A survivor of forced labour is being awarded more than £208,000 after he was left with life-changing injuries which mean he cannot work again. This is the largest monetary award Hope for Justice has ever seen a survivor of modern slavery receive from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
The male survivor is finally due to receive compensation for the substantial and detrimental long-term impact on his mental health and psychological wellbeing – but it comes five years after making an initial claim. The award is also for the loss of earnings he experienced during exploitation and recognises future loss of earnings as a result of being unable to work again.
Ellie Russell, IMSA Model Hub Manager at Hope for Justice, said: “This survivor’s life has been significantly impacted by his exploitation and he will face challenges for the rest of his life. It is brilliant news that this client has been awarded this substantial compensation payout, which recognises the injuries suffered due to his exploitation and the long-term impact on his future Without access to an Independent Modern Slavery Advocate®, it is highly unlikely that this survivor would have been able to access compensation, let alone receive the amount he has finally been awarded.”
Joel*, who is in his 30s, was trafficked to the UK on the false promise of a job, but when he arrived, he was forced to work nine-hour days at a car wash, seven days per week. He was subject to physical abuse and the perpetrators took every penny he earned, opening bank accounts and mobile phone contracts fraudulently in his name.
In this case, the survivor tried to escape on multiple occasions, but each time was pursued by his perpetrators. The traffickers instilled fear and use intimidation. Joel’s movements were restricted, and he was locked inside the property. Joel spoke very little English, so felt very trapped.
One of our Independent Modern Slavery Advocates® (IMSAs®) who has worked alongside the survivor said: “There are many complex reasons why a survivor may be unable to leave a situation of exploitation. This situation caused trauma and long-term harm to the survivor, including severe mental health problems. We continue to work alongside him in his recovery journey and as part of that process, we are delighted that he has been awarded this large sum of money via the CICA to help him to rebuild and move forward.”
Joel found a means to contact the police and eventually escaped his traffickers. He was brought to safety and entered the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the UK Government’s process for providing support to survivors of modern slavery.
Hope for Justice began advocating alongside the survivor in 2019, when he received his settled status and was required to leave safe house accommodation. We worked to ensure Joel had access to supported accommodation and could live as independently as possible with local professional support in place.
We have also provided advocacy in relation to Joel’s mental health, helping him to access a GP and referring him for mental health support. Additionally, we worked with him to obtain ID, to access welfare benefits, and to engage with the police. Specifically, our IMSA helped Joel to report fraud and debt that occurred as a result of the traffickers opening various bank accounts in his name.
Most recently, we advocated for Joel to make a compensation claim. We submitted a CICA application on his behalf in 2020, but this was refused in 2022. We worked alongside ATLEU (Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit) and volunteer pro bono lawyers to submit a review in June 2022, but this was also refused in November 2022.
Hope for Justice then referred Joel to ATLEU for representation to submit an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. ATLEU obtained a medical legal report which evidenced the injuries he had suffered. On receipt of this evidence and legal submissions, the Tribunal allowed the appeal and agreed that Joel was eligible under the CICA scheme for an award.
Ellie Russell said: “Sadly, the long waiting times for decisions and further delays caused by having to challenge negative decisions is commonplace for CICA applications. We can see in this case, involving a large compensation award, that if the CICA scheme were more accessible to victims of human trafficking and had the correct decisions been made earlier in the process, the survivor would not have had to wait five years before receiving compensation to move forward with his life.”
The case was sent back to CICA in 2024 and over the next year, CICA requested further information to support the claim. They finally made a compensation award of £208,971, which was confirmed in writing in April this year. Joel is now working with professionals to set up a Personal Injuries (PI) Trust for the award.
A spokesman for ATLEU said: “We are really delighted by Joel’s success. £208,971 is a substantial criminal injuries compensation award, and we hope it will assist him in his recovery. We are particularly glad to see that CICA compensated Joel for his loss of past and future earnings. This made up the bulk of Joel’s award, and his case emphasises the importance of pursuing loss of earnings awards where an applicant’s injuries mean they have no or very limited capacity for paid work.”
*Name and image changed to protect identity of the survivor
