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Recapping the International Women’s Day webinar event

On 10 March, Unseen ran a webinar in celebration of International Women’s Day to highlight the difference made by the Unseen women’s safe house and the vital role it plays in supporting the recovery journey of survivors.

International Women’s Day is a moment to recognise the strength, resilience, and power of women everywhere. At Unseen, one of the clearest reflections of that strength is found within our women’s safe house. 

Since opening in 2011, the Unseen women’s safe house has been a vital place of refuge and healing for survivors of modern slavery. Now in its 15th year, it remains one of the earliest and most significant components of Unseen’s anti-slavery work. Over the years, women from many different backgrounds, ages, and circumstances have found safety, rebuilt their identities, formed supportive relationships, and begun to regain control of their lives. 

To mark this milestone, Unseen hosted a special International Women’s Day webinar, offering attendees the chance to hear directly from the caseworkers who support women in the safe house every day. Participants were able to ask questions, learn more about life inside the service, and hear some of the caseworkers’ most meaningful and heartwarming stories from the house. 

Caseworkers play a crucial role in each survivor’s journey. They advocate for and support them through things like job applications, appointments, government processes, and above all, ensure that every survivor feels listened to, respected, and dignified as they begin rebuilding their lives. 

One of the most powerful moments of the webinar came from a woman who once lived in the safe house. She shared her experience of the support she received and the impact it had on her life. As she closed, she said: “This is my safe house and the people who work here help survivors feel the taste of life again.” 

The women’s safe house is far more than a place of safety. It is a space where women can be themselves, regain control, and rediscover who they are often for the first time after exploitation. Every survivor is so much more than the harm they have endured. 

One caseworker expressed this beautifully: 

“The biggest thing is that they are people with amazing things to offer. They have experienced exploitation but that is not the thing that defines them… They are genuinely some of the most resilient people I know and have a lot of skills to offer. Often our job is really just to… help them remember that part of themselves is still there and to just [help them] get back to themselves and rediscover who they are on the other side of what they’ve experienced.”  

To learn more about the Unseen women’s safe house, you can watch the webinar here: 

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Justine Currell

As I came to understand more about the issue, including through a visit to an Unseen safehouse, I knew I needed to do more to stop this abuse and exploitation.

For the last five years of my Civil Service career, I was the Modern Slavery Senior Policy Advisor in the Home Office and led on development of the Modern Slavery Act, including the transparency in supply chains provision and business guidance.

I joined Unseen to lead the development of the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline, and Unseen’s work with businesses. I am regularly called upon to present at national and international conferences and use my experience of working with Ministers to influence other governments internationally to take action to address modern slavery and, in particular, business supply chain issues.

In my spare time I enjoy keeping fit, music, reading and travelling.

Andrew Wallis

What ultimately compelled me to act was a report on how people from Eastern Europe were being trafficked through Bristol airport to the USA. Kate Garbers, who went on to be an Unseen Director, and I wrote to all the city councillors, MPs and the Police Chief Constable challenging them on the issue. The challenge came back to us: this city needs safe housing for trafficked women. And so Unseen began.

But we never wanted Unseen to be just about safe housing. We wanted to end slavery once and for all, and that remains our driving focus.

I chaired the working group for the Centre for Social Justice’s landmark report “It Happens Here: Equipping the United Kingdom to Fight Modern Slavery”. This is now acknowledged as the catalyst behind the UK’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015. It was a great honour to be awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours that year. On the other hand, I’ve also been described as “the loveliest disrupter you could ever hope to meet”.

This job has taken me from building flat-pack furniture for safehouses, to working with businesses to address slavery in supply chains, to delivering training, raising awareness and advising governments around the world.

When not at work, I enjoy travelling, spending time with my dog Harley, cooking, supporting Liverpool and Yorkshire CC, music (I’m a former DJ) and endurance events such as the Three Peaks Challenge and Tribe Freedom Runs – which I vow never to do again. Until the next time.