• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Joint Public Issues Team

Churches working for peace and justice

  • Home Page
  • Who We Are
    • Six hopes for society
  • Issues
    • Economy
      • Tax Justice
      • Reset The Debt
      • Living Wage
    • Environment
      • Net Zero In My Neighbourhood
    • Poverty and Inequality
      • The Cost of Living Crisis
      • Universal Credit
      • Truth and Lies
      • Enough
      • Rethink Sanctions
      • Faith in Foodbanks
      • Housing and Homelessness
    • Asylum and Migration
      • Refugees
      • End Hostility
      • The Asylum System
    • Peacemaking
      • The Arms Trade
      • Nuclear Weapons
      • Drones
      • Peacemaking resources
    • Politics and Elections
      • Elections
      • Meet Your MP
      • Art of the Possible
      • Brexit
    • Other Issues
      • International Development
      • Modern Slavery and Exploitation
        • Forced labour in fashion
  • Get Involved
    • JPIT Conference 2022
    • Newsletter
    • Events
    • Walking with Micah
  • Resources
    • Advent
    • 10 Minutes on… podcast
    • Politics in the Pulpit?
    • Stay and Pray
    • Season of Creation
    • Prayers
    • Public Issues Calendar
    • Poetry
    • Small Group Resources
  • Blog

Individuals

You are here: Home / Modern Slavery and Exploitation / Individuals

Individuals:

What can we do as individuals to help end Modern Slavery and Exploitation?

It can sometimes feel that working to end something as vast as modern slavery is impossible to do alone. However, as an individual you can do vital work in ending exploitation around the world. The resources in this page can help you get inspired and get started!

 

Learn

Consumers:

One of the biggest things you can do as an individual is to understand the role slavery plays in the production of many of our goods and services. There are lots of ways you can work to ensure as many of your goods and services as possible are “slave free”.

One of the biggest things you can do as an individual is to understand the role slavery plays in the production of many of our goods and services. There are lots of ways you can work to ensure as many of your goods and services as possible are “slave free”.

Slave Free Food:

An area where modern slavery and exploitation is common is the farming industry. Due to this lots of the food we eat and drink may have been produced (in whole or in part) by people being exploited as slaves. Two of the biggest industries where this exploitation takes place is in Chocolate and Tea production. According to Stop the Traffik “It is estimated that over 2.1 million children in West Africa alone are employed on cocoa plantations, performing the backbreaking and hazardous job of harvesting cocoa beans.” Stop the Traffik have campaigns to help you ensure that you are not supporting exploitation when you buy tea or coffee.

Learn about how to buy Slave Free Chocolate.

Learn about slavery in tea production and how to buy Slave Free Tea.

Buying fair trade food is one of the best ways to ensure that the workers growing, cultivating and farming your food are payed properly. Buying free trade food is one of the best ways to ensure that the workers growing, cultivating and farming your food are payed properly.

Clothing and Fashion:

The reason businesses around the world use exploited slave labour because it is cheap, as they do not need to pay their workers the legal minimum wage. The clothing industry is a good example of where exploited labour is often used throughout the supply chain, from the picking of cotton to the sewing of garments.

When shopping for new clothes, research into brands and support those who invest in treating their workers with dignity and paying them properly. The website The Ethical Consumer has a wide range of resources to help you buy clothing, electrical and household goods that are slave free and ethically produced. 

The Role of Business:

A tell-tale sign of industries using slave labour and/or exploited workers is very cheap prices. In the UK slave labour is sometimes used by small construction companies to keep costs down. If you are looking into using a construction company be sure to do research into the company and its workforce. Additionally, exploited workers will often not be allowed to take breaks, eat, drink or converse with the customer. Be sure to look out for these signs and talk to the The Modern Slavery Helpline on 121 700, if you suspect workers may be being exploited or underpaid. The video below also explains the common signs to look out for when you suspect forced labour and exploitation is taking place.

Can you Spot the Signs of Exploitation

 

Fighting Modern Slavery in Construction work

Forced labour is not limited to construction, it takes place in all areas of modern life including farming, car washes, nail bars and many other industries. Always be on the look-out for the signs of modern slavery and report anything you think is suspicious.

The Modern Slavery Helpline – Click To Find Out What To Do If You Suspect Modern Slavery

If you are a business owner looking to ensure your business remains slave and exploitation free, please look at The Slave Free Alliance and The Wilberforce Institute for advice and guidance on practical steps you can take.

Stories of Survival:

All survivors of modern slavery have a story. Hearing and learning from these stories is a vital way we can better understand the experience of what modern slavery survivors go through.

Act

Phone Applications:

These phone Apps are a way you can get involved in ending modern slavery. They are a way for you to easily, and safely, report if you think someone may be being exploited and/or trapped in modern slavery.

The Safe Car Wash APP:
Download the Safe Car Wash app onto your phone and use it every time you go to a hand car wash. The app will take you through the most obvious indicators of modern slavery, asking you questions to determine whether those signs are present or not. If there is a high likelihood of modern slavery in the car wash, you will be prompted to call the
The Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700. Remember, if someone is in immediate danger please call 999 and report it to the police.
Download the Safe Car Wash APP on Google Play Store.

The Stop APP: The STOP APP is the first global app available in multiple languages to report any suspicion or incident of human trafficking and modern slavery.
It’s completely anonymous, confidential and secure. Your report will be combined with others to help build the bigger picture of global human trafficking hotspots and trends. This allows for human trafficking to be disrupted and for vulnerable communities to be supported.
Download the Stop APP on the Google Play Store.

Prayer

Click Here to Access Prayer Resources from the Clewer Initiative.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Posts

  • JPIT’s Review of 2022
  • What does Government Support for Asylum Seekers really provide?
  • God with Us – the Refugees of Calais and Dunkirk
  • How can we respond to COP27?
  • Statement on the conclusion of the COP27 Climate Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
  • COP27 – what should we be looking for?
  • “He has filled the hungry with good things” – What we need from the Autumn Budget
  • What are the stories we should tell about the humanitarian crisis at Manston Airport Asylum centre?
  • How can we be sure that the products we buy are not the result of modern slavery?
  • Why I hate Warm Banks (and why my church is opening one)
  • How does our theology call us to challenge Poverty?
  • Introducing Alfie
  • Biden says nuclear risk is the highest since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Churches respond to risk to benefit levels
  • Briefing on the ‘Mini Budget’ for the Enough to Live group
  • Introducing Hazel
  • Introducing Hannah
  • An energy cap announcement in three parts: the good, the absent and the ugly
  • Afghanistan and the UK – One Year On from the Fall Of Kabul
  • Inflation, interest rates and the poorest

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter

Footer

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Quick links

Stay and Pray
Politics in the Pulpit
Faith in Politics podcast
Public Issues Calendar
Useful Links

Our work

About Us
Meet the Team
Join the Team 
Internship
Our Newsletter

Contact us

25 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5JR

Tel: 020 7916 8632

enquiries@jpit.uk

Copyright © 2023 · Showcase Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in