Being promised a life of your dreams, a good wage to support your family and a positive future means many individuals head to the UK with an amazing picture in their mind’s eye.

 

So to get here and realise that they have been conned and forced into a hellish existence they did not choose, and having found themselves in their own worst nightmare, must be horrific.

But that is the stark reality faced by many individuals, men, women and teenagers, when they head to the UK for a promised better life.

They are trafficked or forced into modern-day slavery, eking out a meagre existence and punished daily, living in disgusting conditions, sometimes in garages, in derelict buildings or crammed into awful inhabitable living arrangements.

Not knowing what each day is going to bring, or whether they are even going to get through it, without being beaten, abused or forced to work until they are beyond exhaustion, and maybe breaking the law as they do it, is the reality of many people living among us.

Human trafficking can include forced labour, or services, domestic servitude, sexual offences and other forms of exploitation. Those descriptions do nothing to convey the true horror and nightmare faced by those human trafficked each and every day, with numbers steadily rising, although the true figure is probably much higher than we predict.

I know that more awareness is needed around the problem of human trafficking which is why I have arranged for an event to take place tomorrow with keynote speakers from the Salvation Army and Hope For Justice to address the issue and find out how we can get a clear picture of the problem, then establish how we effectively tackle it.

There will be discussions with agencies about what we can all do to identify and provide support to victims of human trafficking and what I, as your Police and Crime Commissioner, can do to increase awareness and tackle this issue.

It is the first-ever event of its kind held in West Yorkshire and it is essential to deal with this significant emerging threat.

It shows how essential this event is because I expect up to 100 people to be attending including senior officers from within the Home Office, various police forces from across the UK, researchers from Leeds University, Safeguarding Boards, the British Red Cross, individuals from UK Visas and Immigration and various charities across the county helping victims of this horrendous practice.

I have also spoken openly about my support for the Modern Slavery Bill which aims to increase the maximum custodial sentence for offenders from 14 years to life, and there is cross-party support for action to tackle this issue.

But we need to go further and we need to take action locally now. I have heard of fears that those operating cannabis farms have been trafficked into the county and do not have a choice, but are forced to spend all day, every day, harvesting drugs.

I have heard shocking cases of people being trafficked and forced into a life of misery. This is happening in modern-day society and I, along with West Yorkshire Police and partners, will do everything in my power to stop these perpetrators of this vile crime in their tracks.

Although human trafficking is most commonly thought to have been associated with people brought into the UK, those born here can also be at risk, as a recent court case in Sheffield shows.

In that case, three people were jailed after forcing a vulnerable man to work for them up to 17 hours a day, highlighting just how serious this problem is and how it is viewed by the courts.

A three-day operation in November also saw 60 West Yorkshire Police officers and partners visit 25 addresses across Leeds to offer help to families identified as being potential victims of trafficking.

Seventeen of those people, mainly from Slovakia, were placed into the National Referral Mechanism, a framework for identifying victims of human trafficking and ensuring they receive comprehensive protection and support.

That operation has led to the creation of a DVD that will be used within West Yorkshire Police, my office, and law-enforcement circles to raise awareness and be used as an educational tool.

This event is the first step in taking action against those destroying the lives and dreams of others, and I will be working with partners to ensure we do everything in our power to make sure there is no place in the 21st century in West Yorkshire for slavery and human trafficking.

I have personally pledged to work with fellow Police and Crime Commissioners to tackle these issues and the role of the National Crime Agency is also key for joined-up strategic working to deal with these vile crimes.

And for those inflicting this awful practice on others, I issue this warning.

“You will be dealt with severely by the courts as more awareness and support is offered to victims to come forward. There will be no hiding place for those thinking it is acceptable in the 21st century to inflict this kind of abuse on others.”