PCC announces Anti-Slavery training project as national awareness week gets underway.

Frontline workers are to receive specialist training to protect and support victims of modern slavery and human trafficking as part of a new project funded by Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen.

As the nation marks Anti-Slavery Week, which runs from Monday (14TH Oct) until October 20th and today’s World Anti-Slavery Day, the County Durham and Darlington PCC announced the roll out of a new scheme that sees frontline responders trained up to become Anti-Slavery Champions.

The three-year partnership project, which is being funded as part of a £30k grant from the PCC, is being delivered by the County Durham Anti-Slavery Network – an organisation bringing multiple agencies together to share information, improve intelligence gathering and ensure the county is better equipped to respond to victims.

The Anti-Slavery Champions will act as a single point of contact across the Durham force area and within their own organisations, providing advice and guidance to their peers and putting into practice what they have learnt to improve the response to victims of slavery and human trafficking.

The content of the training has been provided by several organisations including the Snowdrop Project, Barnardo’s, B-Equipt with additional contributions from County Durham Anti-Slavery Network, The Children’s Society, NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board and the Durham and Darlington Child Exploitation Group.

Champions will pledge a three-year commitment to the model and will receive enhanced bespoke training throughout the project to take back to their organisations to prevent modern slavery.

Commissioner Allen said: “We know there are adults and children being exploited in unthinkable ways across the country and it is imperative we work harder to get them the help and support they need to safely escape harm.

“This training will upskill responders who are more likely to identify or receive disclosures about modern slavery or human trafficking through the nature of their work. They will be equipped with the tools and knowledge to act swiftly and confidently to safeguard victims, help bring the perpetrators to justice, and ensure their peers are also well-prepared to intervene.  

“Victims of crime are at the heart of my work as Commissioner, and I am grateful to the work of the network and our many partners in addressing the risks and exposing these complex crimes so victims can continue to get the help and justice they deserve. Although there are improvements nationally in the number of police investigations and prosecutions being brought, and the rate of convictions, there is clearly a long way to go.”

The project will see the development of quality resources that will be accessible to a variety of professionals to improve confidence in responding to victims and remove any gaps in the current provision available.

Rachel Medina, CEO of the Snowdrop Project said; “We are excited to be contributing to the training project and working with other organisations to improve awareness of modern slavery and exploitation in County Durham. Since 2012, the Snowdrop Project has been providing holistic, long-term, community-based support for survivors of modern slavery and exploitation in South Yorkshire, and we’re committed to sharing our expertise with other organisations to improve care for survivors.

“We hope that this project will strengthen the response to modern slavery by equipping Anti-Slavery Champions with the knowledge required to improve identification and provide guidance to professionals across the region.”

Resources will include an animated video, a resource booklet and the roll out of the Anti-Slavery Champion model and will cover modern slavery and human trafficking, child exploitation and young victims, sexual exploitation, and sex work. These resources have been developed by the Durham Safeguarding Adults Partnership, who will be working closely with the Police and Crime Commissioners Office to have rolled this out across the whole county.

The Durham Safeguarding Adults Partnership and Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership work with the key statutory partners (Durham County Council, Durham Constabulary and County Durham Clinical Commissioning Group) to ensure that children and adults are safe in County Durham.

Lesley Jeavons, independent chair of the Durham Safeguarding Adults Partnership, said: “Both the Safeguarding Adults and Children Partnerships in County Durham are committed to preventing and protecting people from abuse and neglect in all its forms, which includes modern slavery. We are therefore pleased to be able to support such an important initiative. These resources aim to raise awareness of slavery and human trafficking and help frontline workers to identify and support victims across the county.

“Absolutely nobody should be exploited in these ways, and it is vital that organisations work together to tackle the issue and safeguard victims. We hope that the training will help our frontline workers to feel more confident when dealing with what can be very complex cases and, ultimately, help victims to feel better protected.”

Anti-Slavery Week is a UK and European awareness week held annually to raise awareness of the issue and the need to eradicate all forms of slavery, human trafficking and exploitation.