MODERN SLAVERY IS OFTEN HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
The National Crime Agency thinks there are currently tens of thousands of people being forced to work for little or no pay in the 18,000 hand car washes on Britain’s roads, at the sides of motorways and on abandoned garage forecourts.
Many hand car washes are legitimate businesses but according to campaigners some exploit, force and threaten workers, but there is no reliable data on the scale of the problem. Police raids in hand car washes have found victims living in horrendous conditions.
Developed by The Clewer Initiative, the Church of England’s campaign against modern slavery, and the Santa Marta Group, the Catholic Church’s anti-slavery project, Safe Car Wash is a new app that will enable the largest community intelligence gathering exercise ever attempted in the United Kingdom.
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.
The app will ask a series of questions related to the indicators of modern slavery and if there is a high likelihood that modern slavery is occurring in the hand car wash, you will be asked to report your concerns to the Modern Slavery Helpline 08000 121 700.
The data the app collects will be anonymised and shared with the National Crime Agency and the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority, two law enforcement agencies who are leading on efforts to stamp out modern slavery across the UK.
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