VICAR

Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that my weekly message reaches You well and happy. This week I would like to focus on those human beings who, even in 2023, are enslaved around the world.

You might think that slavery is a thing of the past. But right now, almost 50 million people are trapped in slavery worldwide.

It’s a problem that affects every country on earth – including Britain.

In many ways, slavery may look different from the slavery of the Transatlantic slave trade, but modern slavery – as a term – encompasses many forms of slavery, including human trafficking and people being born into slavery.

Modern slavery is all around us, often hidden in plain sight. People can become enslaved making our clothes, serving our food, picking our crops, working in factories, or working in houses as cooks, cleaners or nannies. Victims of modern slavery might face violence or threats, be forced into inescapable debt, or have their passport taken away and face being threatened with deportation.

Many people have fallen into this trap because they were trying to escape poverty or insecurity, improve their lives and support their families. Now, they can’t leave.

According to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery (2022) from Walk Free, the International Labour Organisation and the International Organisation for Migration:

• 49.6 million people live in modern slavery – in forced labour and forced marriage
• Roughly a quarter of all victims of modern slavery are children
• 22 million people are in forced marriages. Two out of five of these people were children
• Of the 27.6 million people trapped in forced labour, 17.3 million are in forced labour exploitation in the private economy, 6.3 million are in commercial sexual exploitation, and nearly 4 million are in forced labour imposed by state authorities
• The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the conditions that lead to modern slavery
• Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to forced labour.
• _{Source: Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage, Geneva, September 2022}

Let us pray for those enslaved around the world:

Lord, you are a God who sets the captives free. Your Spirit searches restlessly for those in despair, that they may find the life you are calling them to. We pray for those who are being trafficked and callously put to work in our region. On the cross, you were powerless and subject to the cruelty of others. Amen

God Bless You all. Have a peaceful Sunday and another prosperous week to come.