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" This morning, you probably woke in your comfy, warm bed to the sound of your alarm clock. Then, reaching for your phone, you maybe checked Instagram and Facebook, before showering and deciding on an outfit for work or uni. Sound about right? According to Karen Anstiss, the house manager at Bakhita House women&amp;#039;s refuge in London, the morning routine of the women she helps looks starkly \u2013 and heart-breakingly\u00A0\u2013\u00A0different. Located on a tree-lined residential street, Bakhita House looks like any other home \u2013 but a very different family will be living there when it opens its doors later this year: 12 women, all victims of human trafficking. The house will be their safe haven \u2013 protection from lives of fear, crime and exploitation. The women who will live here might have been woken this morning after just three hours sleep \u2013 by traffickers rather than an alarm. They&amp;#039;re often forced to work 16-hour days as prostitutes, and face being beaten if they so much as suggest one of their clients wears a condom. They live in fear that if they don&amp;#039;t make enough money, their traffickers will punish their family. As Cosmo reported last year, slavery is a 21st century problem happening across the UK \u2013 hidden in nail bars and even ordinary-looking houses on your street. And today, the United Nation&amp;#039;s International Day of Remembrance of Slavery, the Modern Slavery Bill is being debated in the House of Lords. It&amp;#039;s hoped it will officially become law later this week.  &amp;quot;The Bill gives much clearer definitions of offences and says they&amp;#039;re the most serious offences in British law,&amp;quot; Karen Bradley, Minister for Modern Slavery and Organised Crime, told\u00A0Cosmo. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re saying they&amp;#039;re equivalent to murder, rape and false imprisonment.&amp;quot;  It will also make provisions for the protection of modern slavery victims, including introducing a statutory defence for victims forced to commit crimes.  &amp;quot;People don&amp;#039;t want to come forward to police because they&amp;#039;ve committed crimes themselves, such as prostitution and drug offences,&amp;quot; Karen explained. &amp;quot;But they&amp;#039;ve committed crimes on their way to being found as a victim. We don&amp;#039;t want them to have anything that gets in their way.&amp;quot;  The prosecution of traffickers and perpetrators is crucial, but the welfare and protection of victims is paramount, too \u2013 not just in discovering them but afterwards, when they&amp;#039;re on their road to recovery and freedom. Bakhita House is part of this strategy to help women \u2013 and hopefully, the new bill will also mean a beginning of the end of modern-day slavery.  &amp;quot;This is about giving victims the security to feel safe enough to give information to the police,&amp;quot; Karen Bradley says. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s only when we find them that we&amp;#039;ll be able to break the cycle and stop people going into slavery.&amp;quot;  Bakhita House is funded by Caritas. If you want your voice to help make a difference,\u00A0register to vote\u00A0and help make a change. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/a34404/slavery-whats-being-done/>