The Bicentenary of the Abolition of Slavery Act

To mark the bicentenary of the Abolition of Slavery Act, ASPIRE at St. Mary’s planned two events in conjunction with The Salvation Army and Quakers.  The Slave Trade Bill, which prohibited British vessels engaging in the slave trade, received the Royal Assent (thus becoming law) on 25 March 1807. Despite this action, slavery continued because British captains found alternative methods.  As we celebrate the bicentenary of the passing of the Abolition of Slavery Act, we need to remember that slavery is still very much alive in our country.

Human Trafficking is the present day term for slavery and sees people taken from their homelands and brought to our country with the promise of a job and a better way of life. For some, kidnapping is the start of the road that leads to enforced prostitution or to working long hours in dangerous conditions that can be life threatening (for example the cockle pickers who drowned in Morecombe Bay). Whether through coercion or force, human trafficking denies its victims of their basic human rights and treats them as products to perform a service rather than people deserving of respect and dignity.

The Salvation Army has been active in promoting awareness of human trafficking as part of the Stop The Traffik Coalition (www.stopthetraffik.org) and, as part of the need to raise awareness, they organised a talk on the subject of human trafficking at St Mary’s Church in Slough on the 23rd March 2007. Duncan Parker of The Salvation Army’s International Development gave a very moving talk about the current issues and what the Salvation Army are doing to rectify the problem. The issue was brought home to the residents of Slough who attended when Duncan played us a phone conversation he had made earlier that evening to one of the many 'adult services' listed in our local papers. It was quite obvious that this council licensed massage parlor was actually a brothel - one of the many places that trafficked people end up. He advised those present to write to the council and to the local papers who inadvertently advertise such services in order to bring this issue out of darkness and into light. The evening concluded on a lighter note with refreshments and the opportunity to browse the literature Duncan had brought with him.

The second event marked the actual bicentenary on Sunday, 25th of March. The Quakers held a Meeting for Worship in their Friends Meeting House.  The Quakers were instrumental in leading the movement for Abolition in this country but could not have done so without Anglicans such as Wilberforce owing to their exclusion from being MPs at that time.  The meeting gave thanks for the passing of the 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and remembered all those who are still suffering and those responsible, directly or indirectly, for their plight.  The evening concluded with with the serving of fair trade tea, coffee and hot chocolate.