Church of England helps protect young people from modern slavery

New resources to be released in September will help schools raise awareness of modern slavery and help protect their students from becoming victims. The resources are a result of a collaboration between The Clewer Initiative, a project helping the Church of England to respond to modern slavery, and Just Enough UK, an educational charity teaching children about difficult subjects like modern slavery and terrorism.
 
The resources will include lesson plans for five key stages, collective worship, and guides for teachers. They are designed to raise awareness of modern slavery amongst the UK’s young people and make them aware that they themselves could be at risk of being victims of this crime.
 
According to the National Crime Agency referrals of under-18s as potential victims of modern slavery increased 66% to 2118 in 2017, compared to 1278 in 2016 (Source: NRM Statistics 26/03/18). Minors are at particular risk of gang exploitation, for example in the form of ‘County Lines’, as well as Child Sexual Exploitation. In 2017 559 minors – 497 girls and 62 boys – were found to be potential victims of sexual exploitation, 119 were found in domestic servitude, and over a thousand in labour exploitation.
 
Modern slavery is thought to be taking place in every town and city in the UK, with high-risk areas including hand car washes and nail bars. The Clewer Initiative recently launched the Safe Car Wash App, designed to help raise awareness of modern slavery in hand car washes.