM Reform newsletter here<https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgov.smartwebportal.co.uk%2Fhomeoffice%2Fpublic%2Fwebform.asp%3Fid%3D127%26id2%3D835391&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca6af8027cbb04353ef2008d7d004a24d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637206590621576415&sdata=sXP5WC7GT6COnixQtADfz6gD8V0SRZjFlGcfBWaoD6E%3D&reserved=0>.