Eleanor Lyons, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner; Alison Logier, Director of Modern Slavery at Hestia and Florence Adeoyo, Modern Slavery Advocate at Hestia.

19 March 2024

Last week, Hestia welcomed Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Eleanor Lyons, to meet with survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking who are supported by the charity. 

The group – who have chosen the name ‘Empowered Voices’ – gather every month to inform Hestia’s services and advocacy work for modern slavery survivors. Members of the group have been consulted on research proposals, input into submissions to Parliament, met with members of the Home Office to feedback on adult support models and more.

The survivors spoke to the Commissioner about their experiences of support within the Government’s National Referral Mechanism, and what more should be done to tackle modern slavery.

Commenting on the visit, Eleanor Lyons, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner said:

“It was a pleasure to meet the incredible Empowered Voices group at Hestia. It was an honour to hear from them about their experiences and thoughts for how we do more to tackle modern slavery. Listening to survivors is so important, and I know their accounts will help me to shape my work as IASC.”

A survivor from the group also added:

"This was a good meeting. She asked us important questions, and all service users answered. It was a good discussion. She took notes of everything we said, and told us she would take our points into consideration. This meeting was a safe space, we could speak openly and share our experiences with her."