Modern Day Slavery is the focus of the
2019 Diocesan Lent Appeal which will raise funds for five charities that are already working to end Modern Day Slavery in London. These are:
Tamar;
Ella’s Home;
Love 146;
The Rise Project (The Children’s Society); and
Kalayaan.
Bishop Sarah explains: ‘There are at least 40 million victims of modern day slavery in the world today, and tens of thousands in the UK. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, in a capital city heralded for its history and culture, modern slavery is thriving. Thousands are forced into domestic servitude, forced labour or sexual exploitation in plain sight of Londoners, and many more are at risk of falling through the cracks, hidden from the view of the authorities, charities and the church. Behind those statistics, there are real people. Whether it be a woman or girl trafficked to work in the illegal sex trade, a man forced to work on a construction site or a child married against their will, none are free.’
We are asked to prayerfully consider how we can raise awareness of an issue that is ‘Hidden in plain sight’ whilst also raising funds to support the partner charities, all of which do equally incredible work, to help those trapped by Modern Day Slavery.
Last Sunday at St Martin-in-the-Fields Elizabeth Matthews led an awareness session on Modern Day Slavery in which she shared the following information:
There are estimated 40.3 million slaves around the world today:
- 10 million children
- 24.9 million people in forced labour
- 15.4 million people in forced marriage
- 4.8 million people in forced sexual exploitation
Every 30 seconds someone somewhere becomes a slave.
A SLAVE IS: forced to work – through coercion, or mental or physical threat owned or controlled by an ’employer’ through mental or physical abuse or threat of abuse dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as ‘property’, physically constrained or has restrictions placed on their freedom of movement.
FORMS OF MODERN SLAVERY
Forced labour happens when a slave, under the threat of punishment, is forced to work or perform services against their will.
Debt bondage or bonded labour (the world’s most widespread form of slavery) happens when a slave borrows money they cannot repay & are required to work to pay it off & then loses control over both the conditions of their debt & employment Human trafficking happens when, using violence or threats or coercion, people are transported, recruited or harboured for the purpose of exploitation.
Descent-based slavery happens when a person is born into slavery because their ancestors were captured and enslaved.
Child slavery often confused with child labour but is much worse: child labour is harmful for the child & hinders their education & development, child slavery occurs when a child is exploited for someone else’s gain. It may include child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage and child domestic slavery.
Forced and early marriage when someone is married against their will and cannot leave the marriage. Most child marriages are considered slavery.
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WHO IS VULNERABLE?
There is no typical victim of slavery – victims are of all genders and all ages, ethnicities and nationalities. However, it is normally more prevalent amongst the most vulnerable, and within minority or socially excluded groups. Poverty, limited opportunities at home, lack of education, unstable social and political conditions, economic imbalances and war are some of the key drivers which contribute towards vulnerability. Slaves today are usually controlled by fear and desperation, not physical shackles.
The AVERAGE age of a slave TODAY? 12 years old.
A SLAVE MIGHT: appear to be under the control of someone/reluctant to interact with others not have personal identification on them have few personal belongings, wear the same clothes every day or wear unsuitable clothes for work not be able to move around freely be reluctant to talk to strangers or the authorities appear frightened, withdrawn, or show signs of physical or psychological abuse dropped off and collected for work always in the same way, especially at unusual times, i.e. very early or late at night.
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MODERN SLAVERY IN THE UK: ANYONE CAN CALL HOTLINE: 08000 121 700 2009
National Referral Mechanism (NRM) created to respond to & investigate suspected slavery, to free any slaves subsequently discovered. only certain organisations could/can do a referral BUT, it did not support rescued slaves, and traffickers got away without punishment. Therefore 2015 Modern Slavery Act makes prosecuting traffickers easier:
- consolidates slavery offences & increases sentences bans prosecuting victims of slavery for crimes they were forced to commit (such as drug production or petty thefts)
- introduces child trafficking advocates to better protect trafficked children
- requires UK businesses to publicly report on how they tackle slavery in their global supply chains establishes an independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to overlook the UK’s policies to tackle slavery
THERE IS STILL INSUFFICIENT SUPPORT FOR FREED SLAVES.
In 2017, 5,145 potential victims of trafficking and slavery were referred to the National Referral Mechanism. This was the highest number recorded by the UK authorities since the figures were first compiled in 2009 and a 35% rise from 2016. British nationals made up the highest number of cases for the first time, followed by people from Albania and Vietnam. The Global Slavery Index estimated that there were 136,000 slaves living in the UK on any given day in 2016, reflecting a prevalence rate of 2.1 slaves for every thousand people
https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/ https://www.antislavery.org/
ANYONE CAN CALL HOTLINE: 08000 121 700 When in doubt? Report!
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The Golden Gospel Singers -
Oh, Freedom!
