An article I just put together for Students Union newspaper thing... a bit of a rush job but hopefully it is not completely devoid of merit...
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During my History degree at Queens I studied the transatlantic slave trade with the late Martin Lynn. He spoke of the effect this trade in human beings had on Africa’s development and the significance of the moment when it was finally abolished. A moment in history. That abolition took place two hundred years ago and will be celebrated on 25th March’s ‘Freedom Day’.
Tragically however the buying and selling of people is not a thing of the past. The trafficking of men, women and children is the fastest growing form of international crime, earning the criminals behind it over 3.5 BILLION pounds every year! It is estimated that some 12.3 million people are currently victims of forced labour all over the world with 2.4 million of these being a result of human trafficking. 1.2 MILLION CHILDREN are trafficked every year. Such huge numbers can be difficult to absorb. Statistics can blur the faces and stories of those they represent…daughters, brothers, mothers, sons…bought, sold, owned…
On Monday, 26th March until Thursday, 29th March, Queens students will lend their voices to the growing cry for freedom that has taken the form of the Stop the Traffik campaign. Stop the Traffik is a global coalition of organisations determined firstly to raise awareness of this crime, which affects every continent in the world, most countries and even our own city, and to move governments to act. The main focus of the campaign at Queens will be the signing of a petition, which people can do in the foyer of the Student’s Union each day. This Global Declaration will be delivered to various governments and the UN later in the year and it states:
People trafficking is wrong. I support STOP THE TRAFFIK in its call to:
Prevent The Sale of People, Prosecute The Traffickers, Protect The Victims.
For more information or to sign the Declaration on-line go to www.stopthetraffik.org.
Turn the key.
Free the slaves.
Stop the Traffik.
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During my History degree at Queens I studied the transatlantic slave trade with the late Martin Lynn. He spoke of the effect this trade in human beings had on Africa’s development and the significance of the moment when it was finally abolished. A moment in history. That abolition took place two hundred years ago and will be celebrated on 25th March’s ‘Freedom Day’.
Tragically however the buying and selling of people is not a thing of the past. The trafficking of men, women and children is the fastest growing form of international crime, earning the criminals behind it over 3.5 BILLION pounds every year! It is estimated that some 12.3 million people are currently victims of forced labour all over the world with 2.4 million of these being a result of human trafficking. 1.2 MILLION CHILDREN are trafficked every year. Such huge numbers can be difficult to absorb. Statistics can blur the faces and stories of those they represent…daughters, brothers, mothers, sons…bought, sold, owned…
On Monday, 26th March until Thursday, 29th March, Queens students will lend their voices to the growing cry for freedom that has taken the form of the Stop the Traffik campaign. Stop the Traffik is a global coalition of organisations determined firstly to raise awareness of this crime, which affects every continent in the world, most countries and even our own city, and to move governments to act. The main focus of the campaign at Queens will be the signing of a petition, which people can do in the foyer of the Student’s Union each day. This Global Declaration will be delivered to various governments and the UN later in the year and it states:
People trafficking is wrong. I support STOP THE TRAFFIK in its call to:
Prevent The Sale of People, Prosecute The Traffickers, Protect The Victims.
For more information or to sign the Declaration on-line go to www.stopthetraffik.org.
Turn the key.
Free the slaves.
Stop the Traffik.
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