2025 marks 10 years since the UK’s Modern Slavery Act was passed. This legislation focused on identifying trafficking which had already taken place.

But ten years later, the situation is still dire. For those people who have been trafficked, tackling it past the point of harm is simply not good enough. Neither the Modern Slavery Act 2015 nor subsequent legislative or policy changes took serious steps to address the structural causes of slavery, as can be seen in ever increasing National Referral Mechanism identification figures. Nor did the measures in the bill include pathways into decent work. These would have helped avoid re-exploitation and lower rates of ‘lesser’ workplace exploitation, which are key precursors to what the government calls modern slavery.

Labour exploitation must be recognised as part of a continuum of experiences which range from decent work through to minor and major labour law violations, all the way to severe exploitation, including human trafficking. When workers are unable to access rights or to challenge poor employment conditions at those ‘earlier stages’ or ‘lower levels’ of exploitation, it paves the way for more severe exploitation including trafficking

With an Employment Rights Bill going through parliament, policy-makers should turn their attention to prevention, by addressing the conditions which have allowed trafficking for labour exploitation to thrive.

.Read our briefing on what can be done to turn the situation around today: