Brief summary of presentation of information made

The meeting began with an introduction of the panellists and a video from Lieutenant Colonel Eirwen Pallant. In the video, she explains the formation of the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and how to mobilise the church. There has been a process of learning and sharing with the Anglican Alliance and World Evangelical Alliance that has been fruitful.

Anne Makumi, Anti-Human Trafficking Project Director - Kenya East Territory, Major Susan Dunigan, Territorial Social Justice Secretary - USA Eastern Territory, and Jason Pope, Technical Advisor in Anti-Human Trafficking – The Salvation Army World Service Office took turns presenting the information below:

• As a faith-based organisation, The Salvation Army often reflects on “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth” and how can we be a part of bringing God’s kingdom to Earth. Part of this includes The Salvation Army committing to loving our neighbour and fighting for justice
• Timeline of Anti-Human Trafficking work in The Salvation Army
  • 2004 International Conference of Leaders commits to the fight against Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery
  • 2015 Formation of an Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force
  • 2016 Published Guidelines and Communication tools
  • 2018 International Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Response Strategy & International Positional Statement
• Next phase:
  • Revise the Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery positional statement
  • Create a response strategy to human trafficking
  • The task force is in the process of creating a manual to be used by all levels of The Salvation Army
• Why does this strategy need to be international?
  • The Salvation Army aims to create more than a document. There needs to be “cross border work”
    • Purpose (International Positional Statement)
    • Framework (7 p’s)
    • Structure
• Prayer – is not in order to do the work, it is the work
  • On the third Sunday of September, The Salvation Army holds the International Day of Prayer for Human Trafficking
• Participation – Necessary for individuals, corps, and institutions
  • Reaching out beyond the comfort zone
  • New Day program in Philadelphia provides a safe place for women to receive food, toiletries, and clothing
• Prevention – how can we prevent people from being lured into Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking?
  • Example: Kenya East is working on community awareness training
    • Training leaders to recognise signs of Human Trafficking
    • Focus group discussion for children – it is also important to educate children to notice signs of Human Trafficking
• Protection – necessary for this to be a victim centred approach
  • There is a Salvation Army shelter in Tanzania for girls, this is helping because it keeps girls in a safe place, out of harm’s way
  • Remember each person is a unique individual
  • Example from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo – story of a family reintegrating smoothly and eventually becoming officers
• Prosecution – Justice is much more than prosecution
• Partnership – The Salvation Army is actively seeking partners
  • Some partners include:
    • Anglican Alliance
    • World Evangelical Alliance
    • Stop the Traffick
    • Caritas
    • And many more (difficult to name them all because The Salvation Army is in 131 countries)
  • Working on partnering within The Salvation Army as well
    • Africa Regional Workshop is an example of partnership within The Salvation Army
• In order to create a community of practice you need:
  • Shared domain (ex: Anti-Human Trafficking)
  • Community of members
  • Skilled practitioners
• The greatest barrier is that people do not see signs of Human Trafficking in their community

Commissioner Christine MacMillan, Global Human Trafficking Task Force Chair

• “Stories will inform our policies.”

Endeavor 831 Drama Presentation of Little Red Riding Hood being captured into trafficking

 

Aashima Samuel, Human Rights Lawyer, from India World Evangelical Alliance

• 18 million slaves in India
• Told a story about a girl who was kidnapped and sacrificed to the god of prosperity
• Told another personal story about how when she had a second daughter, her neighbour congratulated her and then immediately said, “Are you ready for a boy now?”
  • Aashima insisted on asking, “why?”
  • There needs to be a priority in educating girls
• She shared about a rise in something called womb trafficking, a practice where the traffickers get the girl pregnant and the traffickers plan what to do with the baby before it is born
• This fight is not only to help lives, but also to convert lives, as faith-based organisations

 

Martin Kapenda, Director of Micah Network

• From Zambia, first man on WEA Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force
• He talked about how there was an increase in human trafficking in Africa when the World Cup took place in South Africa
• Livingstone, Zambia was a hub for Human Trafficking because of its geographic location, close to a lot of borders
• Emphasis on how the conversation needs to include men. Progress happened when men started to realise that women aren’t the problem, men are. If men were willing to stand up against Human Trafficking, stop consuming pornography and paying for sex we would have a much better chance to end Human Trafficking
• Through the Micah network, the goal is to challenge men to work alongside women who are working to fight Human Trafficking issues
• Micah targets men to bring them to a point of commitment to say no to pornography, abuse, and other injustices against women
• It is important to train influential leaders, like grandfathers and uncles, so they can teach boys at a young age the right way to treat girls and women
• We are stronger if men and women partner
• It is common for men to misuse and misquote The Bible, communities need to be careful that their culture does not blind how they read The Bible

What was of particular significance to share with The Salvation Army globally?

It is important to share this with the rest of The Salvation Army because as it was mentioned, a key to this fight for justice is about partnership – internal and external. We will be strengthened if we are aware of the work being done around the world to combat Human Trafficking. There is power in using stories from individuals to communicate the reality that people face around the world.

Web links for more information

https://www.worldea.org/ - For more info on World Evangelical Alliance

https://sawso.org/ - The Salvation Army World Service Office

https://www.pushindia.org/ - People Uniting to Stop Human Trafficking (PUSH)

Tags: SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, SDG4: Quality Education, SDG5: Gender Equality