Hidden Voices Training: Church communities essential in eradicating modern slave

From the ingredients we use in our home baking, to where we purchase our face masks, even the very small decisions we make as everyday consumers can have real impact on the lives of other people and increase risks of human exploitation.

Millions of people around the world are trapped in modern slavery. It is a crime happening in our communities, factories, takeaways, hotels, car washes, and private homes. It can impact people of any age, but particularly women and young children.

It is impacting people in Liverpool. Merseyside Police in recent months have arrested over 100 people in connection with County Lines gangs. Organised crime gangs use people (often young people who are vulnerable and forced into taking part) to transport drugs from larger cities like Liverpool into smaller towns.

How can churches in Liverpool Diocese reach those who are impacted in local communities and help to make a difference?

Hidden Voices is a participatory online resource for all those interested in understanding and raising awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking, helping you to spot the signs and respond to modern slavery in your community.

Built around the principles of church and community mobilisation, the purpose of the Hidden Voices course is to raise awareness in the Church of the presence of modern slavery throughout communities across the UK and to move the Church towards action.

The course will provide weekly training, discussion and theological reflection. Taking place online, Hidden Voices is split into four modules. It will take place on Wednesday evenings.

The dates for the course are 18th November; 25th November; 2nd December; 9th December.

To learn more about the course and how to access the course materials, you can book onto a taster session on the 11th November.

It is not compulsory to attend all four sessions, and even if you can only attend two sessions, we would recommend booking for the sessions you can make and getting involved where you can.

Book tickets for the four-week course on Eventbrite.

“The true scale of modern slavery is still emerging. Our response as a faith sector needs to be continually emerging with it,” said Jen Williams, who has recently been appointed as Liverpool Diocese’s Anti-Trafficking Coordinator and is helping to facilitate this course.

“We know from our relationships with our partner organisations in Liverpool that modern slavery is happening here and that people on the ground in our churches and in our local communities are the most vital sources of information to help raise awareness of and prevent this egregious crime.”

Highlighting the work of local organisations and the need for a community response in Liverpool, an article in the Liverpool ECHO this week revealed that a man from the North became a victim at just 15 and lived forty years in the hands of his traffickers before finding support with Christian organisation City Hearts. 

Caroline Virgo, Director of The Clewer Initiative who is facilitating the training said “The Clewer Initiative believes that exploitation and modern slavery can only be eradicated if we engage with the issues at a community level.

Hidden Voices recognises the Church is present in all communities and works to enable that mobilisation. We work with statutory and non statutory partners at a local level to increase our effectiveness.”