Why are we talking about modern slavery? It doesn’t happen in this country.
A question I often hear being asked. It most certainly does happen in our country with an estimate of over 135,000 victims in the UK today.
OK perhaps in the UK but not in our area, not in our Diocese – Yes it does. There is a very high percentage of victims in our area – every town in Surrey will have victims of slavery.
It is happening Right Here, Right Now!
You can see some of the basic signs of slavery and how to report any concerns on our website at Modern Slavery – The Diocese of Southwark.
If you want to know more about what is happening to survivors of slavery today, and what you can do to support them, join us on 7th May at our free webinar when we will have a range of speakers who will talk of their work with those who are fortunate enough to survive slavery today.
We have:
- Detective Chief Inspector Kerry Loveless – Surrey Police lead for modern slavery who, with her team works tirelessly to bring perpetrators to justice.
- Sarah, a Victim Navigator with Justice and Care – from their website “Our Victim Navigator Programme sees specialist workers deployed in the heart of police forces in the UK to fight slavery.They are deployed with border teams and serious organised crime units – our Navigators are given unparalleled access to cases, with the highest security clearance, to provide specialist knowledge from the very start of investigations and provide support to victims”.
- Jess Visser, who runs an organisation called Strength & Stem – from their website “We prepare women who have survived human trafficking for meaningful employment – using floristry as the tool”.
- Bishop Alistair Redfern – Chair of The Clewer Initiative, the Church of England’s response to modern slavery – Bishop Alistair says “We believe that the tools to end modern slavery already exist within the local community and that the Church, which is present in all communities and at the heart of many, has a primary responsibility in leading these efforts.”
Please join us on Saturday 7th May for a couple of hours and find out from these fabulous people what they are doing in the fight against modern slavery Right Here, Right Now!
Sign up for the Reigate Archdeaconry Social Justice Focus webinar
