Stopping traffic: Charlotte Ward on modern slavery

‘The pathways are not always clear.’

In May, Boston Meeting hosted a talk on modern slavery. We had two very interesting speakers, both of whom clearly felt very passionate about their subject.

Georgina Russell, from Anti-Slavery International, spoke to us about the different types of slavery that exist around the world, and how many of the everyday items we buy are produced by slave labour, or contain components that are linked to slave labour. The pathways are not always clear. For example, the clothing industry buys cotton in bulk from multiple sources. The cotton enters a warehouse, where all the cotton is merged, so that it is impossible to say where the cotton for a specific garment originated. Some of this cotton comes from Xinjiang, where it has been picked by Uyghurs and other minorities who have been made inmates of the ‘re-education camps’. Some of the components for mobile phones are mined in areas where forced labour occurs.

Georgina also highlighted some hopeful signs, including work in Uzbekistan which has recently led to forced child labour in the cotton fields being stopped. Unfortunately this has had the effect of increasing forced labour by adults, but they continue to work on this, and other projects.

She also spoke about the risks faced by refugees fleeing Ukraine, who are hastily placed with sometimes inappropriate and potentially abusive hosts.

Tamzin Hurley-Roe first showed us a video about human trafficking, spoken from the point of view of the traffickers. This was impressive: it showed not only the utter callousness and lack of respect for other people’s rights or feelings, but also a lack of self-respect.

Tamzin told us about the work she is doing with other agencies, such as: the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority; immigration officers; and the fire and rescue services. They do joint visits to investigate reports or tip-offs, as they each have different authorities they can use to deal with the situations they find. For example, fire and rescue can close down premises if they are unsafe.

Among the places she visits regularly are car washes and nail bars. Here there is some good news, as a new anti-slavery order allows police to enforce rules even when there is not enough evidence to prosecute.

Tamzin also told us what to look out for as warning signs that modern slavery might be happening in your neighbourhood: abuse or malnourishment; someone who appears to be under the influence of others; lack of access to identification documents; and overcrowded accommodation.

We talked about what things we can all do to help combat modern slavery, such as writing to our MPs, signing petitions, or writing to our favourite clothing brands. This link is a good place to start: www.antislavery.org/take-action.

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