Conference held on modern slavery and homelessness

Friday, 12 October 2018 07:00

The links between homelessness and modern day slavery are the focus of a high profile partnership conference at the University of Huddersfield next week.

It follows a report by homelessness charity ‘The Passage’, supported by the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s Office, which makes a series of recommendations.

Experts in their fields will be speaking as part of workshops on Monday 15 October, to raise awareness of the links, challenges, nature and scale of the issue.

At the same time, a twin conference will take place in the West Midlands to help share experiences and learning across the country.

Mark-Burns Williamson, who is also the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) lead for Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, says it is incredibly important that we create a platform for these conversations: “The 2017 report by ‘The Passage’ is a real indicator of what is required in our response to modern day slavery and its connections to homelessness.

“It made 12 recommendations including closer working between local authorities and police to raise awareness of modern slavery.

“Likewise, it highlighted the appropriate data collection to increase understanding of the links with homelessness and the establishment of partnerships across homelessness charities, anti-slavery organisations, police, local authorities and others in addressing any gaps in support.

“These conferences are therefore a great opportunity to bring together all the experts in the field and talk in greater depth about what more can be done in West Yorkshire.

“The information gathered from these discussions will also help to form a national debate on these themes, particularly through the portfolio I hold around Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking through the national PCC network which I chair.

“On Wednesday 17th of October, I will be feeding back much of what I have learned to the next National Anti-Trafficking and Modern Slavery Network (NATMSN) in Coventry.

“By having these conversations and sharing our knowledge, it can only serve to focus efforts around prevention of these horrendous crimes and human rights abuses offering increased support for victims and survivors.”

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