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Modern slavery is an economic crime that distorts markets, weakens public finances and embeds fragility in supply chains, Sir Edward Braham will say today at the latest event in the Justice for All series at the Old Bailey, and sponsored by Rathbones, one of the UK’s leading wealth and asset management groups.
Delivering the keynote at the event, Justice for Victims and Survivors, the Chair Sir Edward, Commissioner Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, will say that modern slavery is a profound violation of human rights that requires a national effort to confront the legal and social challenges facing victims and survivors of violence and exploitation.
He will place this in the broader context that calls upon financial services and the City of London to work together for stronger victim protection, trauma-informed approaches, and effective legal remedies. It is estimated the total economic cost to the UK is up to £60billion , and worth $236billion globally in illegal profits; it affects 50 million people around the world.
The event is the third in the five-part Justice For All series, developed by Rathbones’ Senior Investment Director and Sheriff of the City of London Robert Hughes-Penney and designed to convene experts to discuss solutions to tackling the UK’s “underfunded, overstretched and outdated” legal system.
Robert Hughes-Penney said: “The scale and evolution of modern slavery demand more than awareness — they demand resolve. This series was created to bring the justice system, business, finance and civil society into the same room because only coordinated action will deliver meaningful change. The discussions we are hosting today underscore a simple truth: when we strengthen justice for the most vulnerable, we strengthen justice for everyone.
“While the human implications may be understood – though we believe awareness there needs to be improved, too – there is also an impact that financial services and the national economy need to grasp. Modern slavery weakens supply-chain resilience, inflates long-term costs and ultimately erodes the very value investors are entrusted to protect. It has significant widespread consequences and accordingly needs coordinated action.”
The event will use the discussion to examine why people become vulnerable to exploitation and what systemic changes reduce risk; contributions will highlight that modern slavery persists where commercial pressure outpaces oversight, where recruitment remains opaque, and where the price of goods is driven so low that the human cost is pushed onto those least able to bear it.
Speakers will also address how policy and market rules can be strengthened. A central theme of the event will be the value of mandatory, well-designed and enforceable human rights due diligence, which can level the playing field for responsible businesses, improve market resilience and reduce exploitation without undermining competitiveness.
The conversation will reflect the encouraging trend that more investors now have human rights policies, are conducting due diligence and are beginning to enable remedy for victims. But contributors will emphasise that progress remains uneven and must accelerate to match the scale of harm, as evidenced by Rathbones’ Votes Against Slavery, the coordinated stewardship initiative launched by Rathbones in 2020 that presses UK-listed companies to meet and evidence their responsibilities under the Modern Slavery Act.
The panel, moderated by Caroline Haughey OBE KC, will bring together Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM, James Clarry, Jane Lasonder and Antoinette Mutabazi, combining survivor experience, policy insight and frontline expertise. Each Justice for All event is supported by a research paper from RAND Europe, and insights from this evening will feed into the series’ final report due this summer, setting out recommendations to strengthen justice and survivor protection in the UK and beyond. The evening will include a performance by soprano Samantha Crawford, who will sing an aria from Slave, a new opera currently in development.
