‘I’m All About My Child’: Supporting Modern Slavery Survivors as Parents

Author: Chazal, Nerida; Raby, Kyla & Spasovska, Elena

Abstract: Survivors of modern slavery have diverse and complex support needs. These needs are often intensified for survivors with children given the caregiving roles they play. To date, minimal research has been conducted into survivor parental support needs, the barriers to meeting those needs, and the implications for survivors if those needs are not met. This article presents the findings of a research project which aimed to understand the parental support needs of survivors of modern slavery in Australia. The research involved an analysis of case work data for survivors on the government funded Support for Trafficked People Program (STPP), semi-structured interviews with nine modern slavery survivors with dependent children, and interviews with 29 case workers and service providers working with key survivor support organizations in Australia and overseas. There are four main findings from this research: survivors who have children have a complex layer of parental support needs that exist in addition to fundamental survivor support; there are multiple structural barriers that prevent parental support needs being met; survivors with children prioritize the needs of their children above their own needs; and there are significant implications for a survivor’s recovery journey if parental support needs are not met. These findings highlight that survivors' parental support needs must be considered holistically to adequately support survivors with children and to break the cycle of vulnerability to abuse and exploitation.

Keywords: survivors, modern slavery, dependents, children, support needs, service provision