We will not accept a world where humans are bought and sold
3 min read
Writing exclusively for PoliticsHome to mark Anti-Slavery Day, International Development Secretary Priti Patel highlights how the UK has doubled its spending on trying to eradicate the barbarism of modern slavery.
Today is Anti-Slavery Day in the UK which provides a wake-up call to anyone who thought slavery had been consigned to the history books. While the world looks the other way, there are an estimated 46 million victims of modern slavery across the world today, including an estimated 10 to 13 thousand victims right here in the UK. We are absolutely determined to bring this to an end.
It is a tragic fact that in some of the poorest countries it can be less difficult to move people across borders than drugs and guns. In the 21st Century, it is abhorrent that forced labour is a $150billion dollar industry. The worldwide response is simply not good enough.
One of the defining features of modern slavery, in whatever country it occurs, is that it targets the most vulnerable. I recently visited a safe house in Lagos, Nigeria where they are supporting girls and women who have been trafficked. Many of the victims are in their teens. One girl I met there is just seven years old.
The horrors they have endured are unthinkable. Speaking to some of the survivors, you realise how completely the victims are deceived; lured in by promises of waitressing jobs and then trapped and exploited in the most brutal, dehumanising ways. These girls are abused, raped; their organs are taken and sold. Heart-breaking testimonies like theirs vividly demonstrate that this evil crime needs to be stopped.
The UK, and my Department for International Development in particular, is leading the way in tackling the scourge of modern slavery on behalf of some of the most victimised, brutalised, and exploited people in the world. We have doubled our spending on trying to eradicate this barbarism which destroys the lives of millions of innocent victims, and too often reaches our shores.
If we want to achieve a world without slavery we must join forces, and the time is ripe for change. Governments, businesses, charities and religious leaders are all increasingly aware of how appalling this crime is. In my recent speech at the UN General Assembly, I called on the international community to build on this growing momentum and push to wipe out this evil crime for ever.
The Work in Freedom programme, supported by UK aid, is helping women facing slavery and exploitation in domestic households and the garment industry in South Asia and the Middle East, and has reached over 200,000 people so far. As part of these efforts, we are working with governments to improve laws and policies. We’re helping to give women training and skills so they can provide for their families. And we’re working with UK brands and global recruitment agents to tackle exploitative practices that can deceive people into modern day slavery.
I want to see those who profit from human misery behind bars. It is absolutely right that in both the UK and beyond, we are stepping up our efforts. If we stand back from this fight, we are both abandoning our moral responsibilities and allowing global problems to come closer to us at home.
We will not accept a world where human beings are bought and sold.
Priti Patel is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Witham and is the Secretary of State for International Development.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
