On Saturday 24th October Shiva Foundation supported Human Trafficking Foundation and Shpresa Programme in hosting their ‘Together Against Trafficking’ film event at Kingsway Hall Hotel.

The event was organised to mark Anti-Slavery Day with the purpose of informing the Albanian community in London as to how to identify and report signs of human trafficking, as well as to raise awareness of the issue.

Four short films were shown, each one exploring a different aspect of modern slavery: ‘Nicu’, ‘Yoke Farm’, ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ and ‘I Want to Be’, all with subtitles in the Albanian language. ‘Nicu’ explored human trafficking through the eyes of a young boy, following his day of petty theft in order to survive, and his emotional letter to his mother back home, putting on a brave face for her sake. ‘Yoke Farm’ was concerned with labour exploitation, and showed audience members ways to spot and report signs of modern-slavery. ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ told the story of a young woman tricked and forced into prostitution under the false pretences that there was a job for her as a nanny in Ireland. ‘I Want to Be’ once again drew attention to sexual exploitation, but this time considering it through the eyes of a young girl, and portraying it as a less clandestine industry. By showing different forms of exploitation, through the eyes of a variety of victims these films showed the widespread and complex nature of human trafficking.

The film screening was followed by a Q&A session with panel members from ‘Stop the Traffick’, ‘The Medaille Trust’ and the host organisations. Questions explored the role of the police, reaching unidentified victims, the role of education and training in bringing this heinous crime to an end, the Modern Slavery Act and accounts of real-life experiences of human trafficking.

We were honoured to be involved in this event to raise awareness of human trafficking, and invite you to let us know of any similar projects we can support.

‘Nicu’: http://www.unchosen-films.org/portfolio-item/a-film-trailer-portfolio-item/
‘Yoke Farm’: http://www.unchosen-films.org/portfolio-item/yoke-farm/
‘Let’s Talk About Sex’: http://www.unchosen-films.org/portfolio-item/lets-talk-about-sex/
‘I Want to Be’: http://www.unchosen-films.org/portfolio-item/i-want-to-be/