Unseen Lives

‘…a fully grown man utterly broken by what he had experienced, physically and mentally exhausted with physical evidence showing the overt signs of the abuse he had been through.’

This is how Kate Garbers met Riso, a man who had been trafficked and in forced labour for months, with no way out. Modern slavery is far closer than we think. Yet it is largely unseen and unknown to most of us – a crime against humanity hidden in plain sight.

In this revealing exposé, Kate Garbers shares moving stories of survivors she has met and shares insights she has gained through over a decade of anti-slavery work. Survivor stories are complemented by a forensic account of how modern slavery works and the many forms it can take – from forced labour to organ harvesting – and how it is enabled to continue by our current laws and systems.

Unseen Lives also provides a vision of hope for those looking to challenge and dismantle modern slavery, laying out what changes we need to make as individuals and as a society in order to effectively tackle modern slavery and improve the support of survivors.