Job Description:
Working Hours: min 20 per day (may be forced to go several days without sleep)
Wages: max £50 per week (these may be withheld by employer at any time)
Main Responsibilities: Employees will be required to carry out hard domestic labour around the clock. This could include being chained to a sink.
Benefits: Employees may be forced to eat table scraps and/or risk being beaten with frying pans or belts if the standard of their work does not meet with the satisfaction of their employer.
Dismissal Policy: Employees must surrender their passport and cut off all contact with family members. They must live in isolation and may never leave their employment.
The above advertisement is a typical example of a-day-in-the-life of a modern day slave.
The numbers are shocking and inhumane, but the harsh reality is that they are true, this is happening and on our doorsteps. In a shocking investigation last week, Channel 4’s Dispatches programme revealed that over 5,000 migrant workers have become victims of forced labour in Britain. Foreign domestic workers are at high risk, with more than 15,000 people coming to the UK each year in order to find work and send money back to their families who live in extreme poverty. Many of these workers find themselves help captive by their employers and subject to prolonged and extreme abuse, with no means of escape.
Kalayaan, a West London charity which provides advice to those who have suffered in slavery, has reported cases of workers being burnt with irons, threatened with knives and doused with boiling water. It is alleged that foreign diplomats are some of the worst offenders, as their employees can come into the country without domestic work visas and therefore cannot change employer and face homelessness if they run away.
“This archaic, humiliating and threatening behaviour is wholly unacceptable in the modern world and has no place in civilized society.”
The Fight for Freedom
Although many think of slavery as being a problem of the past, the British justice system is beginning to recognise it as a modern-day crime. This September saw the Connors family charged with slavery offences at a Leighton Buzzard traveller’s site and online resources, such as Slavery Footprint are helping to raise awareness of the problem.
But we can all take simple steps to ensure that we don’t promote slavery. Buying Fair Trade labelled products is the only way to guarantee that an item was produced in a slavery-free environment. Simply check the back of packets for the symbol below…
Slavery-Free London
The 2012 Olympics will be one of the biggest sporting events in history to be held in our capital city. However, the demand for cheap, temporary labour could create a rise in slavery. Anti-Slavery International is an abolitionist group attempting to stamp out slavery across the world. They have launched a Slavery-Free London petition to present to government figures, in a hope to influence greater slavery prevention regulations being put in place during the games.
Help make 2012 an event that London can be proud of and sign the petition right now: SIGN UP HERE
‘This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it.’
President Abraham Lincoln
Together we can all make a stand and together we can make a difference. So use your voice to stand up against injustice, and lets make a stand against modern day slavery today!
Written by Laura Shaw