The UK’s first independent anti-slavery commissioner has been appointed a visiting professor at St Mary’s University, to aid its research into ways to stop human trafficking.
Kevin Hyland, formerly head of the Metropolitan Police Human Trafficking Unit, will join the Bakhita Centre for Applied Research in Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, within St Mary’s School of Arts and Humanities.
The Centre at the university in Twickenham, London, is due to launch later this year with the support of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, as well as other charities that support victims of trafficking. It will also draw on the expertise of partners and researchers from within the university’s departments of criminology and theology.
Mr Hyland, who The Tablet named as one of the UK’s most influential Catholics, praised St Mary’s for taking the lead in tackling modern slavery.
“Modern slavery is a crime against humanity and we must continue to build on the work that is now being undertaken globally to combat this evil,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s, Francis Campbell, said the university was committed to ending human trafficking and intended to play “an increasingly active role” in efforts to stop end it.
Mr Hyland helped to establish the Santa Marta Group, an alliance of bishops and police chiefs set up by Pope Francis to combat trafficking.
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