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  • Tags: Antislavery Activism
Olek, Injustice 2012.jpg

Injustice

This piece by crochet artist Olek is on the walls of the Village Underground in Shoreditch, London and was completed in conjunction with the Street Artists Against Slavery for 'Follow Your Art - Street Art Against Slavery' in aid of the NGO Anti-Slavery International. The four panels of crocheted graffiti display a quote from Martin Luther King's Birmingham Jail Letter written in 1963 - it reads: 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere‘.

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I Am Not For Sale. I Am Priceless

This mural was part of an initiative funded by The Junior League of Tampa, who seek to end human trafficking by spreading awareness of the issue in the Tampa Bay area. The mural includes the telephone number of the Human Trafficking Hotline and is located at the busy Greyhound bus station to raise awareness of the trafficking that happens in Tampa. The project was led by Nicole DeLoach (Juniour League of Tampa), artist Leon Bedore, along with the support of the City of Tampa Arts Department, survivors of modern slavery, community activists and the Tampa Police Department. The reveal of the mural was attended by the Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is the Chair of Florida's Statewide Human Trafficking Council, and Becca Stevens, founder of Thistle Farms, a charity that supports female survivors of trafficking, prostitution and addiction. Subsequently the mural has been printed onto posters and flyers which have been placed onto the city's buses. 

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Human Trafficking Awareness Day

For Human Trafficking Awareness Day on 11th January 2018, 150 delegates came together to share ideas at Council House in Oldbury, Sandwell. This piece was then created by Anna Greyer who is the director of New Possibilities, a company that creates graphic recordings of events, meetings and conferences to develop good communication between participants. The mural is a spider diagram of all the different topics discussed at the meeting and it demonstrates the important topics associated with modern slavery and human trafficking.

Mirela Vega 2015.jpg

Human Rights

This mural in Buenos Aires was part of a series organised by Red Mundial Juvenil Argentina, Vínculos en Red and Art Emprende. Painted in a small square Plaza la Victoria, the murals depict different kinds of violence, abuse and exploitation that children and teenagers suffer. On 19th September 2015 an event was held to unveil the murals, with artistic and recreational workshops against child abuse and the maltreatment of children. This mural highlights child slavery and emphasises the fact that children should not be forced to work, where they are at risk of exploitation and abuse.

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Hands Off!

Art and Resistance Through Education (ARTE) worked with The Advocacy Lab, Project Futures Global, Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF), Subway Art History, students fom the Wings Academy and the South Bronx Community Association to create this mural, which is dedicated to the anti-trafficking activist Somaly Mam. The mural itself reads 'Somaly Mam' in graffiti style. It is in the South Bronx neighbourhood in New York. 

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Good Shepherd

This mural was created by students of the Don Vicente Rama Memorial National High School with those involved with the organisation Good Shepherd, which supports vulnerable women and children. In Cebu City, the organisation has a Welcome House that was established in 2007 and takes in women and children who are survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. This drop-in centre provides women and children with a safe space to discuss their experiences, receive food and get help.The piece is on the wall of The Shepherd's Heart Cafe, which aims to empower beneficiaries of Good Shepherd by providing them with work and training. Initially the cafe was set up by the organisation with the help of Peace Corps volunteers Amelia Kent and Roy Adam, before being taken over and run fully by beneficiaries of the organisation. Unfortunately, as of 2018, the cafe is permanently closed. This mural highlights the economic motive behind slavery and stresses how people are sold for the profit of others. On the left hand-side, a woman sits in a pile of money, while two hands shake below her. The innocence of the young girl who is crying on the right is emphasised by the doll she is holding and her school uniform.

Suleman, Strength Weave Beauty 2017.jpg

From Your Strength, I Weave Your Beauty

This mural shows an older woman on the left, with struggle carved onto her face. On the other side, we see her young daughter who pulls the fog that envelops her mother and uses this fog to weave threads of gold, creating a new life for both of them. It is situated in Lodhi Colony, an area of New Delhi that is full of murals thanks to the St+Art India Foundation. This non-profit organisation takes up projects to make art accessible to the public with their murals and installations in the area. This piece was created by Shilo Shiv Suleman with survivors of sex trafficking who are involved in Sewing New Futures. This is a social enterprise that empowers survivors and girls at risk of trafficking through career training, education, medical care, and social services. The company opened their pilot centre in May 2014 and has gone on to train and employ women to create fashion items, which are sold worldwide through their website. Suleman is involved with the Fearless Collective, an organisation that is building a movement of women across South Asia using beauty and art to reclaim public spaces with their stories. Set up in 2013, the organisation has created 25 murals, in eight countries and with hundreds of co-creators and is currently raising funds to open the first Fearless Collective Public Art Residency. 

