Modern Slavery

Member

Emerson Lau Da Silva

Local organization

JCI Sydney

National organization

Australia

Member

Emerson Lau Da Silva

Duration

From October 4, 2021 to January 28, 2022

Target population

50000

Target avg age

26

People impacted

25

Sustainable Development Goal

Gender Equality

Development stage

Peace, Prosperity and Sustainability

Purpose

Explore the complex and insidious issue of Modern Slavery though a range of lenses and perspectives

Overview

JCI Sydney hosted 3 online sessions with key anti-slavery organisations from Australia:
Session 1 - Anti-Slavery Australia gave us an overview of what Modern Slavery is and how it might be happening all around us. Anti-Slavery Australia are the only specialist legal practice, research and policy centre committed to the abolition of modern slavery in Australia. For almost two decades, they have been providing free legal and migration services to people who have experienced or are at risk of modern slavery in Australia. Their platform My Blue Sky is dedicated to forced marriage prevention and supports vulnerable people by providing information, legal advice and support. They have assisted hundreds of clients across every state and territory in Australia, who have been trafficked, enslaved or forced to marry in Australia. Their work enables survivors of modern slavery build positive futures for themselves and their families.
Session 2 - Freedom Hub exists to end slavery in Australia. Their Survivor School provides survivors long-term wrap-around support by running free, personalised classes to assist them in recovering from complex trauma. They also have courses to help them become ready to work.
The Freedom Hub also runs a social enterprise businesses to help with the funding of the administration of these activities. Their cafe in Waterloo, along with their event venue and online retail, not only raise funds, but also become a focal point for community involvement and awareness. As a result, most of their administrative costs are covered by the business, and supporters’ donations go directly to helping survivors.
Session 3 - Be Slavery Free is seeking to solve the global problem of Modern Slavery by preventing it occurring the first place, living by the saying “it’s better to build a fence at the top of the cliff, than run ambulances at the bottom”. It’s hard to quantify their work - you can’t directly count the number of victims who have been rescued, or the number of children who do not labour in cocoa farms and instead go to school because of the work they do. They work with businesses and industries with practices that will eliminate slavery. They educate consumers with the knowledge that they need to choose slavery-free products. They network civil society to work together to end this heinous crime. They lobby governments for better regulations and guidelines to stop slavery.
A final 4th session was facilitate by JCI Sydney to wrap up the Modern Slavery Series and to raise funds to the cause.

Actions Taken

Results

The program allowed us to partner with 3 key anti-slavery organisations and resulted in great attendance and all sessions facilitated.
We were able to:
1 - Educate JCI community on the issue of Modern Slavery/Human Trafficking.
2 - Inspire personal accountability through reviewing our consumer choices.
3 - Identify organisations that are working to end Modern Slavery.
4 - Unpack the challenges of effectively addressing the issue (prompting thinking around potential JCI initiatives).
5 - Build relationships and lay foundations for potential partnerships.
6 - Increase public awareness of JCI through the cross-promotion of the series by guest speakers and their respective organisations.

Recommendations

Recommendations are around continuing the project with a second part:

Following the education campaign, look at ways that JCI as an organisation can take action to support the efforts to end Modern Slavery.
Phase 1: Local/State Level
JCI Local Branches
Awareness campaign
Fundraisers for selected organisation/s
Timeframe: within 3 months of Speaker Series conclusion.
Phase 2: JCI Australia
National Initiative
Coordinated initiative involving JCI State Teams
Partnerships with leading organisations
Timeframe: 12 months
Phase 3: JCI Global
How can we work with JCI Chapters across the globe to take a collaborative and unified approach in working to End Modern Slavery “Not on our watch”
Timeframe: 12-24months

Contact

Carla Van Mal - carlavanmal@gmail.com