News / Crime
Mayor backs call for city to lead on slavery
Mayor George Ferguson has backed calls for Bristol to face its slavery past by taking a lead in tackling modern day slavery and human trafficking.
Andrew Wallis, CEO of Bristol anti-slavery charity Unseen, called on Bristol to “move forward” from its slave-trading past by becoming the leading city for putting an end ot the modern day industry.
Ferguson threw his weight behind the idea, following a trip to the Vatican where he discussed climate change and modern slavery with mayors from around the world.
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Ferguson told Bristol24/7 on his return: “We are a complex city with a shocking history of slavery, which only ended a few lifetimes ago.
“I believe this gives us a special responsibility and our role as a city of sanctuary is an important part of this responsibility.”
Writing in Bristol24/7 two weeks ago, Wallis said the city needed to stop punishing itself with apologies for its past and make amends by looking at present problems.
“No one disputes the fact that the city was partly built on the wealth of that appalling trade but it strikes me as somewhat frustrating that in the last 20 years there has been repeated calls to apologise and self-castigate. How many more times does the city have to apologise for the past?
“The present is even more shocking. There are more people held today in situations of modern slavery than the whole of the transatlantic slave trade – estimates vary between 21-36 million,” he said.
He added: “By focusing on the future Bristol may be able to finally move on from its slave trading past and by leading the way be able to free itself and move forward.”
His words came as Bristol24/7 published an investigation into the scale of human trafficking and modern day slavery in Bristol.
It found that the number of tip-offs police in Bristol received in relation to possible human trafficking and modern day slavery offences more than trebled from 2012 to 2014, from 67 to 252.
It also found the number of victims being identified by front-line policing has also risen, along with the number of victims referred by Avon and Somerset to the National Referral Mechanism.
Ferguson said: “We have a moral and social obligation to address this issue in our cities.”
Read Bristol24/7‘s full investigation.
Read Andrew Wallis’ call on Bristol to lead the way.
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