Anti-Slavery Day
Guest Blog from Ben McMechan from International Justice Mission
Ben McMechan is Northern Ireland Manager at International Justice Mission UK and is passionate about equipping people and churches on their journey towards pursuing justice.
This Anti-Slavery Day, it’s time for Christians to listen to the voices of survivors
40 million people around the world today are experiencing modern slavery. This can take many forms: being coerced into working in brick kilns or fishing boats, trapped in brothels, or being forced to marry, to name just a few. During the pandemic, this number is likely to climb even higher, with the UN warning that millions more people have and will become vulnerable to trafficking.
When dealing with statistics like these, we shouldn’t forget that behind each of these numbers is an individual with a story to tell. That’s why, this Anti-Slavery Day, International Justice Mission (IJM) is calling on Christians to listen to survivors and support the survivor-led movement to end slavery at source.
One of these survivor leaders is Ruby*, who is raising her voice – both in the Philippines, her home country, and internationally – to advocate for others. Ruby was just 15 when her traffickers tricked her with the promise of a job in an internet café. It had sounded like an ideal opportunity, particularly as the loss of her parents had left Ruby and her siblings with financial struggles. But the truth turned out to be very different. Trapped inside her traffickers’ house by a guard, she was not allowed to go outside – let alone go to school, or home to see her family. Her traffickers abused her live over the internet, so that sex offenders around the world could watch.
“It was like being trapped inside a dark room without any rays of light, as though there’s no point in living at all,” she says of her experience. “Everything my trafficker told me was a total lie.”
Ruby became so desperate to escape that she would shout whenever a police siren would go by, hoping to be heard. One day she tried to escape, but was threatened with a knife. In her desperation, she prayed, "God, if you're real, get me out of here!"
The very next day local police, supported by IJM, brought Ruby and five other girls to safety.
Now an adult, Ruby is a successful graduate and a fearless advocate for other survivors, telling her story across global platforms in order that the realities of this crime can be better understood, and to encourage others to take action to end it. She recently won the ‘Community Spirit & Public Service’ Women of South-East Asia Award. Since the beginning of her journey, Ruby has shown herself to be an incredible woman of courage and resilience. Her ability to move global leaders to take action is matched only by her heart to help others. And around the world, other survivors are working for change through initiatives such as the IJM-supported Global Survivor Network, which connects survivors with local, national and global leaders to help shape policies.
Without understanding the lived experience of survivors and ensuring that they are heard and respected at all levels of policy-making and programme design, it will not be possible to create truly impactful and trauma-informed solutions to slavery at a systemic level. That’s why IJM is committed to supporting survivors and foregrounding their expertise.
Will you join Ruby and IJM teams across the world as we work together to create lasting change? We’ve seen amazing impact through partnering with local authorities to bring victims to safety, provide trauma-informed care to survivors, hold perpetrators accountable, and help strengthen public justice systems. Through this approach, we’ve seen dramatic reductions in the prevalence of sex trafficking of children in bars and streets – reductions ranging from 72-86% in cities where IJM has worked.
There are many ways to support the movement: for example, by becoming an IJM champion – we’ll support you to advocate within your own community, or as you fundraise (our supporters have found all kinds of creative ways to do this, from running a marathon in crocs to rowing the Atlantic!). Or we would love you to join IJM in praying for an end to slavery and violence for good.
This Anti-Slavery Day, we must not ignore the reality that tens of millions of people around the world are, right now, facing exploitation – feeling, as Ruby did, as though they are trapped inside a dark room. But we must also not lose hope – because we know that we worship a God of justice, freedom, and light. And through this movement, he is working powerfully to build a world where all are free.
*Pseudonym used