Financial sector leaders are being pressed on their seemingly poor record when it comes to dealing with forced labour and exploitation of workers in the UK.
A study led by Dame Sara Thornton, the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, has found that nearly half of bankers and other finance staff do not know about the nature and scale of what the report says is a “turn the blind eye” problem.
The study, carried out in partnership with Themis and the TRIBE Freedom Foundation, suggests that finance is “at the heart of labour exploitation’.
The report found that: almost half (45%) of senior managers are aware that modern slavery exists in the UK; that 30% of financial services employees do not believe modern slavery is something that happens in the UK; and 36% of financial industry employees think their organisation has no influence in the matter.
Dame Sara said: “I have written to the CEOs of major financial institutions asking them to respond to the worrying findings that this report highlights and let me know what they are going to do to address modern slavery and human trafficking within their organisations.”
The report stresses that efforts to tackle worker exploitation should not focus solely on areas such as construction, cleaning & ancillary services or other “non-core-activities” but on an organisation’s entire internal and external chain processes.
Health & Protection has asked financial organisations in the sector for their responses.