It revealed:
- there were 15 care sector-related modern slavery cases in 2021 (accounting for 63 potential victims). This soared to 106 cases in 2022
- In 2022, 708 potential victims of modern slavery indicated in the care sector came forward to the Helpline
- In 2023, 918 potential victims of modern slavery indicated in the care sector (a 30% rise)
- For the first time, India became the most prevalent potential victim nationality calling the Helpline, predominantly due to labour exploitation within the care sector. This shift marks a change from past years, where Romanian nationals had been the most common nationality reported every year since the Helpline was founded in 2016.
- In the first six months of 2023, care workers indicated to the Helpline had an average debt of £11,800, to pay for recruitment, visa and travel costs
- Between January and June 2023 the Helpline recorded that 25 different nationalities were affected by this exploitation, with 96% of potential victims indicated as being from Asian or African countries.
- Exploitation of Indian, Zimbabwean and Nigerian nationals was particularly prominent in care homes – of the 46 Zimbabweans who were identified as potential victims of slavery in the UK last year, all but one were working in the care sector.
- 48% of potential victims from the care sector were Indian; 15% from Zimbabwe; 8% from Nigeria
- The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) - whose role is to protect workers from labour exploitation across the UK – recently revealed it has 17 ongoing care sector investigations and that it was looking at more than 300 pieces of intelligence.
