In 2012, the UK Government introduced the tied visa, which prevents overseas domestic workers from changing employers. Fortunately for Sara, she entered the UK before 2012 and was able to find another job and support herself after escaping slavery without breaking the law. With the new system, this is no longer an option. The tied visa increases the risk of domestic slavery because trying to escape from exploitative situations can mean facing arrest, removal from the UK, or even further exploitation.

Back in March last year Walk Free ran a campaign asking the government to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act and protect overseas domestic workers by removing the tied visa. They refused. Instead, they asked Barrister James Ewin to conduct an independent investigation into the tied visa system in the UK to find out if it did allow domestic slavery to flourish. In December, Ewin’s final report was published. It found that the tied visa is ‘incompatible with the reasonable protection of overseas domestic workers’.

So far the government hasn't responded. Call the Home Office to account by demanding implementation of all the recommendations in the Ewin Report to protect overseas domestic workers in the UK from slavery.  

P.S. Minister of Modern Slavery, Karen Bradley MP, said that, “the intention is that whoever is in government...will implement the review’s recommendations’. Let’s hold her to it!     You can watch Sara tell her full story here and Take Action here.