Award for academics' Channel 4 News report into modern slavery

Academics from Goldsmiths whose Channel 4 News report exposed modern slavery in the UK have been recognised with an award for their hard-hitting work.

Lecturer Tassia Kobylinska’s long-term collaboration into the plight of Filipino domestic workers in Britain formed the basis of the exclusive report The domestic slaves rescued from London's richest streets, which revealed the escape to freedom of two women who were victims of modern slavery in London.

Film-maker Tassia, Convenor and Lecturer in TV Practice, worked with colleague Professor Sue Clayton in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies to produce the report which aired on Channel 4 News on Friday 25 August 2024.

The report was the result of a collaboration with The Voice of Domestic Workers (VODW), a self-help group of migrant domestic workers in the UK campaigning for rights and welfare.

Now the report has been recognised by the Anti-Slavery Day Awards, which is based in the Human Trafficking Foundation (HTF) which grew out of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery 

UK Anti-Slavery Day is on the 18 October and every year the HTF, with the support of the Marsh Charitable Trust, hosts the awards to celebrate the work done by the media on this vital issue. 

Tassia and Sue were recognised in the Media Winners category for the Best broadcast piece dealing with Modern Slavery, with the results announced at an event hosted by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle in the Houses of Parliament.

Reflecting on the award, Tassia and Sue said: “The Anti-Slavery awards are so significant in recognising all those who are forced into types of labour where they’re given no respect, often no pay, can be subjected to harassment, violent and sexual abuse, and often no basic freedoms. Unsurprisingly, many of these are people from lower income countries who fall victim of agencies promising them a better future for themselves and their children back home.

“Past governments have limited the terms of the visa these overseas domestic workers have, so that they must remain with the same employer or they face immediately becoming ‘illegal’ and subject to deportation. Many employers have seen this as a license to exploit them, be abusive, not pay them and sometimes not even let them out of the employer homes where they live and work. 

“Groups like VODW respond to urgent calls for help – they notify police and help bring those in critical situations to safety, then help register them as victims of modern slavery through the National Referral Mechanism, supporting them throughout the process.

“As a result of brave actions, dozens of women a year are able to start the process of being recognised as workers and as human beings with basic rights.

“The Modern Slavery Act is now almost ten years old, and it still needs groups like VODW to highlight and pass on vital information about domestic workers who are being exploited.

“It’s vital that we recognise what VODW say: ‘As well as speaking out for our rights we also solve each other’s practical problems. We find each other emergency accommodations and pool our resources to provide food and clothing. Together we search for ways to overcome our isolation and vulnerability and demand respect as workers, as contributors to the British economy and society, and as human beings.’”