There are an estimated 136,000 people living on conditions of modern slavery in the United Kingdom (Global Slavery Index 2018). According to the 2017 annual figures provided by the National Crime Agency, 5, 145 potential victims of modern slavery were referred through the National Referral Mechanism in 2017, of whom 2,454 were female, 2688 were male and 3 were transgender, with 41% of all referrals being children at the time of exploitation. People are subjected to slavery in the UK in the form of domestic servitude, labour exploitation, organ harvesting and sexual exploitation, with the largest number of potential victims originating from Albania, China, Vietnam and Nigeria. This data however does not consider the unknown numbers of victims that are not reported.
Stella travelled from the Philippines to the United Kingdom for work as a domestic worker. However, her labour was exploited, and she was physically abused by her employer.
I got used to getting beaten up, so I used to cry by myself in a corner. I didn’t want to show them that they were hurting me.
I was confined there for one year, I couldn’t go out, and I didn’t have money. I was not paid a single peso, they didn’t give me anything.
It was painful for me, especially if she said demeaning words, foul words. She would tell me I’m stupid every day. I could not take that.
Narrative provided by Anti-Slavery International.
Original narrative can be found here
