“Take this old woman – she’ll do whatever you want! She’ll clean, cook, make the beds, look after your children and what’s best of all, after the initial purchase price she won’t cost you a penny. She’ll sleep in a corner on the kitchen floor or in that cupboard under the stairs. As you can see she’s only little so doesn’t take up much space and she only eats scraps and leftovers, if she’s lucky. Now then, moving on to this beauty here …”
I was one of three ‘slaves’ being sold – myself into domestic servitude, a lovely young woman into a life of prostitution and a fit young man into forced labour in the construction industry. It gave me the merest glimpse into how it feels to be a victim of human trafficking and modern slavery. I was being sold in a mock slave auction at Heart and Soul, the Church of Scotland’s festival in Edinburgh. The humiliation was acute and painful – yet I had the luxury of knowing that I would cast off the role and go home to my own bed.
This is one of the ways in which the Scottish Churches Anti-Human Trafficking Group raises awareness of the shocking reality of this most cruel and degrading crime. Human trafficking is one of the world’s most lucrative illicit businesses, operating on a global scale, and it happens here too. Vulnerable people are exploited in our fishing industry, on farms, in brothels, in hotels and restaurants and in private homes.
In 2011 Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) established the Scottish Churches Anti-Human Trafficking Group to work ecumenically, raising awareness among churches of human trafficking. We developed and distributed information leaflets to local churches that offered hospitality during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but despite suggestions that trafficking might increase during the Games, there was no evidence of the assumed increase.
This did not mean, however, that human trafficking was not an issue here. United Nations reports showed rising numbers internationally. Scotland was not exempt. We heard of abject misery suffered by people lured into leaving their homes and families with promises of a better life here. We joined campaigns to introduce legislation in Scotland to make human trafficking a specific crime and encouraged church members across Scotland to ask their MSPs to support the legislation. The Act was passed in 2015. More recently we helped develop the government’s strategy to implement that legislation.
A new initiative offers spiritual befriending to women who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation and who wish to attend church or discuss matters of faith. We are also working with Migrant Help, the organisation that supports adults who have been trafficked for all other forms of exploitation.
Now we are planning a conference in partnership with the Augustine Institute and the Centre for Theology and Public Issues, New College, University of Edinburgh. This will be held on Saturday 7th October. Further details will be available soon.
During my three years as the group’s convener I’ve met many people who are working hard to end this evil crime. Delivering talks with various church groups has allowed me to meet wonderful people from Stonehaven in the north-east to Dumfries in the south-west. Best of all, I have had the honour of working with the amazing people on the Scottish Churches Anti-Human Trafficking Group. Their knowledge, talents and enthusiasm have shaped our work and will continue to contribute to the fight against trafficking.
To be bought and sold for selfish gain, threatened, and forced to work long hours in appalling conditions is a far cry from the abundant life that Jesus wants for us all. We take comfort from the fact that God ‘heals the broken-hearted’ (Psalm 127:3) and that He sent Jesus to ‘proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, and to set the oppressed free’ (Luke 4: 18).