Stop The Traffik

Two hundred years ago William Wilberforce was one man who mobilised a swell of voices to speak out against injustice and make a difference that impacted the world. Two hundred years on that voice needs to be heard again.

Pruja, aged 9 and her brother Ajay, a boy aged 7, lived on Thane train station in Mumbai, India with their parents who were both alcoholics.  Prjua and Ajay were regular attendees of the Ashsa Deep Day Centre, run by Oasis India, where they learnt to read and write and were given the opportunity to play.  After attending daily for 3-months they disappeared.  The project staff went to look for them. Prjua and Ajay’s father told how a man had come and offered money for them and that he had sold them for the equivalent of $30.  That was the last the father and the staff of Asha Deep heard of them.  In that area of Mumbai every two to three  months children disappeared, kidnapped or sold into prostitution, forced labour, adoption or child sacrifice.  

Two hundred years ago William Wilberforce, a Christian MP from Hull, persuaded Parliament to ban the trade in humans in the British Empire. Wilberforce as a child had heard the Rev John Newton speak on many occasions. John Newton had been the captain of a slave ship until he became a Christian. He wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace" to tell his story.

When Wilberforce himself became a Christian at the age of 25 he was already a Member of Parliament. He was persuaded by fellow Christians and by some Quakers to use his platform in Parliament to speak out against the evils of the slave trade. His first bill to abolish the slave trade in 1791 was laughed out of parliament by 163 votes to 88. He refused to be beaten. Several bills later the Abolition of the Slave Trade bill became law on 25th March 2007 carried in the Commons by 114 votes to 15. The campaign then continued until slavery itself was abolished in the British Empire in 1833.

Two hundred years on and the trade in humans is bigger than in Wilberforce's day. "An estimated 1.2 million children trafficked each year," says the UNICEF UK Child Trafficking Information sheet, January 2003. According to the US Department of State Trafficking in Person Report 2005, "600,000-800,000 men, women and children trafficked across international borders each year. Approximately 80 per cent are women and girls. Up to 50% are minors." Human trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are forced into slavery and is the third largest source of income for organised crime, exceeded only by drugs and arms trafficking.

On March 21st 2006 a new coalition to Stop The Traffik was launched at the European Parliament by singer Daniel Bedingfield and preacher Steve Chalke. The coalition, which already has the backing of numerous churches and Christian organisations, includes Richard Branson's Virgin, Anita Roderick's Body Shop, Amnesty International and Walden Media. Bedingfield told the MEP's "The conviction that freedom is a human right drove Clarkson, Wilberforce, Equiano and the other 19th century abolitionists towards their goal. This same conviction drives the STOP THE TRAFFIK coalition at the beginning of the 21st century."

Steve Chalke explained, "We’ve renamed the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic trade, March 25th 2007, ‘Freedom Day’ - not so much as a celebration of history as a drawing of inspiration from the champions of the past for the challenge of the future, as we fight for freedom from the bondage of trafficking for every human being."

On that day there are plans for two large concerts - one in London and one in New York. Daniel, and his sister Natasha Bedingfield, have already pledged to play. As well as the concerts, at the heart of Freedom Day will be tens of thousands of local events organised by coalition members and supporters whether individuals, local charities, schools, clubs and churches in town and cities around the world.

Central to the campaign the STOP THE TRAFFIK Declaration will be signed by millions of people around the world and delivered to the Secretary General of the United Nations, with copies to the respective heads of state, following Freedom Day. The Declaration says:

People trafficking is wrong,

Please STOP THE TRAFFIK:

1. Prevent the sale of people

2. Prosecute the traffickers

3. Protect the victims

Stop The Traffik is also planning to raise funds to support a wide number of projects working with those rescued from trafficking, with a particular focus on children and young people (e.g. safe houses, health care, education, vocational training and legal support), as well as preventative initiatives for those vulnerable to trafficking around the world.

You can sign the Declaration now as an individual on line at www.stopthetraffik.org You can also get your youth group, church, school, etc signed up as a member of the coalition. Full details are on the Stop The Traffik website.

One of the first schools in Cornwall to get involved with the project is Bodmin College. Through its lunchtime Christian group, The Big Lunch, the students will hear about the campaign in a series of assemblies. The College has organised a "Freedom Concert" for Friday 16th March 2007 featuring its nationally acclaimed Jazz Orchestra, various College dance groups, dramatic readings and a guest appearance from "Speaking In Drums" - a Truro based worship collective.

A new feature film will be released on 23rd March 2007 to tell the story of Wilberforce's epic battle to end the slave trade 200 years ago. It's called "Amazing Grace". It's being produced by Walden Media, the company who successfully brought The Chronicles of Narnia to our cinema screens. Start planning now how your youth group will use the release of this resource.

Start thinking too what event will be held in your community to celebrate "Freedom Day". Now is the time to nag your youth leaders, your church leaders, your teachers to get things organised so that the shout that's raised on March 25th this year will be heard loud and clear in your community. William Wilberforce was a voice mobilising his generation. Look what he did. Will you speak out in your generation for those who have no voice?

Article written by Phil Hadley.
The story used at the beginning was supplied by Oasis India to the Stop The Traffik campaign. Names have been changed to protect identities.

Home Search Youth Groups Games Features Questions? MyPlace

Kernow Youth is powered by Chocolate Now!
Create your own chocolate selection from a range of over 40 luxury Belgian Chocolates.
Free gift-wrap, and a fast chocolate delivery service to UK and Europe.