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Perceptions of Psychological Coercion and Human Trafficking in the West Midlands of England: Beginning to Know the Unknown

Modern slavery is less overt than historical state-sanctioned slavery because psychological abuse is typically used to recruit and then control victims. The recent UK Draft Modern Slavery Bill, and current UK government anti-slavery strategy relies heavily on a shared understanding and public cooper...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Dando, Coral J., Walsh, David, Brierley, Robin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4858279/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27149330
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153263
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author Dando, Coral J.
Walsh, David
Brierley, Robin
author_facet Dando, Coral J.
Walsh, David
Brierley, Robin
author_sort Dando, Coral J.
collection PubMed
description Modern slavery is less overt than historical state-sanctioned slavery because psychological abuse is typically used to recruit and then control victims. The recent UK Draft Modern Slavery Bill, and current UK government anti-slavery strategy relies heavily on a shared understanding and public cooperation to tackle this crime. Yet, UK research investigating public understanding of modern slavery is elusive. We report community survey data from 682 residents of the Midlands of England, where modern slavery is known to occur, concerning their understanding of nonphysical coercion and human trafficking (one particular form of modern slavery). Analysis of quantitative data and themed categorization of qualitative data revealed a mismatch between theoretical frameworks and understanding of psychological coercion, and misconceptions concerning the nature of human trafficking. Many respondents did not understand psychological coercion, believed that human trafficking did not affect them, and confused trafficking with immigration. The public are one of the most influential interest groups, but only if well informed and motivated towards positive action. Our findings suggest the need for strategically targeted public knowledge exchange concerning this crime.
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spelling pubmed-48582792016-05-13 Perceptions of Psychological Coercion and Human Trafficking in the West Midlands of England: Beginning to Know the Unknown Dando, Coral J. Walsh, David Brierley, Robin PLoS One Research Article Modern slavery is less overt than historical state-sanctioned slavery because psychological abuse is typically used to recruit and then control victims. The recent UK Draft Modern Slavery Bill, and current UK government anti-slavery strategy relies heavily on a shared understanding and public cooperation to tackle this crime. Yet, UK research investigating public understanding of modern slavery is elusive. We report community survey data from 682 residents of the Midlands of England, where modern slavery is known to occur, concerning their understanding of nonphysical coercion and human trafficking (one particular form of modern slavery). Analysis of quantitative data and themed categorization of qualitative data revealed a mismatch between theoretical frameworks and understanding of psychological coercion, and misconceptions concerning the nature of human trafficking. Many respondents did not understand psychological coercion, believed that human trafficking did not affect them, and confused trafficking with immigration. The public are one of the most influential interest groups, but only if well informed and motivated towards positive action. Our findings suggest the need for strategically targeted public knowledge exchange concerning this crime. Public Library of Science 2016-05-05 /pmc/articles/PMC4858279/ /pubmed/27149330 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153263 Text en © 2016 Dando et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Dando, Coral J.
Walsh, David
Brierley, Robin
Perceptions of Psychological Coercion and Human Trafficking in the West Midlands of England: Beginning to Know the Unknown
title Perceptions of Psychological Coercion and Human Trafficking in the West Midlands of England: Beginning to Know the Unknown
title_full Perceptions of Psychological Coercion and Human Trafficking in the West Midlands of England: Beginning to Know the Unknown
title_fullStr Perceptions of Psychological Coercion and Human Trafficking in the West Midlands of England: Beginning to Know the Unknown
title_full_unstemmed Perceptions of Psychological Coercion and Human Trafficking in the West Midlands of England: Beginning to Know the Unknown
title_short Perceptions of Psychological Coercion and Human Trafficking in the West Midlands of England: Beginning to Know the Unknown
title_sort perceptions of psychological coercion and human trafficking in the west midlands of england: beginning to know the unknown
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4858279/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27149330
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153263
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