The two guest speakers at South Lancashire Region’s autumn Programme Action meeting highlighted Manchester’s ongoing efforts to tackle organised crime, including modern day slavery.
Vicky Charles (local authority lead) and John Egerton (Greater Manchester Police) spoke about ‘Programme Challenger’. This is a multi-disciplinary response model, combining specialised services (social work, probation, the NHS, licensed gangmasters, community safety, immigration, etc) with local partners such as charities and the Salvation Army.
Modern day slavery includes trafficking for sexual / labour exploitation, domestic servitude and cannabis cultivation. Industries where workers are enslaved include agriculture, food processing and construction.
‘Challenger’ offers a wider approach than traditional crime-focussed policing. Long before it reaches police attention modern slavery in the community is, for example, likely to be an issue for health and education specialists. (It is estimated that every fourth victim is a child.) Therefore information-sharing via a response network fosters a collective understanding of criminal developments. It offers opportunities to protect the vulnerable and to safeguard those at risk of becoming victims of organised crime.
Local Soroptimists are developing links with ‘Challenger’, notably in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking by, for example, being included in the community forum for non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Public support, through reports of suspicions and observations, is vital in piecing together a full picture of criminal activity. If more police services develop networks involving NGOs, other local Soroptimist clubs could get involved.
Yvonne Gibbon, SI South Lancashire’s new Programme Action Officer, was delighted with members’ reaction to the morning’s presentation. “Trafficking and modern day slavery are key issues for Soroptimists. We shall follow the success of ‘Challenger’ through our Manchester Club members, and hope to see the model extended to other police forces in our Region.”