Cristina Gavrilovic was appointed as the Anti-Slavery Partnership Coordinator for Essex Police and Kent Police Serious Crime Directorate in 2016. Since her appointment a record number of 500 victims have been identified through her work that saw a number of sectors joined and supported in actively participating in the fight against Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking.

She has the opportunity to address the gaps in our social justice system, ensuring organisations put Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery at the top of their agenda and that victims are at the heart of decision making. This area of her work was recognised by the British Association of Women in Policing where she was awarded Best Police Staff of the Year.

Cristina’s formative years were in Romania, where she experienced a growing awareness of the injustice of a broken system failing individuals living below the poverty line, experiencing domestic violence, and where children went missing. This is an area where Cristina is a strong Ambassador for having recently won the prestigious award of Women of the Future in the Community Spirit category.

Cristina has been seeking the right education, opportunities and paths that allowed her to develop the infrastructures required to address these issues. She has implemented an inclusive model upon which strong partnerships are build and maintained and this model has won her national recognition from the Marsh Awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Fight against Slavery.

Cristina has recently been invited to become a Fellow Associate of the Royal Commonwealth Society where she hopes that her work will influence and support many communities across the Commonwealth countries and engage with younger generations to build a stronger resilience against abuse and exploitation.