Special Initiatives
Act to end SlaveryThe abolition of the Slave Trade Act, passed on March 25th 1805, abolished the slave trade in all British Colonies. The bi-centinery provides us with a unique opportunity, throughout 2007, to remember the role of Christians in helping abolish the Slave Trade, and the role we still have in highlighting the problems of slavery today. It is a time for us to assess our attitudes towards injustice and equality, and whether we are willing to finish the work begun by yester-year's abolitionists to end slavery and its legacy once and for all.
Throughout 2007, the Gloucestershire Set All Free initiative aims to remember the past, apply its lessons to the present, and raise awareness about those caught in slavery today.
We will commemorate the Act of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in March 1807, organising various events throughout the county of Gloucestershire, to raise awareness of slavery's continuing legacy and to encourage the people in the county to be aware of where slavery still exists. We hope that this will create a legacy to leave for the future.
One of the sadnesses of the present time is that there are still very many people held in slavery, and it has been suggested that there are more people in slavery today than there were in 1807. A slave is a person who is forced to work through mental or physical threat, having no freedom to choose what they would like to be. It is someone who is owned or controlled by another, usually through mental, physical or emotional abuse. It is a situation where a person is dehumanised, treated as a commodity and bought or sold as 'property'. It is someone who is physically constrained and who has restrictions placed on their freedom of movement.
Examples of slavery today are those held in bonded labour these are people who receive basic food and shelter as 'payment' for their work, but may never pay off the loan that they had incurred. People who are trafficked, who are forced to work against their will, this work is often prostitution or other aspects of the sex trade. There are children who are forced to work as child labour in an environment that is harmful to their health or welfare. And there are those who are forced into an early marriage, which affects people who are married without any choice, and are forced to live lives of servitude.
Throughout 2007 there will be a number of events throughout the county to highlight all these issues and we hope that all will join in this commemoration.
Set All Free brochure (511.4 KB)
The Set All Free brochure, which has all the dates of the events and services that mark the act during 2007.
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