What's behind modern slavery in the UK?

This panel event hosted by the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR) and the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) will focus on the situations faced by immigrant domestic workers who are at high risk of being exposed to modern slavery. It will provide an overview of modern slavery legal aspects, and explore the underlying structures of exploitation that enable it to happen in the UK such as labour and immigration laws, and the specific Overseas Domestic Worker visa.

We will also hear the experiences of domestic workers’work and life in the UK. Their stories of struggles and fights to be better protected by the law will be shared, along with the importance of building solidarity to overcome challenges.

The panel discussion will identify gaps in existing regulations, and the role and responsibility of the State and employers in the making of modern slavery. It will end with a Q&A with the audience to discuss the ways forward to fight against modern slavery in the UK.

Panellists

• Dareen Pahayahay, Domestic Worker and Future Voices Leader (The Voice of Domestic Workers)
• Dr Natalie Sedacca, Assistant Professor in Employment Law (Durham Law School, Durham University)
• Chair: Dr Sabah Boufkhed, Lecturer in Global Health (Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, The University of Manchester)
• Organiser: Dr Louisa Acciari, Senior Researcher in Gender and Disaster and Co-Director of the IRDR Centre for Gender and Disaster (IRDR, UCL)

Accessibility

For information about the accessibility of this venue, please see the Accessable website.