Modern Slavery PEC podcast

This podcast is a recording of a Modern Slavery PEC lunchtime seminar presenting the findings from a research project conducted by Ulster University and the International Organization for Migration UK (IOM UK), and co-funded by the Northern Ireland Department of Justice and the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) at the University of Oxford, which found that children exploited in criminality in Northern Ireland have not been recognised as victims of modern slavery, despite indications that they may meet the criteria. Since 2015, only 45 people have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in Northern Ireland as potential child victims of modern slavery that occurred in the UK, with only three referrals in 2023. Until this year, there has also never been a UK or Irish boy under 18 referred to the NRM for criminal exploitation at all in Northern Ireland, compared with nearly 12 thousand children identified for criminal exploitation across the rest of the UK. In this lunchtime seminar, two researchers from this project, Dr Gillian Kane from Ulster University and Andrew Chisholm from IOM UK, present the findings from their research and discuss the way forward for identification of children exploited in criminal activities in Northern Ireland.

Recording of the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) online event looking at evidence and best practice around forced labour import bans. Presenting: Dr Sofia Gonzalez de Aguinaga from the Bingham centre for the Rule of Law at BIICL, chaired by Owain Johnstone from the Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC at the University of Oxford.

Recording of the lunchtime seminar: “Ethics in modern slavery research - challenges and the way forward,” organised by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC). Dr Wendy Asquith from the University of Liverpool, presents the findings of her project which examined ethical challenges in modern slavery and human trafficking research and explored how inclusive, trauma-informed, and ethically robust practices can enhance both research quality and outcomes for participants.

Framing modern slavery– how to talk about modern slavery to improve its public understanding in the UK. Recording of the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre's (PEC) lunchtime seminar. James Robertson, an Associate at PIRC, presents the findings of the research project commissioned by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC on reframing of modern slavery to increase its public understanding in the UK. He also shares practical tips on what to think about when communicating about modern slavery, including how to get beyond the current dominating narrative of defenceless victims needing to be rescued from evil traffickers, problems with the frame of ‘modern slavery’, the need to talk about specific forms of exploitation, evoking respect and empathy rather than pity towards survivors and the need to be guided by them. Followed by a short Q&A.

How can we co-create research to better align with the needs and interests of people with lived experience so that they can lead and direct it? And how can better we involve people with lived experience in the wider work addressing modern slavery? The Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence (Modern Slavery PEC) has published research providing unique insights into the transformative potential of ethically and equitably engaging with people with lived experiences of modern slavery to enhance policies and practices. The research, led by the University of Liverpool in close collaboration with the Modern Slavery PEC, brought together a team of six consultants from communities affected by modern slavery from four different continents to co-produce six studies to address meaningful inclusion of people with lived experience in addressing issues related to modern slavery and human trafficking in very different contexts. In this episode of the Modern Slavery PEC podcast we're talking about this research. First, we’re talking with two researchers from the University of Liverpool about the project overall and the co-production that was at the heart of it. Then we're talking with all six regional authors of individual reports about the engagement of lived experience in their contexts. Read more about the research on the Modern Slavery PEC website at https://modernslaverypec.org/resources/towards-principles-for-equitable-engagement.

Modern slavery and the procurement of medical supplies in Malaysia, Prof Alex Hughes, University of Newcastle. Recording of a Modern Slavery PEC lunchtime seminar, a series of events designed to promote modern slavery research in an accessible way to everyone. Check out the lunchtime seminar series and sign up to the next one on the Modern Slavevry PEC website at https://modernslaverypec.org/latest/lunchtime-seminars-series.

Recording of the event held on 30th January 2023, organised by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (Modern Slavery PEC) on building capacity of smaller NGOs to partner on academic research projects. It's the second event of our series 'How to research modern slavery better', bringing together people from the anti-slavery sector and beyond to talk and learn from each other on ways of doing research better. We’ve heard from smaller NGOs that they would like to take part in projects with academic researchers, but they may have limited experience of it and that they would like a better understanding of how academic research works. So, we’ve invited two guest speakers to talk us through it: Karen Eveleigh, Senior Research Facilitator at the Law Faculty at Oxford University, talked about the institutional structures and processes inside a university; and Professor Jo Meehan from Liverpool University, who talked about how the research process works. We’ve also included a short presentation from the Modern Slavery PEC Partnership Manager Owain Johnstone with the lessons that we at the Centre have learnt so far.

On 14 September 2022, the European Commission published a proposal to prohibit products made with forced labour on the EU market. So, in this episode of the Modern Slavery PEC podcast we’re talking forced labour import bans. In the first part we’re talking specifically about the EU proposal to Sofia Gonzalez de Aguinaga from the Bingham Centre, who is a Modern Slavery PEC research fellow focusing on business supply chains. For the second part, we invited our colleague from the Modern Slavery PEC Owain Johnstone to talk about what evidence says about the effectiveness of forced labour import bans in general. Owain is one of the authors of our policy briefing on this very subject, which you can find on our website at https://modernslaverypec.org/resources/forced-labour-import-bans.

On this episode of the Modern Slavery PEC podcast we're discussing the lack of diversity in modern slavery research, what we need to do to improve it, as well as our own Modern Slavery PEC's strategy to change it. In the first part of the podcast we're discussing a situation in the wider modern slavery sector with Debbie Ariyo from AFRUCA, whose work on improving diversity in the modern slavery sector has led to founding BASNET, the UK BME Anti-Slavery Network. In the second part, we're talking to Niki Kalyvides, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at the Modern Slavery PEC to discuss what we as a Centre are doing to improve diversity in modern slavery research. You can find the Modern Slavery PEC EDI Strategy and Action Plan on our website. If you have feedback, questions or suggestions, please email Niki Kalyvides on n.kalyvides@modernslaverypec.org.

In the first episode of the Modern Slavery PEC podcast we’re talking about consumers and their role in addressing modern slavery. We’re discussing the Modern Slavery PEC report entitled ‘Addressing consumer awareness and (in)action towards modern slavery” with their authors Dr Michal Carrington from the University of Melbourne, Professor Andreas Chatzidakis from Royal Holloway University of London and Professor Deirdre Shaw from the University of Glasgow. Their research analyses how consumer attitudes, intentions and behaviour can be mobilised to help address modern slavery. We’re discussing why raising awareness of modern slavery alone has limited effectiveness and why identifying clear practical actions to take is crucial in designing campaigns involving consumers, why using consumer power can be most effectively extended to their role as citizens and mobilised to pressure decisionmakers, as well as many other issues. The full report that we’re discussing, along with a short research summary and a brief practical guidance on how to engage consumers most effectively, can be found on the Modern Slavery PEC website at https://modernslaverypec.org/resources/consumer-attitudes.