Event Round Up: Tech for Victim Support on Modern Slavery Webinar

To explore the existing and potential landscape of digital tools that can support victims of modern slavery, we were delighted to joined by Julia Muraszkiewicz, Trilateral Research, Sian Owen, Unseen UK, Wendy Sims, Shadwell Council, and Debi Lloyd, Justice and Care, for an insightful discussion on how such services can be improved through the effective coordination of a multi-agency response.

Julia provided insights into best practices for utilising AI tools in this field. She demonstrated how AI and other digital tools, such as chatbots and translation services, can enhance the quality of services provided to victims by accelerating processes and improving accessibility.

To demonstrate this, Julia presented Project Restart, a project funded by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC), which is a project utilising ethical AI to improve victim support and influence current legislation. Through analysing 30,000 survivors' stories to train an AI model and developing an App that allowed survivors to journal about their needs, the project incorporated the stories from victims themselves into their approach.

Highlighting the importance of data anonymity in this space, to build survivors trust in agencies and to ensure data is secure and handled ethically, Julia then discussed the MASC Anonymisation Tool which protects information without its meaning being compromised through redaction.

Bringing in the perspective of the third sector, Sian discussed the opportunities and challenges that technology presents to victim support. Whilst providing victims with devices has benefits of ensuring they have access to digital services, there are important considerations to be made to ensure that their vulnerability is not increased by doing so. For instance, agencies are encouraged to turn off the location settings so that individuals cannot be tracked by perpetrators, reducing the risk of them being reintroduced to exploitation.

Risk mitigation in this context is crucial. As Sian explained, hardware devices can be transformative for victims, as they enable contact with relatives, the opening of bank accounts, booking of medical appointments, access to counselling services, and utilisation of translation services. Unfortunately, her organisation faces challenges in deploying these devices and addressing the prerequisite of basic digital skills, which many victims lack.

For more information on how you can support Unseen, please contact [email protected].

Following a positive conversation that included attendees suggesting third sector partnership opportunities to address this skills gap, the panel explored how the tech sector can help by creating affordable, creative solutions that can assist individuals going through the support and criminal justice system.

During the open discussion, attendees recognised that going forward, the stories of those with lived experiences of modern slavery needs to be incorporated into the multi-agency approach to tailoring support to victims and survivors’ needs, particularly to ensure that the introduction of any digital tools in this is effective, ethical and appropriate. Looking ahead, it was emphasised that significant barriers of data sharing need to be overcome, which can only be achieved through ongoing collaboration between technology providers, support services, and survivors to ensure that digital innovation in victim support remains sensitive to the nuances of lived experience and the realities of exploitation.

This is a topic we intend to explore more with the Justice and Emergence Services Programme, so please do get in touch to get involved.

Climate, Environment and Sustainability Programme activities

The techUK Climate Programme provides opportunities for members to present tech solutions that assist carbon emission reduction, circularity, and human rights goals. We also help our members with their own net zero transition, including measurement, implementation, compliance, and reporting. Visit the programme page here.