Tackling modern slavery will be on the agenda when Amnesty International’s North West conference takes place in Liverpool this weekend.
Keynote speakers are set to address delegates at the event in the city’s Quaker Meeting House on School Lane on Saturday, November 12.
Alex Balch, from the University of Liverpool’s Centre for the Study of International Slavery, will cover ‘Innovations and Implications of the Modern Slavery Act’.
Annette Maudsley of the Liverpool Stop The Traffik Group who will talk about the new national referral mechanism to report instances of trafficking and slavery and tell the real life story of a trafficked person in the UK.
A panel discussion on ‘What are the Challenges of Modern Slavery Today?’ will include contributions from Colin Ward, a Detective Constable in Greater Manchester Police’s Modern Slavery Coordination Unit and Akilah Jardine of the School of Law at Liverpool John Moores University.
In the afternoon, a street theatre action directed by Switching Gears will feature performance groups from The Spider Project, LIPA, City Hearts and the University of Liverpool.
Linda Bacon, chair of the Liverpool Amnesty Group, said: “Liverpool’s history is steeped in slavery, from the profiteers of this appalling trade to the courageous abolitionists like Wilberforce and Roscoe.
“This dreadful abuse of human rights is alive and kicking here on our doorstep in Merseyside and we at Amnesty International will do what we can to bring about change and fight it.”
For more information and tickets, visit https://aiuknw2016.eventbrite.com