Section 45 Defence

Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 provides that an adult is not guilty of an offence if they did the act because they were compelled to do it, the compulsion is attributable to slavery or to relevant exploitation, and a reasonable person in the same situation, sharing the person's relevant characteristics, would have had no realistic alternative to doing that act. The compulsion can come from another person or from the person's circumstances, and is only 'attributable to slavery or to relevant exploitation' where it forms part of conduct amounting to a section 1 slavery offence or relevant exploitation, or is a direct consequence of the person being, or having been, a victim of slavery or exploitation.

A separate, less demanding form of the defence applies to children: a person under 18 is not guilty if the act was done as a direct consequence of being, or having been, a victim of slavery or relevant exploitation, and a reasonable person in the same situation sharing the person's relevant characteristics would have done that act — there is no separate requirement to prove compulsion. The defence does not apply to certain serious offences listed in Schedule 4 to the Act, which the Secretary of State may amend by regulations.