Anyone who imagined that slavery ended in the late 18th century with the heroic campaigning of William Wilberforce, followed by the rigorous enforcement efforts of the Royal Navy, will have been shocked by the discovery of three women apparently living in servitude in south London. But for those who have followed the burgeoning criminal activities of modern-day slavers in recent decades, it will have come as no surprise. There may well be hundreds, if not thousands, of people trapped in similar circumstances in this country, albeit not for such an inordinate length of time. Police believe one of the three women may have spent her entire 30 years effectively in captivity.
Details of precisely what has happened, however, are sketchy to say the least. The police have refused to disclose the location in which the women were held, or the identity of their alleged captors. They have revealed that two people said to have been responsible had previously been arrested more than 30 years ago, and may be illegal immigrants known to the social services. In which case, why was nothing done before?
The immediate response of many campaigners has been to demand tougher laws; and, indeed, the Home Office is preparing a Modern Slavery Bill to address some of the issues. But there are too many unanswered questions about this affair for a proper judgment to be made about whether it is emblematic of a wider problem in this country. Certainly, if this case is to serve as an exemplar for why legislation is needed, then we are entitled to know much more about it.
This is not to be blasé about the matter of enslavement. No one can feel anything other than abhorrence at such practices. But where this country is concerned, we should put matters into some perspective. When it published a Global Slavery Index recently, the Walk Free Foundation estimated that there may be as many as 29 million people living in some form of slavery worldwide, with the highest numbers in China, India, Pakistan and several Arab nations. Yet on its index of 164 countries, the United Kingdom ranked 162nd, doing better than anywhere save Iceland and Ireland.
That said, there has definitely been an increase in people-trafficking to the UK in recent years, as criminals have taken advantage of the greater ease of travel through a borderless Europe. Although we have stayed out of the Schengen area, we still need to ensure that our frontiers remain tightly controlled – something that has become harder to achieve with the expansion of the EU. As Mark Harper, the immigration minister, observed this week, we are powerless to stop the free movement of peoples from 27 countries.
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