Slavery Servitude and Forced Labour

Section 1 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 creates a single offence covering two distinct forms of exploitation. A person commits an offence if the person holds another person in slavery or servitude and the circumstances are such that the person knows or ought to know that the other person is held in slavery or servitude, or if the person requires another person to perform forced or compulsory labour in circumstances where they know or ought to know that is what is happening.

The Act makes clear that a victim's apparent consent does not excuse the offence: the consent of a person, whether an adult or a child, to any of the acts alleged to constitute holding the person in slavery or servitude, or requiring the person to perform forced or compulsory labour, does not preclude a determination that the person is being held in slavery or servitude, or required to perform forced or compulsory labour — a deliberate response to the coercive and manipulative dynamics typical of modern slavery cases.