Taking Back Control: Human Rights and Human Trafficking in the United Kingdom

Landman, Todd; Brewster, Ben; Thornton, Sara

Abstract

Modern slavery and human trafficking are well recognized as significant problems in need of legislation, policies, and actions from a wide range of stakeholders in the United Kingdom. The passage of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 is a hallmark of these concerns and has made the UK a world leader in the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking, a legislative development that is in line with the country’s broader formal commitment to the international and European human rights regime. In the post-Brexit period, however, there has been an increasing de jure conflation of modern slavery and human trafficking with efforts to curb immigration, leading to a significant questioning of the UK’s commitment to human rights. This article locates the consideration of human rights and human trafficking within these broader political trends in order to understand the prospects for meaningful measures to combat modern slavery and human trafficking in the future.

Citation

Landman, T., Brewster, B., & Thornton, S. (2024). Taking Back Control: Human Rights and Human Trafficking in the United Kingdom. Societies, 14(4), Article 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14040047

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 29, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 3, 2024
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 3, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2024
• Journal: Societies
• Electronic ISSN: 2075-4698
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 47
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14040047
• Keywords: modern slavery; human trafficking; human rights; international law; immigration; migration
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/33286929
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/14/4/47