Wednesday, 16 October 2019
The testimony of survivors should be at the forefront of antislavery work, according a new report by the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham, published ahead of Anti-Slavery Day on Friday, that provides guidance on how to use the world's largest collection of survivor stories.
The stories are drawn from VOICES, a new publicly available database that houses nearly 1000 survivor stories from across the world. Organisations, working towards the UN goal of eradicating modern slavery by 2030 are being encouraged to use the database to design interventions that better prevent slavery and support survivors.
The focus of the report, ‘Voices: Ideas for Using Survivor Testimony in Antislavery Work’, is how survivor’s stories can help to answer questions about slavery definitions, causes, interventions and aftermath. It includes case studies as examples.
There are an estimated 40 million people in slavery worldwide and a lack of evidence drawn from survivor accounts. The report highlights how this current gap in knowledge can be closed by listening to the experiences of survivors to improve antislavery interventions and aftercare.
Professor Zoe Trodd, Director of the Rights Lab, said: “For too long the voices of survivors have been marginalised or tokenised in the antislavery movement. The Voices database and guidance brings survivors’ own accounts to the forefront.
It offers an opportunity to take seriously the narratives’ details and suggestions for change, and acknowledge survivors as the experts in the antislavery field whose lived experiences are a blueprint for evidence-based solutions.
In selecting stories from the database as examples, the report has concentrated on the countries that have the highest prevalence rates of slavery, according to the Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery Index 2018. These are North Korea, Eritrea, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Mauritania, South Sudan, Pakistan, Cambodia and Iran.
The report is available here and the narratives database is here.
Nasreen Suleman - Media Relations Manager, Faculty of Social Sciences
Email: nasreen.suleman@nottingham.ac.uk
Phone: 0115 951 5793
Location: C4, Pope Building, University Park, Nottingham,NG7 2RD
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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