Don't cut anti-slavery police funding, urges Rotherham MP Sarah Champion
ROTHERHAM MP Sarah Champion has warned modern slavery is “rampant in the UK” as she called on the Government to reverse plans to withdraw funding from a specialist police unit tackling the crime.
Funding is due to be removed from the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit, which coordinates intelligence sharing between police forces. Ms Champion told the Observer newspaper: “I understand finances are tight, but I hope we are not going back to the dark days of prioritising one horrific crime over another. Modern slavery is rampant in the UK and we need to invest in prevention and also supporting the vulnerable victims.”
She has a long record of campaigning on exploitation, shaped in part by her work following the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal.
The MP has campaigned on child sexual exploitation, including co-leading a cross-party inquiry with Barnardo’s that highlighted gaps in the law later addressed in 2014.
She has argued that different forms of exploitation are connected.
Leading a Commons debate on commercial sexual exploitation in 2018, Ms Champion said: “We need to join the dots between prostitution, modern slavery, sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation.”
Modern slavery includes human trafficking, forced labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude.
Victims are controlled through coercion or deception and are often unable to leave.
Cases linked to modern slavery continue to be investigated in South Yorkshire.
In 2023, four people including suspects in the Dinnington area were arrested on suspicion of modern slavery.
The National Crime Agency investigation Operation Stovewood has also led to a series of convictions for child sexual offences in Rotherham, targeting offenders involved in organised grooming over many years.
While the child sexual exploitation scandal is not formally classified as modern slavery, there is overlap.
Some cases investigated under Stovewood included allegations of trafficking for sexual exploitation, which falls under modern slavery legislation, while campaigners say both involve coercion and control of vulnerable victims.
In a Commons debate on human trafficking and modern slavery in 2023, where she criticised government policy on victim protection, Ms Champion said: “Why will the Minister not… protect the victims, rather than the traffickers?” She has now urged Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to reconsider the funding decision, warning it could undermine efforts to support victims and police tackling complex crimes.