​Time to listen to survivors – write to your MP

Efforts to stop modern slavery will always fall short unless the lived experience of survivors is listened to. Take action now

 

40 million people in slavery illustration

Today, over 40 million people are in modern slavery. Survivors are the only people who have direct knowledge of how slavery takes place. Efforts to stop slavery will always fall short unless this lived experience is listened to.

Yet too often survivors don’t have a seat at the decision-making table.

That’s why, this Anti-Slavery Day 2021 (Monday 18 October), the Coalition to Stop Slavery is calling for survivors of modern slavery to be listened to.

As Pachaiyammal, a leader in the Released Bonded Labourers Association, founding member of the Global Survivor Network, and survivor of bonded labour says:

“When survivors are at the table, where decisions are made, change happens. Real sustainable solutions are possible. Listen to me. Listen to us.”

We believe that survivors must be part of a conversation that is about them.

Take action today by emailing your MP, asking them to write to the Home Secretary calling for a formal process for survivors to be consulted in anti-slavery legislation and policy making.

You can find your MP at: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

Choose from either the template below.

Or compose your own letter using the MP letter pointers, below.

 

 

Letter template to send to your MP

Dear [insert MP name], 

This Anti-Slavery Day, I am writing as your constituent to ask that you raise the need for survivor inclusion in anti-slavery legislation and policy making with the Home Secretary. 

Today, over 40 million people are held in modern slavery. Survivors of this abuse are the only people who have direct knowledge of how modern slavery takes place. Efforts to stop slavery will always fall short unless this expertise from lived experience is listened to.

Yet, too often survivors don’t have a seat at the decision-making table. Anti-slavery charity Unseen is calling for the expertise and perspectives of survivors of modern slavery to be integrated into legislation and policy making.

Pachaiyammal, a leader in the Released Bonded Labourers Association, co-founder of the Global Survivor Network (globalsurvivornetwork.org), and survivor of bonded labour says:

“Our voices united, our collective strength, is real power. When survivors are at the table, where decisions are made, change happens. Real sustainable solutions are possible. Listen to me. Listen to us.”  

I believe that survivors must be part of a conversation that is about them.

As your constituent, I am asking you to write to Home Secretary Priti Patel calling for a formal process for survivor consultation which ensures that diverse survivor perspectives are integrated at all stages of legislation and policy-making.

Critically, Government should work with survivor groups and civil society to create a consultation process that is trauma-informed and prioritises the wellbeing of all those involved.

The review of the Modern Slavery Strategy is an opportunity to develop and implement an inclusive, supportive and robust mechanism for survivors to input into anti-slavery efforts, both domestic and international.

I look forward to hearing from you on what steps have been taken towards improving survivor inclusion. 

Best wishes 

[Insert name here] 

[Insert postcode here]

 

 
MP letter pointers 

As you write to your MP requesting that they call on Home Secretary, Priti Patel, to formalise survivor inclusion at all stages of anti-slavery legislation and policy making, here are some pointers to help:

  • Opening. Make sure to introduce yourself, including the name of your constituency and postcode. MPs are only obliged to respond to their constituents, so this will encourage a quicker response.
  • Describe the scale of modern slavery. Include statistics, such as that more than 40 million people worldwide are held in modern slavery today.
  • Why survivor inclusion? Survivors’ perspectives and expertise are crucial to understanding how we can stop modern slavery. Without the knowledge from lived experience that survivors bring, efforts to stop slavery will always fall short.
  • Call to action. Ask your MP to write to Home Secretary Priti Patel, calling for a formal process for survivor consultation which ensures that diverse survivor perspectives are integrated at all stages of legislation and policy-making. This consultation process should be trauma-informed, with Government working with survivor groups and civil society to establish it.
  • Closing. Thank your MP for reading your letter and note that you are looking forward to hearing about what steps have been taken to improve survivor inclusion.

 

Thank you for joining us this Anti-Slavery Day 2021.

 

Related stories

Justine Currell

As I came to understand more about the issue, including through a visit to an Unseen safehouse, I knew I needed to do more to stop this abuse and exploitation.

For the last five years of my Civil Service career, I was the Modern Slavery Senior Policy Advisor in the Home Office and led on development of the Modern Slavery Act, including the transparency in supply chains provision and business guidance.

I joined Unseen to lead the development of the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline, and Unseen’s work with businesses. I am regularly called upon to present at national and international conferences and use my experience of working with Ministers to influence other governments internationally to take action to address modern slavery and, in particular, business supply chain issues.

In my spare time I enjoy keeping fit, music, reading and travelling.

Andrew Wallis

What ultimately compelled me to act was a report on how people from Eastern Europe were being trafficked through Bristol airport to the USA. Kate Garbers, who went on to be an Unseen Director, and I wrote to all the city councillors, MPs and the Police Chief Constable challenging them on the issue. The challenge came back to us: this city needs safe housing for trafficked women. And so Unseen began.

But we never wanted Unseen to be just about safe housing. We wanted to end slavery once and for all, and that remains our driving focus.

I chaired the working group for the Centre for Social Justice’s landmark report “It Happens Here: Equipping the United Kingdom to Fight Modern Slavery”. This is now acknowledged as the catalyst behind the UK’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015. It was a great honour to be awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours that year. On the other hand, I’ve also been described as “the loveliest disrupter you could ever hope to meet”.

This job has taken me from building flat-pack furniture for safehouses, to working with businesses to address slavery in supply chains, to delivering training, raising awareness and advising governments around the world.

When not at work, I enjoy travelling, spending time with my dog Harley, cooking, supporting Liverpool and Yorkshire CC, music (I’m a former DJ) and endurance events such as the Three Peaks Challenge and Tribe Freedom Runs – which I vow never to do again. Until the next time.