Bullough, Flycatcher 1.jpg

Flycatcher 4

This mural was created by James Bullough with the Handle with Care Project, a Dallas-based organisation that is dedicated to fighting slavery through the arts. They argue that graffiti and slavery have something in common - they are both done covertly and are illegal, yet when a wall is defaced it can be painted over, whereas there is no "easy solution" for the slavery survivor.This piece 'Flycatcher 4' is one of four murals of individual birds that are dotted around the city and link back to the main mural of the project 'Release'. Unfortunately the building was demolished and the mural has been destroyed.

Bullough, Flycatcher 4.jpg

Flycatcher 3

This mural was created by James Bullough with the Handle with Care Project, a Dallas-based organisation that is dedicated to fighting slavery through the arts. They argue that graffiti and slavery have something in common - they are both done covertly and are illegal, yet when a wall is defaced it can be painted over, whereas there is no "easy solution" for the slavery survivor.This piece 'Flycatcher 3' is one of four murals of individual birds that are dotted around the city and link back to the main mural of the project 'Release'. Although the building has been painted black, the mural survives in a patch of the red paint.

Bullough, Flycatcher 3.jpg

Flycatcher 2

This mural was created by James Bullough with the Handle with Care Project, a Dallas-based organisation that is dedicated to fighting slavery through the arts. They argue that graffiti and slavery have something in common - they are both done covertly and are illegal, yet when a wall is defaced it can be painted over, whereas there is no "easy solution" for the slavery survivor.This piece 'Flycatcher 2' is one of four murals of individual birds that are dotted around the city and link back to the main mural of the project 'Release'. The mural still survives today.

Bullough, Flycatcher 2.jpg

Flycatcher 1

This mural was created by James Bullough with the Handle with Care Project, a Dallas-based organisation that is dedicated to fighting slavery through the arts. They argue that graffiti and slavery have something in common - they are both done covertly and are illegal, yet when a wall is defaced it can be painted over, whereas there is no "easy solution" for the slavery survivor.This piece 'Flycatcher 1' is one of four murals of individual birds that are dotted around the city and link back to the main mural of the project 'Release'. Unfortunately the building on which this mural was painted has now been destroyed.

First Brush 2016.jpg

First Brush

The production of this mural was headed by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, who worked with the city government of Davao, Habitat for Humanity, Philippine Women's College and Davies Paints to bring the piece to life. Around 60 artists came together to create the mural along the walls of the Southern Philippines Medical Centre, which had been designed by students of the PWC.It was created to commemorate the International Day Against Child Trafficking on 12th December 2016. The project involved the wider community to raise awareness of human trafficking and violence against women and children. The theme of the mural was 'Let our children be: Let's end Human Trafficking'.

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Elimination of Violence Against Women

This mural was created by street artist Hyuro as part of a series of pieces that celebrated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25th November 2013. Hyuro is one of many artists who took part in the Memorie Urbane in Italy.This concept began in 2011 when Davide Rossillo, the president of creative tourism, had an idea about bringing contemporary art practices into the open space to create an open-ait museum. Memorie Urban proposes a new way of doing tourism and the team behind it began recognising 25th November in their project with this piece in 2013. This specific mural is in the city of Formia. It shows rows of women holding a banner with hundreds of tally marks, highlighting the number of women who have been subjected to violence, both inside and outside of slavery. The women and the banner wrap around a column on three faces. When these faces are put together (as in the first picture above) they form the continuous line of women and tallies.

Alfonzo, Child Labour 2015.jpg

Child Labour

This mural in Buenos Aires was part of a series organised by Red Mundial Juvenil Argentina, Vínculos en Red and Art Emprende. Painted in a small square Plaza la Victoria, the murals depict different kinds of violence, abuse and exploitation that children and teenagers suffer. On 19th September 2015 an event was held to unveil the murals, with artistic and recreational workshops about child abuse and the maltreatment of children.This mural highlights how children who live in poorer households and rural areas are more likely to be victims of child labour, where they are open to exploitation and abuse. The image of a girl at a sewing machine emphasises how millions of girls and women are forced to be domestic workers, with little to no pay and no opportunity to leave.

