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Anti-Slavery International is an International nongovernmental organization, charity and a lobby group, based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1839, it is the world's oldest international human rights organisation, and the only charity in the United Kingdom to work exclusively against slavery and related abuses [1]. It owes its origins to the radical element of an older Anti-Slavery Society, known as the 'Agency Committee of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions', and was initially named the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.[2], to campaign worldwide against the practice of slavery. In 1990 it was refounded as Anti-Slavery International to draw attention to the continuing problem of slavery worldwide and campaign for its recognition and abolition in the countries most affected today. It is the UK affiliate of Free the Slaves and works entirely combating Slavery and related abuse.
[edit] Overview
Three teams work in Anti-Slavery-International, Programme, Communication and Information. The Programme team collects relevant information(in cooperation with partners) over central issues, the worst types of Child labour, Debt bondage, Forced labour, Forced marriage, human trafficking and traditional slavery. The team publishes the information and promotes legislation to protect victims. The Communications Team produces material to educate and promote action including the magazine, ‘The Reporter’. The team lobby governments, the United Nations and the European Union urging them to help end all slavery. The reference library contains material from early in the abolitionist movement to the present day. The Information Team deals with administration and fundraising among other issues. They publish an annual review and annual accounts. [edit] History The organisation was founded in 1839. The following year a large international conference was organised that attracted delegates from around the world to the Freemasons' Hall, London on June 12, 1840. Many of the delegates were notable abolitionists and the image of the meeting was captured in a remarkable painting that still hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London.[3] Delegates included: George William Alexander (Treasurer), William Allen, Saxe Bannister (Australian), Rev. Thomas Binney, James G. Birney U.S. delegate, Samuel Bowly, Sir John Bowring, George Bradburn, Rev. William Brock, Sir Thomas Buxton, Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness Byron, Thomas Clarkson (key speaker), Josiah Conder, Daniel O'Connell (Irish), John Ellis, Josiah Forster, Robert Kaye Greville, William Forster, Elizabeth Fry, Samuel Gurney, John Howard Hinton, John Angell James, Rev. Joseph Ketley (Guyana), William Knibb, Dr. Stephen Lushington M.P., Dr. Richard Robert Madden, James Mott (American), Lucretia Mott (American), Amelia Opie, Wendell Phillips, Samuel J. Prescod (Barbados), John Scoble (Canada), Joseph Sturge (founder), George Thompson and Sir John Eardley-Wilmot M.P.. [edit] Modern Day SlaveryThough the legalized practice of human trafficking was deemed illegal in both the UK and in the US in the early 19th century, it took remaining slave trading countries years of legal battling to end the slave trade. However, the underground trade of humans is still prevalent today in the 21st century. Regions heavily involved in the trade are eastern Europe, West Africa, and countries in and near Brazil. Modern day slavery comes in numerous forms including: bonded labour, early and forced marriage, forced labor, slavery by descent, and trafficking. Bonded labor leads into slavery by descent. The basic premise mimics circumstances of indentured servitude, where for the cost of medicine, travel, or some other debt, labor for a specific time period is rendered. The work is constant, usually seven days per week and for up to 365 days consecutively. Often the loan is not paid in full by death and the debt is then passed down to a family member, creating slavery by descent. Early and forced marriage involves women and girls who are forced into marriages where they are subject to harsh labor conditions and suffer physical violence.  Forced labor in the days prior to 18th and 19th century abolitionist movements, consisted of African slaves working on small or very large plantations and forced to work for the duration of life. Modern Day forced labor is a little different. Forced labor slaves are found by governments, powerful individuals, or political parties and forced to work by threat of violence or by threatening the safety of their loved ones. Human trafficking is the illegal transportation of kidnapped women, children, and men across international borders for the intention of putting them into slave conditions. This form of modern day slavery is one of the most numerous forms and affects the most victims: anywhere between 5-800,000 new victims in the trade per year. [edit] Current CampaignsAnti-Slavery International is working on a campaign in the Philippines concerning the forced labor and exploitation of domestic workers. In the Philippines the Domestic Workers Bill or Batas Kasambahay, was passed in 1995 to ensure the safety and just treatment of domestic workers. The bill if properly enforced would help to regulate and monitor the treatment of domestic workers. Anti-Slavery International is supporting the government in the Philippines to pass the bill into law and is pushing the government to prioritize this legislation for the safety of its people. [edit] Anti-Slavery AwardAnti-Slavery International instituted the Anti-Slavery Award in 1991 to draw attention to the continuing problem of slavery in the world today and to provide recognition for long-term, courageous campaigning by organisations or individuals in the countries most affected.
[edit] Recent newsOn November 19, 2008 Nujood Mohammed Ali was honored for her campaigns against forced early marriage in Yemen. Glamour Magazine named Nujood 'Woman of the Year' for her efforts, shortly after she divorced her own husband of more than 30 years. Nujood herself was the victim of an arranged and forced marriage. Though in Yemen the legal age to marry is 15, the economic conditions prove it more economically convenient to have one less mouth to feed and marry them off as girls. Nujood was married off from her economically struggling family at age nine. The agreement between her father and a local motorcycle courier was that Nujood would marry him with the stipulation that he would not consummate the marriage until she had reached puberty. But like most forced early marriages, Nujood was raped and often beaten. Nujood somehow escaped and proceeded to get the marriage annulled. Her victory in receiving the divorce from her abuse helped to draw attention to the brutality and cruelty children face. Nujood has now returned to school and wants to one day become a lawyer to protect the rights of children. [edit] Publications
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