Making Nottingham slavery-free

Event launches city-wide initiative

There are 46 million slaves around the world today, including thousands in the UK. But Nottingham took the first steps towards becoming a slavery-free city on Friday 18th November, through a public debate organised by the University of Nottingham and hosted at Nottingham Trent University. The event brought together academics, local policy-makers and more than 60 members of the public to discuss how Nottingham could become slavery-free.

Professor Zoe Trodd introduced the modern slavery work of the Research Priority Area on Rights and Justice at University of Nottingham, situating the ambition to achieve slavery-free cities as an essential part of a wider 'freedom blueprint' for antislavery research and intervention. Professor Kevin Bales provided an overview of slavery globally and argued for the importance of local action. Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire, Paddy Tipping, outlined the extent of the challenge in Nottinghamshire, and antislavery actions so far in response. Three panel members then responded by looking in more detail at proposals for future action: Dr Alison Gardner introduced the 'slavery-free cities' initiative, which aims to bring academics, policymakers and communities together in a whole-city approach to tackling slavery; Andrea Nicholson spoke about the importance of understanding testimonies from the survivors of slavery; and Darryl Dixon from the Gangmasters Licensing Authority highlighted the need to raise awareness of labour abuse.

This was followed by a lively discussion session in which the audience were invited to ask questions and to highlight their own encounters with modern slavery, as well as potential policy solutions.  It was striking to see how many members of the audience recognised the presence of slavery in their own communities, and there was enthusiastic advocacy for engaging with additional partners, such as local businesses and the health community, to help train front-line staff in recognising and acting upon the signs of slavery.

The evening concluded with an invitation to participants to stay in touch with the slavery-free cities programme as it develops, eliciting more than 30 on-going contacts.  The conversation will continue over coming months as we start putting ideas into action and working to make Nottingham slavery-free.

You can also read the University’s press release about this event. The event was part of the national Being Human Festival and was held in collaboration with the Research Priority Area in Rights and Justice at the University of Nottingham, the Centre for Research in Race and Rights at the University of Nottingham, the Centre for Conflict, Rights and Justice at Nottingham Trent University, and Journey to Justice Nottingham.

Pictured (from left to right): Professor Kevin Bales (University of Nottingham), John Robinson (Gedling Borough Council Chief Executive, leading the County and City Partnership on Modern Slavery), Dr Alison Gardner (University of Nottingham), Paddy Tipping (Nottinghamshire PCC), Professor Zoe Trodd (University of Nottingham), Andrea Nicholson (Nottingham Trent University), and  Darryl Dixon (Gangmasters Licensing Authority).