Since our last update, in December, we have moved to Tumut to care for Bella's elderly father. That was a significant a change for us: a change that is now quadrupled by the panic around the coronavirus. Nevertheless, we have still been making good progress on the anti-slavery research.
The twin goals for this year are to build on the network of relationships we started within the anti-slavery community last year, and to increase the credibility of our contribution by publishing in academic journals. I have already submitted one article to the journal "Religion and Human Rights", and am in the process of writing a second article for a different journal. I had also planned to attend and speak at several conferences, though that now seems very unlikely given current travel restrictions.
Core ideas
We have discussed our project with dozens of anti-slavery workers and organisations globally. The core of those conversations is …
That there is a huge gap between what has been done in response to modern slavery in the last few decades and what still needs to be done if we are to end the problem.
That most anti-slavery organisations do not have any strategy to directly modify the behaviour of slave owners or traffickers. Economic pressure is designed to impact that behaviour indirectly and some agencies hope that stronger law enforcement will act as a deterrent for perpetrators. But no-one we can find is working to rehabilitate convicted traffickers; extremely few have any programs that try to redirect people's motivations before they become a perpetrator; and only one person globally does any research specifically designed to understand the psychological motivations of perpetrators.
That for pragmatic reasons, dealing more effectively with the needs and drivers of perpetrators is an inescapable necessity.
That for those motivated to work against slavery by their Christian faith, there is a strong theological argument that we need to understand and work with perpetrators.
Encouraging responses
The responses to this perpetrator-centric approach have been extremely positive and encouraging. I thought I'd share some of them with you. All of these comments come from people actively working in anti-slavery:
Yes definitely I think that is a promising approach
I think that is very interesting, and something I was hoping the anti-slavery world would have taken up a bit more.
I’m excited to learn of this new endeavor you’re embarking on
I really appreciate your thinking around this.
I agree with the points you make. Particularly about making slavery uneconomic. … I agree with you about perpetrator centric approaches …
Thank you for this comprehensive update. Agree that perpetrators are a gap area.
Your focus of discussion around how the theory of change takes into account the motives and psychology of traffickers and slave holders is very interesting.
Your topic of interest is not widely researched in South Africa. As we address the root causes of human trafficking and the preventative measure for South Africa, it would effectively include the demands (the motives and psychology of traffickers and slave holders!). If we removed the vulnerabilities, there would not be trafficking of persons!
Thanks for sharing your paper. Wow. It is a great piece of work. I could have used this perspective many times over the years. ... Keep doing what you are doing. It is so important.
We are incredibly grateful for the work you are putting into tackling the issue of HT from this specific angle. ... Certainly, the direction you are headed appears to be uncharted territory which is incredibly exciting and provides great opportunity for learning and growth overall in this space.
I've had a look through your website and am so interested to hear more about the amazing work you are doing.
I think it would be a very special person/calling to work with perpetrators. I would be in awe of them.
Thanks for sharing more about Freedom Keys and you and your wife's vision. There is a lot of work to do in this space! Best wishes to you both as you progress further into this journey.
In addition, a couple of academics have commented:
Your interests in a theological/restorative justice framework for responding to modern slavery certainly sounds interesting.
My assessment is that this is a well-produced, interesting and practically useful piece. Moreover, it represents the outline of a PhD project that you could do with us should you wish. ... I congratulate you on your bold initiative
I’ve read your draft with great pleasure, and if there is any comment that I might make it is that you are selling yourself short. Above all … what you are saying is new, fresh and important. In particular, I think that your insight about how many slave-owners and traffickers are themselves better treated not as monsters, but in some way as victims of a process of dehumanisation into which they have been swept, often with little choice, is especially important
Still lots to do
The regularity of those types of responses shows us that we are on the right track. The outcome of the project's first year is that we feel even more driven to foster dialog about how the motives of perpetrators can be subverted or redirected, and to assist anti-slavery organisations of all types to include modifying perpetrator behaviour as an explicit component of their theory of change.
Thanks for your continuing support to take this radical approach to the next stage.
Please pass this email on to your friends and colleagues, and point them to our website.
—Matt and Bella