GCRF Slavery Free Communities Network

Modern slavery and human trafficking is estimated to affect more than 40 million people worldwide, yet despite widespread adoption of anti-trafficking legislation, sub-national policy responses are frequently fragmented and poorly implemented. 'Place-based' approaches to coordinating anti-slavery action, which focus on distinct geographical communities, towns and cities, offer the possibility of connecting law enforcement, governance, voluntary and faith responses to modern slavery in a more effective and coherent way. Although examples of this type of initiative have started to emerge, models of place-based anti-slavery action have generally been developing organically and in isolation without the benefit of wider knowledge-exchange.

This proposal addresses this challenge by establishing the first global 'slavery-free cities' network. Starting with a core group of four cities spanning four different continents, we aim to establish network infrastructure by building collaboration agreements and knowledge sharing platforms, designing tools and indices for comparison, and collating thematic reports on core aspects of the local anti-slavery response, including prevention, discovery, recovery and the maintenance of sustainable freedom. The academics we are working with in Brazil, Nottingham, Bangkok and Maputo have expertise in labour exploitation and supply chains, child labour and forced marriage and sexual exploitation, amongst other topics, and this project will enable us to examine the value of a place-based approach to addressing these diverse and challenging manifestations of exploitation. This will also be the first attempt to explore in a systemic way how the concept of a slavery-free community could be developed and implemented across diverse social and economic contexts.

The network will be open to further self-funding members, and outputs and virtual participation will be made widely available, through the internet without charge. We will use powerful connections with UNU-CPR and Delta 8.7 to connect our core network to anti-slavery practitioners and virtual communities worldwide. We anticipate that the network will benefit policy and practice in participating cities and states through strengthening in-country inter-agency work to address slavery. We also see huge potential for stimulating learning across different international contexts, whilst also developing knowledge and networks to inspire future research and collaboration opportunities.

The slavery free cities global engagement network will pilot an approach to building the first global slavery-free cities network. This network connects specific and tangible local anti-slavery responses to local and global fora for review, discussion, evaluation and dissemination.

This first phase of the network will build foundational infrastructure and resources, including the collaboration agreement and online knowledge exchange platform, which will be accessed by local, national and international academics, policymakers and practitioners interested in improving anti-slavery policy and implementation. This infrastructure will be designed to enable scaling and sustainability of the network beyond the initial two-year period.

The network will also develop and refine new evaluative tools for policymakers, service providers, NGOs, businesses and faith groups working at the local level to combat human trafficking and modern slavery, including a slavery free communities audit and index. It will benefit communities (particularly those considered to be at risk of trafficking and modern slavery) in participating cities, by encouraging a renewed focus on existing policy and practice, and introducing ideas for development and improvement from a wide range of different international contexts. Our work will also include a preventative focus, encouraging initiatives that protect against slavery and trafficking as well as respond to it.

We will furthermore work with our partners UNU-CPR and Freedom United to connect the work of the Global Engagement Network with virtual communities interested in improving anti-slavery policy and advocacy, from local communities in our founding cities, to policymakers working at national and global level seeking to build improved strategies for anti-slavery activity. In this way, we anticipate that our ongoing learning, on our journey to developing slavery-free communities, will increase the knowledge and evidence base available to the global anti-trafficking and modern slavery movement, and prompt further strategies for local anti-slavery action.