3 members of S I Cannock and District recently attended a conference at the County Show Ground, Stafford: the subject was “Modern Day Slavery”.
There were a number of high profile speakers who addressed over 500 delegates made up of police officers, fire service personnel, volunteers and criminal justice agencies.
Amongst the speakers were Sue Arnold, the deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Staffordshire and Jane Sawyer, Chief Constable of Staffordshire and a member from the UK Human Trafficking Centre of the National Crime agency. The message from them all was:
There are more people enslaved in the world today than ever before.
The Modern Day Slavery Act came into force in July 2015 and the high caliber of the speakers shows that whilst it is a major problem, many agencies are working together towards helping to stamp it out. Nigel Osman from Hope for Justice said this particular charity exists to see an end to human trafficking and slavery in our generation – a powerful statement.
Another powerful speaker was Sarah Wilson who is a Rotherham survivor. She spoke about her life from the age of 11 to 16years; she now realises she was groomed, though didn’t at the time. Sarah has written a book entitled ‘Violated’ which has helped her to deal with what happened and which she hopes will prevent the same thing happening to other young girls.
Those at the conference left being more aware of the situation and in a position to continue awareness raising of trafficking and slavery within their own organisations. Soroptimist International has this particular issue very high on its agenda; it is the focus of a Study Day being held by SIGBI [Soroptimist International Great Britain & Ireland] in July of this year when members from clubs all over GB will attend to learn about more action they can take.