Museum of London is displaying a temporary exhibition in its foyer from 16 March until 7 May 2007.
Hands Up for Freedom has been developed by Anti-Slavery International, with the aim of creating public awareness of contemporary forms of slavery, in particular of trafficking in human beings. The series of freestanding panels outline the
keys issues of migration, what is trafficking, why and how it exists, as well as examining individual case studies.
Between 1985 and 2000 the number of people living outside their country of origin rose from 105 million to 175 million. Contrary to popular belief, people are not only moving from developing to developed countries. In fact, about 60% of the world’s migrants have taken up residence in developing countries. Factors such as
conflict, environmental disaster and mismanagement of resources can lead to poverty, unemployment, less public services and an increase in the cost of living. This makes it hard for people to sustain themselves and their families. Family breakdown, sickness or death often forces other family members to send children away from home in search of work and better life opportunities.
Made simple,
trafficking is the movement of people from one area or country to another with the aim of exploiting them for work using coercion, deception or the threat or use of violence. Most people who are trafficked are migrant workers, looking to escape from poverty and discrimination, to improve their lives and send money home to their families. It is a system that is founded on violence and false promises. It is also extremely lucrative, currently estimated to net profits of $7 to $10 billion each year world wide, which is comparable to profits made from trafficking in drugs or weapons.
For most people it is only once they reach their destination that they discover the work and conditions they were promised does not exist. Instead they are forced to work in conditions they did not agree to. People are trafficked into a range of work including in agriculture, construction, catering, domestic work, packing and processing, cleaning or the sex industry.
In recent years numbers have grown rapidly, although the nature of trafficking means that it is hidden and therefore hard to document accurate figures. The
International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates globally at least 2.4 million people at any one point are trafficked; half are children.
Traffickers use a variety of different methods of control over their victims including violence, torture, rape, removal of travel documents, and threats to the safety of families back at home. Migrants believe that if they approach the authorities they will either be deported or prosecuted, in many cases well founded fears. Often migrants have had to borrow the money to fund the journey to the supposed well paid job. Upon arrival they are told they owe money and that their labour is demanded as repayment, so they cannot leave. They need to earn the money to repay the debt and their responsibilities as often pride and sometimes social status are dependent on them doing so, which enslaves them to the trafficker even more.
It is
rare for traffickers to be identified or for enough evidence gathered to press charges against them. Equally problematic is the fact that even today, there are few law enforcement bodies who understand what trafficking is and how it operates. This means they fail to identify people they come into contact with as trafficked, hence unable to take them out of the trafficking cycle or build a case against the trafficker.
In recent years the trafficking of human beings has grown considerably and it is no coincidence that is has done so together with an increasing international demand for migrant workers. The lack of opportunities for individuals to migrate legally to take up jobs in other countries leaves potential migrants vulnerable to trafficking.
Hands Up for Freedom is the first in a number of initiatives from Museum of London and Museum in Docklands during the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade. In October, Museum in Docklands will open the only dedicated permanent gallery looking at London’s involvement in trade which connects
London with West Africa and the Caribbean.
