Who is vulnerable? Adult social care and modern slavery
| Date | 13 February 2017 |
| Pages | 21-32 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-08-2016-0016 |
| Published date | 13 February 2017 |
| Author | Gary Craig,Stephen Clay |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Adult protection,Safeguarding,Sociology,Sociology of the family,Abuse |
Who is vulnerable? Adult social care and
modern slavery
Gary Craig and Stephen Clay
Abstract
Purpose –The 2015 Modern Slavery Act focusses attention forms of modern slavery (human trafficking and
forced labour), within the UK. The contemporaneous 2014 Care Act, identifies modern slavery as a new
form of risk within adult social care, listing forms of abuse and vulnerability. However, it does not consider
whether those providing care may themselves be vulnerable to forms of modern slavery. The paper aims to
discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors describe the history of the development of modern slavery
legislation in the UK, outline key provisions of the Care Act, illustrated with real-life cases. The analysis
suggests that adult social care –characterised by informality, fragmentation and vulnerability –is one where
instances of modern slavery may be more common than considered to date.
Findings –The data collected, though relatively modest, suggests that a thorough investigation should be
undertaken into the possibility of modern slavery taking place within the realm of adult social care.
Research limitations/implications –Data have been collected through a snowball process, rolling out a
survey to relevant groups of individual and organisations. A more rigorous investigation is required to examine
the extent of modern slavery within adult social care.
Practical implications –The training of those responsible for the regulation/management of adult social
care needs to ensure that they are fully equipped to understand the nature of modern slavery and how to
identify its symptoms and victims.
Social implications –There is also a need for heightened awareness of those close to people being cared
for that they may also identify the symptoms of modern slavery.
Originality/value –This area has not been explored to date.
Keywords Care, Slavery, Exploitation, Adult, Vulnerability, Trafficking
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In March 2015, following an unusually long, detailed and convoluted process of lobbying and
cross-chamber scrutiny, the UK parliament passed the Modern Slavery Act to provide protection
to victims of slavery,and consolidate and extend a range of legislation covering aspectsof modern
slavery includingtrafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, forced labour,cannabis farming and
various aspects of child labour. The Act was the first since William Wilberforce’ssecondActof
1834 whichhad, he hoped, abolishedslavery, and was a responseto building pressure from inside
and outside Parliament, triggered by the deaths of cockle pickers at Morecambe Bay and
accounts of women being rescued from brothels into which they had been trafficked through a
combinationof manipulation, deceitand violence. The previous year,in 2014, and quite separately,
the Care Act had been passed providing protection to another group of vulnerable people, those
who, for reasons ofage, infirmity, disability or otherlimiting factor, required the services of people
providing services in either a domiciliary, residential or nursing care context. This Act, whose
provisions becameeffective the month after the Modern Slavery Act was enacted,was, in turn, a
response to increasing numbers of high-profile accounts of, particularly, elder abuse.
On the face of it, there seems little that these two strands of law and policy might have in
common. However, it is slowly becoming apparent that those providing services and managing
Received 11 August 2016
Revised 8 December 2016
11 January 2017
Accepted 12 January 2017
Gary Craig is an Emeritus
Professor of Social Justice at
WISE, University of Hull,
Hull, UK.
Stephen Clay is a Safeguarding
Adults Board Manager at the
Safeguarding Adults Board,
Hull City Council, Hull, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JAP-08-2016-0016 VOL. 19 NO. 1 2017, pp. 21-32, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1466-8203
j
THE JOURNAL OF ADULT PROTECTION
j
PAG E 2 1
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