IT IS an astonishing fact but slavery is becoming one of the biggest crimes in the UK. Sex slaves, domestic slaves, those made to endure forced labour or take part in criminal activity are all increasing in number and it is not just refugees and migrants who are the victims as is commonly thought.
Official estimates state that more than 20,000 people are trafficked in the UK every year.
Globally, 125 people per hour are estimated to be forced into slavery with human trafficking the world’s fastest growing global crime.
Shocked by the prevalence of slavery in today’s society, theatre director Jude Spooner set out to make people more aware of what is going on.
The result is My Mind is Free, which is touring Scotland this month through funding from the SNP Government.
Each performance will be accompanied by a speaker and a Q&A which will inform audiences about how they as a community can help fight this horrific crime and spot the signs of trafficking.
Speakers include Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf MSP and Peter Hope-Jones, head of the Scottish Government’s human trafficking team.
“I feel knowledge is the first step,” Spooner told The National.
“With the play we hope to raise awareness and promote social change so that individuals know what slavery looks like, where it happens and what to do about it.”
WILL THIS HELP?
THE play, staged by the Rah Rah Community Theatre Company, has already made a difference. When it was shown at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, free tickets were handed out to people staying at one of the city’s homeless shelters. By coincidence, after some homeless people had seen it, they were approached by a group of traffickers offering work.
“Because they had seen the show they were able to spot the signs and reported the traffickers to the authorities,” said Spooner.
Another moving incident was after the first performance of the play when an audience member stood up in tears and thanked the cast for telling his story. It was very similar to one portrayed in the play and he said he had struggled to get people to listen and believe him.
“When I hear little stories like that I think the project is really worth it,” Spooner added. “As a director running a theatre company I have not got lots of money but this is something I can do to try to make a difference – and it does make a difference. So much of this is going on; there is a massive refugee crisis and a lot of vulnerable individuals so it is really important that people are made aware of what is happening.”
HOW DOES IT DO THIS?
THE four main characters in the play are based on an amalgamation of real stories the team were told by anti-trafficking charities.
They represent the most common forms of trafficking: domestic servitude, sexual exploitation or forced marriage, forced labour and bonded or child labour. The first is Violeta from Romania. After falling in love at 15, her family throw her out and she moves in with her boyfriend. For a couple of years everything is wonderful but then her boyfriend starts asking her to sleep with people to whom he owes money. He sells her to his uncle for six months, then comes back and persuades Violeta to go to London with him so they can start a new life together. But more of the same is planned for her there.
Beatriz is from Santa Marta in Brazil. She is desperate for her son to go to university so that he doesn’t become caught up in the poverty she has experienced all her life. She hears about an agency in London which employs cleaners, so she decides to leave her children in Brazil with their grandparents and father and go to work in London. Once in England her passport is taken and she is made to work as a maid without pay. Her communication with the outside world is cut off.
WHAT ELSE DOES IT DEAL WITH?
ANOTHER main characters is Giang, who has been brought to the UK from Vietnam via a tortuous months-long route. Taken to a cannabis house, he is locked in and forced to care for the plants. for his family's safety if he does not work.
Colin is a former squaddie, injured in Afghanistan. Undiagnosed mental health problems mean he can’t settle back at home, and his life begins to spiral out of control as he loses touch with his wife and family and ends up homeless. An apparently friendly couple approach, bringing drink and hope of a job, but Colin finds himself in a van with a group of other men, driven to a part of the country he doesn’t recognise, with his ID taken away.
“He is trafficked across the country to work as a labourer like a lot of homeless people are,” Jude explained. “They don’t realise they are being trafficked until it is too late. They are offered work and think it will be better than being on the streets but they are taken where they know no one and end up just working for peanuts. It is quite common.”
HOW DID THE ACTORS PREPARE?
DURING rehearsals, the team all went out in the back of a van to get a glimpse of what it must be like for the victims.
“Although it was for only 30 minutes it felt like a life time,” said Jude. “The harrowing realisation of what so many victims must go through daily in search of a better life really hit home. I thought about my young son and it made me cry to think of child refugees put through such trauma. I also thought if anything was to happen to us whilst in this van, how stupid I was to have suggested it!
“The problem is that people can make so much money out of trafficking and slavery. They can use that person again and again. It is so hidden – it’s an easy crime to get away with so we all have to be really alert to the signs and dangers.”
For a full list of tour dates go to www.mymindisfree.com
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