Case study: Consumer perspectives on modern slavery

Programme: Small Research Grants round 2017

Project title: Modern Slavery: Consumer Perspectives

Name of PI: Dr Andreas Chatzidakis, Royal Holloway University of London

Name of Co-I: Professor Deirdre Shaw, University of Glasgow

Project dates: September 2017 – September 2018

Amount awarded: £9,700

Source of funding: Leverhulme Trust

About the project

Estimates suggest that up to 1.2 million people are trapped in modern slavery across Europe. Predominantly women and girls, many are victims of human trafficking, inhabiting our daily lives from cleaners our homes to washing our cars and preparing the food we eat. Yet, modern enslaved people often go unnoticed despite their closeness to our everyday lives.

The UK’s Modern Slavery Act was introduced in 2015 in an effort to combat modern slavery. Yet, there is no governmental body to ensure that companies comply. Instead, the route to ending modern slavery relies on our dual role as citizens and consumers.

The aim of this pilot study was to understand and address 1) why consumers in the UK are often blinded to the existence of modern enslaved, despite often interacting with them on a daily basis; 2) how the "invisibility" of modern slaves can be removed; and 3) what consumers understand as modern slavery compared to other forms of intense labour exploitation.

This study was the first to explore UK consumers' attitudes and behaviours towards modern slavery. The team spoke to members of the public from three UK cities (London, Glasgow and Blackpool) across a range of demographics (age, race, gender, class and education). The findings were categorised under three main themes; 1) Consumer perceptions – how consumers categorise those who are slaves and those who are not; 2) Consumer neutralisations – why and how consumers do not act upon issues of modern slavery and 3) Consumer trust and responsibility – who can consumers trust and with whom does responsibility lie.

The results show that the majority of those interviewed were unsure of the difference between slavery and exploitation. These consumers use a range of justifications or "neutralisations" to account for their indifference and to explain their behaviour to themselves and to others. They generally felt that the UK Government, businesses and NGOs had important roles to play in regulating and mitigating the risk of slavery placing varying degrees of responsibility upon themselves.

The study proposes three key recommendations:

• Raise awareness of slavery in our consumption to the point where denial of knowledge is no longer a feasible option.

• Expose the justifications going on in our heads for what they are—neutralisations to shut down our human feelings of guilt and responsibility, as a second step towards confronting and eradicating the demand for abject suffering through slavery.

• Acknowledge that consumers are one among many key stakeholders in the fight against modern slavery: NGOs, national governments, businesses, and transnational organisations. Raise the role of the consumer as a key (and inevitable) stakeholder through outlining clear pathways to action; but also resist attempts to place a disproportionate level of blame on the shoulders of everyday consumer-citizens.

• The project received significant interest which led to presentations to a variety of stakeholders including the British Retail Consortium, grocery retailers; NGOs such as Anti-Slavery International and Ethical Trade Initiative; and governmental bodies including No10 Comms, Home Office, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and House of Lords. The team hopes to continue working with partners such as the British Retail Consortium, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. The team submitted part of their findings to the Home Affairs Committee Inquiry into modern slavery and the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act.

A report of the findings is available.