Bangladesh, Aug. 25 -- When the United Kingdom government renewed the Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) for another five years earlier this year, it was hailed by ministers as a necessary measure to address persistent labour shortages in agriculture. Yet for many of the women who travel thousands of miles to pick Britains fruit, vegetables, and flowers, the scheme has become less of an opportunity and more of a gateway into exploitation.

A new briefing published by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), a charity campaigning to end trafficking and exploitation in the UK, has uncovered troubling evidence of gender-based inequalities within the SWS. The report, titled Uneven Fields: Women Workers Experiences of the Seasonal Worker Scheme, provide...