Partly False: The Government's Scheme Does Cover Adult Abuse Victims — But It Often Fails Them in Practice
“The government's scheme fails to address convictions of victims who were abused as adults”
The argument in brief
The claim is that the government's scheme ignores convictions of victims who were exploited as adults, but this is only partly true. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 Section 45 defence legally applies to adults, not just children. However, multiple credible reports confirm that adult victims face a much higher bar to use it, and many wrongful convictions go unreviewed — so the scheme exists on paper but routinely falls short in practice.
Why it spread
This claim resonates because it taps into a genuine and well-documented injustice. Advocacy groups have legitimately highlighted real failures in how adult victims are treated, and those stories are compelling. When the gap between what the law promises and what people actually experience is this wide, it is easy — and understandable — to conclude the law simply does not apply to adults at all.
The claim is that the government's scheme fails to address convictions of victims who were abused as adults. This is partially false. The law does cover adults — but the real problem is how poorly it works for them in practice.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 Section 45 gives trafficking and exploitation victims a defence against prosecution for crimes they were forced to commit. According to the UK Government's own statutory guidance, this applies to both adults and children. So the scheme is not legally blind to adult victims. That part of the claim is wrong.
But the gap between law and reality is significant. The Centre for Social Justice's 'It's Not My Fault' report found that the Section 45 defence is inconsistently applied by prosecutors and courts, with adult victims frequently failing to have convictions reviewed or quashed. The Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group's 'Class Acts?' report documented that adult trafficking victims are disproportionately prosecuted for crimes committed under coercion, and receive weaker protections than minors in practice.
The reason adults are worse off comes down to legal thresholds. Children benefit from a near-absolute defence under the Act. Adults must prove their offence was directly compelled by their exploitation — a harder standard to meet, especially for people who may lack documentation or legal support. The Criminal Cases Review Commission has handled some of these cases, but campaigners note that many adult victims' convictions remain on record despite clear evidence of exploitation.
Parliamentary scrutiny backs this up. The House of Commons Justice Committee found that implementation gaps mean many adult survivors have not benefited from the defence or conviction review processes. Unseen UK's casework data shows adult victims with criminal records face serious barriers to rehabilitation as a result.
This claim spreads because it reflects a real and documented injustice — just not a complete legal exclusion. Advocacy groups have rightly highlighted genuine failures, and those failures are serious. But framing it as the scheme entirely ignoring adults overstates the case and can make reform harder by misrepresenting what actually needs fixing. The problem is not the absence of a law — it is a law that is inconsistently enforced and structurally stacked against the people it should protect.
Sources
- UK Government - Victims of Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 Section 45 defence applies to both adults and children who were compelled to commit offences as a result of slavery or trafficking, though the threshold differs: children benefit from a near-absolute defence while adults must demonstrate compulsion directly linked to their exploitation.
- Centre for Social Justice - 'It's Not My Fault' Report
The CSJ found that the Section 45 defence is inconsistently applied by prosecutors and courts, and that adult victims of trafficking and exploitation frequently fail to have their convictions reviewed or quashed, suggesting a systemic gap in protection for adult victims.
- Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) - Modern Slavery Cases
The CCRC has reviewed cases of individuals convicted of offences committed under compulsion, but campaigners note that adult victims face higher evidentiary burdens than child victims, and many adult victims' convictions remain on record despite evidence of exploitation.
- Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG) - 'Class Acts?' Report
The ATMG documented that adult trafficking victims are disproportionately prosecuted for crimes committed under coercion, and that the legal framework, while theoretically inclusive of adults, in practice provides weaker protections for adult victims compared to minors.
- House of Commons Justice Committee - Modern Slavery Act Review
Parliamentary scrutiny found that while the Modern Slavery Act 2015 includes provisions for adult victims, implementation gaps mean many adult survivors of exploitation who were convicted of related offences have not benefited from the statutory defence or conviction review processes.
- Unseen UK - Modern Slavery Helpline Data
Unseen UK's casework data indicates that adult victims of exploitation who have criminal records face significant barriers to rehabilitation and support, partly because conviction records are not systematically reviewed under existing government schemes.