Last Wednesday Ruth Dearnley, CEO of Stop the Traffik, came to our monthly meeting to tell us more about the campaigns which her organisation is working on. Whilst we thought we knew quite a bit about modern-day slavery, we soon found that there is much more to learn and understand. Stop the Traffik is challenging all of us to think about everything that we wear, eat and use. So far the campaign to ensure that the chocolate bars that we consume so happily are not created with slave labour has been remarkably successful http://www.stopthetraffik.org/campaign/chocolate/page/the-big-5-ranked in that many of the largest manufacturers such as Mars are taking steps to ensure that the chocolate which they use is not being picked by children.
The fashion industry uses vast amounts of cotton and it is very difficult to follow the route from the cotton on a bush to the ultimate garment being sold in the West but much is being done to help and we can all start asking questions about where our clothes actually come from. Ruth is passionate about all the areas were men, women and children are trafficked and really made us think about this vast, fast growing, global industry. It is hugely profitable at the moment but we can all help to close down the opportunities by asking questions about our clothes and food.