Sidney Sussex

What is modern day slavery?

Please read and if you spot the signs described and are unsure or require advice, please contact us on 101.

Modern day slavery is an unseen crime that’s going unnoticed in our local communities. Whether that’s at a local hand car wash, a nail bar in town or even a village takeaway – slavery and trafficking is a growing cause for concern across the entire Humber region. 

Slavery is an umbrella term for activities involved when one person obtains or holds another person against their will in compelled service.

Someone is classed as a victim of slavery if they are:

• Forced to work through mental or physical threat;
• Owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or physical abuse or the threat of abuse;
• Dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as ‘property’;
• Physically constrained or have restrictions placed on his/her freedom.

Spot the signs of modern day slavery 

There is no “standard” victim profile for modern day slavery. Victims can be men, women and children of all ages, but it is normally more prevalent amongst the most vulnerable – including minority groups or those who are socially excluded.

Potential victims might display any (or many) of the following signs:

• Suffering from physical or psychological abuse, appearing withdrawn and looking dishevelled 
• Never seen travelling alone
• Avoiding eye contact and seeming reluctant to have a conversation
• Appearing fearful of authorities – in particular, law enforcement
• Seeming unfamiliar with the neighbourhood in which they are living and working 
• Living in overcrowded accommodation
• Having very few personal possessions
• Having no access to personal ID documents
• Being dropped off and collected at work every day - either very early, or very late 
• Seemingly being under the influence of other people

Child Criminal Exploitation

There has been a notable increase over the last few months of youths who are being coerced or threatened into crime and as such our team wishes to abolish Child Criminal Exploitation on the Sidney Sussex area. This would not be possible without every agency assisting, and as such we aim to be active on our ward and target addresses and people which have information being fed through. We will be available to ask advice about this matter and strive to do everything we can to prevent these types of offences taking place.

If you see children involved in drug dealing activities, chances are is that they are being exploited. Please ring it in to the police so we can try and protect this vulnerable group of our society. You may see drug dealing, we do too, but its the risk of serious harm to some of those doing this and by reporting we can put things in place to protect them.

We are currently working with a number of children from within the local area who are recieving support from the local policing team in conjucntion with a number of partner agencies, whom we work closely with.

House Closures

If you are aware of a property, containing persons that are causing problems, we can investigate under the Anti social Behaviour aspect of policing with a view to looking at closing a property for a period of three months, if it is persistent for example. These powers are also open to the council and housing. this involves gathering evidence to take to court  to discuss the activities that might have taken place.