Hong Kong at night
The Freedom Keys Research Project is off and racing! Although we still have a long way to go to sort out funding, Bella and I have now committed ourselves to this investigation of how to increase the long term effectiveness of anti-slavery interventions.
Since I had an opportunity to be in Hong Kong last week, I stayed a couple of extra days to connect with some anti-slavery workers there.
According to the Global Slavery Index, there may be about 10,000 victims in Hong Kong -- a similar ballpark to Australia, though the population of Hong Kong is about a third of ours. Some of that number relates to domestic workers who come from the Philippines and Indonesia on two year visas. They come with hopes of making money for their families back home, but all too often pay so much to be in Hong Kong -- to their recruitment agent and to cover food and accommodation -- that they end up in debt that can never be repaid.
The dynamics of modern slavery are complex, making the task of drawing a boundary around it very tricky. These victims in Hong Kong and elsewhere don’t have chains around their ankles, and yet they are tricked and coerced into situations they would never have chosen for themselves and from which they cannot escape.
On a personal note, the people I met affirmed what our research project hopes to achieve, and I found that deeply encouraging.