Christian founded charity, Stop the Traffik, is speaking as a new report warns that modern-day slaves are being failed by "substandard" crime recording which risks allowing perpetrators to offend with impunity.
The UK's anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland, has criticised "chronic weaknesses" and is demanding that law enforcement agencies step up their response to the issue.
Figures compiled for the commissioner's annual report show 884 modern slavery crimes were recorded by police in England and Wales in 2015/16.
Mr Hyland said some forces are taking a "proactive approach" to combating modern slavery but "many instances of substandard modern slavery crime recording remain".
Modern Slavery report:
- 884 modern slavery crimes were recorded by police in England and Wales in 2015/16
- 3,146 referrals made to the National Referral Mechanism, a framework for identifying potential victims in 2015/16
- around 28% of referrals may have resulted in a modern slavery crime being recorded by police in England and Wales
Hannah Flint, from Christian founded charity Stop the Traffik, told Premier's News Hour that communities need to be alert.
She said people can ask God that everyone is aware and willing to work together to solve it.
She said: "Pray for good relationships, between faith groups, community members and different charities, because everyone needs to work together and see a bigger picture than just their own tiny peace."
She added: "Pray for the police who are going out on harm reduction visits, trying to find people."
Hannah Flint said that the police cannot do everything and that communities need to help.
She said: "Unless someone from the community says there's a car wash in community, I've seen people sleeping around the back in a shabby cabin and they look quite intimidated.
"Unless community people ring that in to the police it's hard for them to know exactly what the scale of the problem is."
Home Secretary Amber Rudd responded to the report: "Modern slavery is a barbaric crime which destroys the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our society. This Government has taken world-leading action to tackle it, giving law enforcement agencies the tools they need, toughening up sentences and increasing support and protection for victims.
"Our ground-breaking Modern Slavery Act created the role of the commissioner precisely because we are determined to leave no stone unturned in how we deal with it.
"We will continue to lead the global fight to eradicate modern slavery and strengthen our own response, including through the Prime Minister's new Modern Slavery Taskforce."
Listen to Premier's Aaron James speak to Hannah Flint here:
