GLAA Employee Login
GLAA
  • Report Problems: 0800 432 0804
  • General Office Enquiries: 0345 602 5020
  • Home
    • Licence renewals
    • Licensing Portal Login
    • Active Check Portal Login
  • Who We Are
    • What we do
    • GLA to GLAA: 20 year anniversary
    • Our Aims and Objectives
    • The GLAA Board
    • Legislation
    • Vacancies
    • Modern slavery
    • Freedom of Information
    • Press Releases
    • Better regulation
    • Our partners
    • Trade Union Facility Time 2023/24
    • Pay and work rights
  • What's New
    • Latest news
    • News Archive
    • Briefs and guidance
    • Freedom of information requests
    • Parliamentary Questions
    • GLAA Newsletters
  • Our Impact
    • Who has a GLAA licence
    • How we inspect and prosecute
    • Revocations results
    • Appeals against the GLAA
    • Criminal offences and sanctions
    • Intelligence Picture
    • Strategic Assessment
  • Publications
    • GLAA Publication Scheme
    • Resources
    • Licensing guidance
    • GLAA Brief and Licensing News
    • Legislation
    • Corporate Publications
    • Labour Exploitation
    • Code of practice on compliance, enforcement, labour market and modern slavery investigations
  • Contact Us
  • Report Issues
    • Is the GLAA the correct enforcement body for you?
    • English
    • Bulgarian
    • Latvian
    • Lithuanian
    • Polish
    • Portuguese
    • Romanian
    • Slovak
  • Information for workers
    • Worker Information
    • Workers' Rights Leaflets
    • Government Leaflets
    • What You Should Expect at Work
    • Who Else Can Help
    • Your rights
    • How we can help
    • eVisa - Moving to a digital proof of immigration status
  • Licence renewals
  • Licensing Portal Login
  • Active Check Portal Login
  • I supply workers
    • I need a GLAA licence
    • I have a GLAA licence
  • I use workers
    • Labour User Best Practice
    • Inspections and Investigations
    • Keep up to date with Licence Changes
    • Public Register Checks and Formal 'Active Check' Guidance
  • Licence fee review 2025
  • Home
  • What's New
  • Press Release Archive
  • GLA success in challenge over “pay day by pay day” schemes

GLAA Director of Resources Dan Scully shares his thoughts ahead of Anti-Slavery Day

16th October 2020

Ahead of Anti-Slavery Day this Sunday (18th October), GLAA Director of Resources Dan Scully, shares his thoughts on the importance we should place on marking this day and what it means to be involved in working to combat slavery and exploitation.

Dan Scully"When we look back through the UK's history it is clear that at different (sometimes overlapping periods) we were actively involved as a country both in the slave trade, and in seeking its abolition. The roots of that movement to abolish slavery began early in the 18th Century; but it was a long struggle and it wasn’t until around 1800 and William Wilberforce, that this vile trade in people finally started to be tackled. The fact it took another 30 years before the Slavery Abolition Law came into effect in August 1833 shows how difficult it was to change attitudes.

"I was struck by two things here, firstly the overwhelming overt and accepted nature of slavery in our fairly recent past and secondly the absolute commitment of a small number of people to end the abhorrent practice and who took on the ‘system’ to make a positive difference for other people.

"Today, when I reflect on how much attention organisations have paid to modern slavery prior to that time, compared to where we are now, it’s been a huge change. It is right we should credit Theresa May, who as then Home Secretary, championed the issue of modern slavery and played a key role in introducing legislation and raising it on the public agenda. As we know, it was because of that period that the GLAA came into being too.

"Probably everyone has an image in their heads of what Modern Slavery, trafficking or exploitation looks like. For me – and I remember it really clearly – I was at Heathrow Airport behind the passport control desks. I noticed a man with a young child had been at the desk talking to the officer for some time. When I looked again at the little girl, about 8 years old, she looked directly back at me for a few seconds with very wide eyes and I could just tell something was wrong.

"I can still see her face perfectly clearly.

"Later on it was established that the adult was attempting to traffic the child into the UK and she would likely have gone on to be abused, it was part of a trafficking ring. The pair were separated and the man arrested. Only one of many, in that case trying to cross the border.

"So, that is where I go back to when I am thinking about what exploitation looks like and why it matters – perhaps we don’t help ourselves with all the different categorisations we put around the coercive control of another person, whether it is modern slavery, trafficking, labour exploitation it is still controlling another person to some degree and against their will.

"One thing is as true now as it was in the 17th century is that there are people in our country who think it is OK to coercively control other people and exploit them. It may be more sophisticated now and harder to track down but we know it happens.

"The GLAA is one of a number of bodies making a very positive contribution to tackling exploitation".

Click here to return to the top of the page

© 2025 Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority

  • Privacy & Cookies
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Accessibility
  • Sitemap

Powered by 10 Digital