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Slavery News Weekly: 12 October 2017

October 12, 2017 / Media, Slavery News Weekly The Freedom Fund / @freedom_fund

Each week the Freedom Fund compiles the most insightful and timely news stories about modern slavery. Check out what we’re reading among this week’s top slavery articles.

Queen backs action against modern slavery in all Commonwealth nations
The Guardian, 11 October 2017
Sources claim that British monarch Queen Elizabeth II is personally keen to see legislation on stamping out trafficking and exploitation being promoted across the 52 Commonwealth countries, according to the Guardian.

Human trafficking cases in UK hit record high amid ‘worrying’ decline in conviction rates
The Independent, 11 October 2017
Campaigners have warned that the decline in human trafficking convictions and relatively small number of cases reaching the prosecution stage indicate victims’ fear to give evidence against their abusers.

India Supreme Court rules sex with child bride is rape
BBC News, 11 October 2017
India’s Supreme Court has struck down a legal clause that permits men to have sex with their underage wives. The verdict has been hailed by women’s rights activists, but correspondents say the order will be difficult to enforce.

Despite abuses, expelled Ethiopians hope to be smuggled back to Saudi Arabia
Thomson Reuters Foundation, 9 October 2017
Some 70,000 undocumented Ethiopian migrants have been expelled from Saudi Arabia since March as the Gulf kingdom seeks to reduce its reliance on millions of migrant labourers. Despite risks of exploitation, most migrants choose not to leave.

The child bride trade is booming in Myanmar as the gender gap bites in China
ABC News, 7 October 2017
In Myanmar, a booming trans-border racket smuggles unsuspecting women to China and sells them to Chinese men as brides. The main driver of this trade is China’s gaping gender gap, a direct result of its one-child policy.


Learn more

For more news and updates about the Freedom Fund, visit our Newsroom. You can also view issues of our monthly slavery research bulletin here.

Do you have a story you’d like to see featured in our roundup? Submit articles at [email protected].

Photo credit: UK Home Office