The Rights Lab welcomes a Royal visitor

HRH Princess Eugenie and Professor Kevin Bales

Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie of York has visited experts in modern slavery at the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab.

The Princess spent several hours with the team in the Rights Lab hearing about the work they are doing to help end modern slavery.

HRH Princess Eugenie said: “It was fantastic to meet the incredible team working hard at the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham. I am consistently amazed by all the invaluable research and people working to end modern slavery. The work at the Rights Lab is ground-breaking and I’m so proud to be able to have visited.”

Princess Eugenie is the co-founder of the Anti-Slavery Collective, which she launched in 2017 with her friend Julia de Bonville. Their mission is to bring change-makers together to raise awareness for modern slavery as a global epidemic.

Princess Eugenie has been developing her knowledge in the field of modern slavery since 2012. Alongside her parents, the Duke and Duchess of York, she helped set up Key To Freedom, a social enterprise initiative that gives victims of human trafficking a vocational skill, a regular income, and – with that – their regained independence (cited on https://theantislaverycollective.org/our-team/).

She has experience working with the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and has supported charities including the Salvation Army, and the Thompson Reuters Foundation.

The Rights Lab is the world’s largest and leading group of modern slavery scholars and is working towards the UN’s goal of ending slavery by 2030 with a global community of policy-makers, civil society actors and businesses.

Professor Todd Landman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University and Executive Director of the Rights Lab, said: “I was absolutely delighted to host Her Royal Highness in the Rights Lab where she learned of our cutting-edge research programmes and of the significant impact our work is having on combatting modern slavery.  We look forward to building on this initial visit to develop stronger links with the Anti-Slavery Collective and other key stakeholders with whom the Princess is working on this significant global issue.”

Professor Kevin Bales CMG, Research Director of the Rights Lab, said: “HRH Princess Eugenie is a modern abolitionist, a leader and convenor for good. We are thrilled to work with her to end modern slavery and look forward to more visits, collaborations, and shared successes.”