Catch the Wave of Hope 2018.jpg

Catch the Wave of Hope

This 250 foot mural was completed as part of a fundraising project for the organisation Catch the Wave of Hope. Lynne Barletta, who founded the organisation, believes art is an important way to raise awareness of human trafficking. Each fish, reptile and mammal in the mural was sponsored and raised money for the organisation to set up a local transition home for trafficked children. The wave of the mural represents inspiration to survivors of human trafficking and stresses that they can catch the wave of hope. Barletta founded this organisation after she helped with a project in Singapore where she met a survivor of human trafficking, and decided to set up her own organisation to fight the phenomenon in the US. The organisation trains businesses, schools and other organisations on human trafficking and modern slavery, educating them on the signs of modern slavery and on how to ensure they do not contribute to its persistence.

Zimmer, Bring Back Our Girls 2014.jpg

Bring Back Our Girls

This mural was created by Zimmer as part of the Bushwick Collective, New York City's most prolific neighbourhood for street art and graffiti. The piece supports the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, which raised awareness of the kidnap of 276 Chibok girls in Nigeria on 14th April 2014. Many of these girls were sexual exploited and forced into marriage.As of 2018, 57 girls managed to escape, 107 were released, and 112 are still missing. The campaign is demanding that the Nigerian government rescue the remaining girls and reunite them with their families.This mural shows Malala Yousafzai holding a sign with 'Bring Back Our Girls'. The Nobel Peace Prize Winner, who campaigns for girls to have access to education, supports the campaign and called for the Nigerian government to do more to save these girls. Unfortunately the mural is no longer at the location as of September 2017.

Danielle Mastrion and Lexi Bella, Bring Back Our Girls 2014.jpg

Bring Back Our Girls

This mural was created by graffiti artists Danielle Mastrion and Lexi Bella as part of the 2014 Welling Court Mural Project. This project began after members of Welling Court community met at Ad Hoc's Bushwick gallery and invited Ad Hoc Art to come up with a vision to beautify their neughbourhood. With the community's support, the first mural was created in December 2009 by M-City. The rest of the winter was used to plan the launch of the first multi-block mual project that occured in May 2010 with over 40 murals. With a mix of artists and new talents, the Project hosts over 140 murals by artists from around the world and it is one of the best collections of contemporary street culture.This mural supports the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, which is fighting to save the 276 Chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram on 14th April 2014. #BringBackOurGirls calls for the Nigerian government to secure the release of the 113 girls who are still missing. To learn more about the campaign, click here.

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Because I am a Girl (Rosa Parks)

In 2015, the team behind Femme Fierce (the World's Largest All Female Graffiti Street Festival) worked with Women of the World (WOW) and Plan International UK to create a series of murals against forced marriage. Over 150 female street artists took to the graffiti tunnel on Leake Street in Waterloo to support Plan UK’s fight against child and forced marriage. This project was part of Plan International’s worldwide campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’. The walls were painted blue to reflect Plan’s logo and then the female artists let their imagination run wild, painting their interpretations of ‘Because I am a Girl’.Plan International, which works to protect the rights of children, launched this campaign to fight for girls’ rights and gender equality. It is a youth-led, global movement that supports girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. The charity works on forced and child marriage throughout the world.

Untitled 2, Because I am a Girl 2015.jpg

Because I am a Girl (portrait)

In 2015, the team behind Femme Fierce (the World's Largest All Female Graffiti Street Festival) worked with Women of the World (WOW) and Plan International UK to create a series of murals against forced marriage. Over 150 female street artists took to the graffiti tunnel on Leake Street in Waterloo to support Plan UK’s fight against child and forced marriage. This project was part of Plan International’s worldwide campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’. The walls were painted blue to reflect Plan’s logo and then the female artists let their imagination run wild, painting their interpretations of ‘Because I am a Girl’.Plan International, which works to protect the rights of children, launched this campaign to fight for girls’ rights and gender equality. It is a youth-led, global movement that supports girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. The charity works on forced and child marriage throughout the world.

Malala 2, Because I am a Girl 2015.jpg

Because I am a Girl (Malala)

In 2015, the team behind Femme Fierce (the World's Largest All Female Graffiti Street Festival) worked with Women of the World (WOW) and Plan International UK to create a series of murals against forced marriage. Over 150 female street artists took to the graffiti tunnel on Leake Street in Waterloo to support Plan UK’s fight against child and forced marriage. This project was part of Plan International’s worldwide campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’. The walls were painted blue to reflect Plan’s logo and then the female artists let their imagination run wild, painting their interpretations of ‘Because I am a Girl’.Plan International, which works to protect the rights of children, launched this campaign to fight for girls’ rights and gender equality. It is a youth-led, global movement that supports girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. The charity works on forced and child marriage throughout the world.