London: Up to 13,000 people are estimated to be kept in conditions of slavery in Britain, four times higher than was previously thought, officials said Saturday.
The Home Office figure for 2013 includes women forced into prostitution and people forced to work in factories and fields, many of them foreign nationals.
Data from another government body previously put the figure for 2013 at 2,744, but the 13,000 number is an estimate that factors in the "dark figure" of undetected cases, it said.
The figure emerged as Prime Minister David Cameron's government launched a strategy to combat modern slavery, with new legislation likely to be passed next year.
"Young girls are raped, beaten, passed from abuser to abuser and sexually exploited for profit. Vulnerable men are tricked into long hours of hard labour before being locked away in cold sheds or rundown caravans," she said.
The Home Office figure for 2013 includes women forced into prostitution and people forced to work in factories and fields, many of them foreign nationals.
Data from another government body previously put the figure for 2013 at 2,744, but the 13,000 number is an estimate that factors in the "dark figure" of undetected cases, it said.
The figure emerged as Prime Minister David Cameron's government launched a strategy to combat modern slavery, with new legislation likely to be passed next year.
"Young girls are raped, beaten, passed from abuser to abuser and sexually exploited for profit. Vulnerable men are tricked into long hours of hard labour before being locked away in cold sheds or rundown caravans," she said.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Britain Failed By Flawed Planning For Coronavirus Pandemic, Probe Finds First Red Mail Box With King Charles' Cypher Unveiled In Central England Keir Starmer Seeks "Immediate Reset" With UK Nations Post Poll Victory Windows Computers Leading To 'Blue Screen Of Death' Due To This Error Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down Explained: What Is Causing The Dreaded 'Blue Screen Of Death' On Windows? Watch: Anand Mahindra Praises Elderly Man For His Unique Cycle Designs Windows Showing Blue Screen Of Death Error? Here's How You Can Fix It Microsoft 'Blue Screen Of Death' Outage: Full List Of Services Hit In India Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.