On identification as a potential victim of modern slavery, adults must give informed consent to a referral into the UK’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Over recent years, anecdotal evidence suggests there are increasing numbers of potential victims refusing to provide consent to a referral into the NRM and therefore are not receiving support. Seeking to explore key factors which might influence a potential victim’s decision to consent to an NRM referral, this research engaged with academic and grey literature, primary and secondary qualitative data from 56 participants, and the quantitative analysis of publicly available NRM and Duty to Notify (DtN) statistics. 

The research identified a wide range of factors which may influence a potential victim’s decision not to consent to referral into the NRM. Influencing factors included: fear of immigration repercussions and authorities, the challenge of self-identification, fear of repercussions from exploiters, the inconsistent description and lack of understanding of the NRM, the questionable benefit of the NRM beyond formal recognition, and impacts from recent policy and legislation. With support from the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract unavailable outside of the NRM, the research also found that potential victims often access other support aside from the NRM should a referral not be pursued. 

Findings from the quantitative analysis confirm that DtN reports are increasing at a higher rate than referrals into the NRM. Furthermore, the non-completion of DtN reports by First Responder (FR) organisations suggests that DtN data cannot be relied upon for an accurate representation of the number of potential victims encountered who do not pursue an NRM referral. As a result, the research suggests that there is cause for concern surrounding the true scale of potential victims encountered who choose not to receive support.