Diocese of Carlisle

Modern Slavery


40.3 million people are estimated to be trapped in some form of modern slavery in the world today.

11,700 victims estimated in the UK.

3,805 potential victims found in 2016 (UK).

Modern slavery is an umbrella term for all forms of slavery, trafficking and exploitation. The practice still continues across the world today. From women forced into prostitution, children and adults forced to work in agriculture, domestic work, or factories and sweatshops producing goods for global supply chains, entire families forced to work for nothing to pay off generational debts; or girls forced to marry older men, the illegal practice still blights contemporary world.



Statistics are taken from the Global Slavery Index and  UK National Crime Agency.


What we're doing

  • Archbishop Justin Welby committed himself publicly to the battle to end modern slavery - Find out what he said.
  • The Clewer Initiative is a three year project to enable Church of England dioceses and wider Church networks to develop strategies to detect modern slavery in their communities and help provide victim support and care.

The Safe Car Wash App

The Safe Car Wash app has been developed to allow the general public to engage with the problem, it is a new tool that will enable the largest community intelligence gathering exercise ever attempted in the United Kingdom.

Download the free app onto your smartphone and then when you are using a hand car wash, simply open the app and complete a short survey about the working conditions of the car wash.

Links and Resources