This week the Global Slavery Index 2016, published by the Walk Free Foundation, estimates that there are 45.8 million people enslaved across the world.
In a letter to The Times newspaper, Kevin Hyland OBE, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner wrote:
Police across the country must treat this as serious and often organised crime and do more to increase the number of investigations and disruptive operations. Businesses need to make sure they are compliant with the new rules on supply-chain transparency, and consumers need to hold them to account to make sure that none of us are unwittingly contributing to this inhumane trade in human lives. And we must look beyond sticking-plaster solutions to do more to tackle slavery in the countries where it is originating, working with local communities to increase resilience and job opportunities, as well as supporting local rule of law.
Kevin Hyland
Independent anti-slavery commissioner