In what is a historic judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that trafficked people have a right to claim damages from their traffickers irrespective of their immigration status.

This is a hugely important step forward in the fight to end modern day slavery, and a proud week for Anti-Slavery International and our supporters.

The actual case heard in court concerned a young woman who as a child was trafficked into the UK and exploited in domestic servitude. She had been deceived into agreeing to this employment as her employer told her that she would be paid £50 per month and sent to school. Instead, she found herself working seven days a week and never being paid.

After her escape she brought a claim for damages against her former employers, but it was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on the basis that her employment was illegal, as she knew and consented to her illegal stay in the UK.

But our intervention in the Supreme Court changed that. We argued that it would be contrary to the international law on trafficking to uphold the traffickers 'defence of illegality', a law that protected traffickers if their victim’s immigration status was irregular. We also pointed out that the public policies seeking to deter and punish traffickers would be undermined if traffickers were able to avoid paying compensation to their victims.

Happy and proud of this success, we will continue our work in fighting all aspects of modern day slavery, to ensure that traffickers are brought to justice and that laws are in place to protect the victims.

Thank you for your continued support.

Aidan McQuade, Director, Anti Slavery International 

Anti Slavery International