Criminology academics scoop Radzinowicz Prize for modern slavery research
Leading research into modern slavery has won two University of 野狼社区 academics the prestigious Radzinowicz Prize for their contribution to the field of criminology.
Two of the University of 野狼社区 School of Law’s leading Criminology academics have been handed the prestigious for their contributions to and the development of the field of criminology.
Awarded by the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Criminology Prof David Gadd and Dr Rose Broad were handed the prize for their journal article ‘Troubling recognitions in British responses to modern slavery’, which stemmed from their ESRC-funded research on ‘Perpetrators of modern slavery offences’.
Their pioneering research on modern slavery suggests that modern slavery and immigration law intermingle, as victims are commonly those who have travelled abroad to find work but have become caught up in exploitative relationships or arrangements that are hard to escape as non-citizens, preventing them from accessing workers’ rights or legal services.
Gadd and Broad's research has identified the complex dynamic that vilification of foreign traffickers has exacerbated a stereotype idealising victims as innocent, which has hindered the development of services for victims with complex needs, including those who are reliant on undocumented labour, crime, drugs or prostitution to survive. Indeed, it seems many of those accused of trafficking have been exploited themselves.
As a result of under-regulation in the labour market and tightening immigration law, migrant workers can be liable to turn to working illegally or criminal activity in order to evade poverty and Gadd and Broad argue that ‘biblical terms’ often used by policymakers should be put aside in favour of working to understand why traffickers have hardened into becoming exploiters. Indeed, they indicate that the use of language such as ‘evil’ and ‘vile’ as descriptors of traffickers those being exploited and their captors.