Visual culture has been historically central to the abolitionist movement, and photography has breathed new life into forms of visual protest. From documentary photography that attempts to capture the horrific reality of modern slavery, to survivor-generated images that capture everyday efforts to survive, contemporary photography adopts numerous lenses in order to challenge stereotypes and raise awareness against modern day slavery. This collection gathers some of the most impactful images and collections in the contemporary anti-slavery moment.
Creator: Emily Brady
July 2013 Authorities were alerted when a 20-year-old male trafficking victim contacted a charity, revealing he had been the victim of offences committed in 2011. More victims soon came forward, and others were identified. West Yorkshire police launched Operation Tavernhouse and in May, convictions…
March 2015 Two Hungarian women, aged 21 and 30, were rescued from a terrace property on Spa Road in Bolton after being trafficked one year previously by the Dardai family, also Hungarian, who enslaved the women, forcing them into prostitution. Daniel Dardai, Ferenc Dardai, Ferenc Dardai Jr, and…
March 2015 Two Hungarian women, aged 21 and 30, were rescued from a terrace property on Spa Road in Bolton after being trafficked one year previously by the Dardai family, also Hungarian, who enslaved the women, forcing them into prostitution. Daniel Dardai, Ferenc Dardai, Ferenc Dardai Jr, and…
November 2013 Metropolitan Police from the Human Trafficking Unit arrested 73-year-old Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife, 67-year-old Chanda Pattni at their residential address in Brixton in South London. They were investigated for slavery and domestic servitude. Three women had been rescued…
March 2011 Gloucestershire Police carried out warrants at three properties in Gloucestershire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire after a year long investigation, including a 5 month surveillance operation of the Connors family was triggered by the discovery of the remains of a body, which was found…
2013 A 22-year-old Hungarian woman responded to an advert for a baby-sitter job in London and was offered the job during a telephone interview. When she arrived in Budapest to travel to Britain, she was met by three men who threatened her and removed her phone, before driving her to Slovakia,…
June 2015 53-year-old Jurate Grigelyte of Easton, Bristol was sentenced to 3 years in prison after admitting to 10 charges of facilitating entry into the UK with a view to exploiting labour, 10 charges of human trafficking and one count of forced labour. Grigelyte trafficked Lithuanian nationals…
Lincoln’s Inn Fields is home to two of the largest and most popular soup kitchens in London, and is also a well known trafficking hub. Christian: Guys came round, old gypsy guys. They said, ‘Do you want a job? Can you do a bit of labouring?’ I said, ‘How much are you going to pay?’…
July 2013 A 36-year-old Latvian woman arrived in the UK with the belief that she would be given a job on a mushroom farm. Instead, she was taken to the house of Hanan Butt and Jekaterina Ostrovska in Slough, and was then moved to Birmingham where she was introduced to Mohammed Akmal, whom she later…
2012 3 Lithuanians working for D.J. Houghton Catching Services in Kent, visited a nearby Citizens Advice Bureau to ask for help after experiencing severe mistreatment from their employers, a local couple from Maidstone, Darrell Houghton and Jacqueline Judge. The couple supplied chicken catchers to…
2004 A number of local fishermen were called in by the coastguard to help with the rescue of 24 Chinese cockle pickers that were trapped by the sweeping tides. Within a few hours, 20 bodies had been recovered and only 1 man was found alive. Morecambe Bay holds a 28-mile tide. Locals told the press…
March 2014 61-year-old Emmanuel Edet and his wife, 58-year-old Antan Edet were arrested by London police in their home in Perivale, North West London, after their “houseboy” Ofonime Sunday Inuk heard a radio report about modern slavery, and called a charity asking for their help. Emmanuel…
March 2016 Two men and one woman were arrested and subsequently charged for servitude after a dawn raid at the factory of wholesale chicken supplier Bolton Poultry Products. Six workers were found and have been identified as possible victims of human trafficking and forced labour. It is suspected…
July 2015 A tweet on the Preston Police Twitter page raised concern about some young women living at an address in Longworth Street, which was suspected to be a brothel. Further enquiries led to a police raid at the address, where two young women were found and were thought to have been brought to…
February 2016 A gang of three brothers, their uncle and two women were found guilty of 55 serious offences, some of which lay undetected for almost 20 years. 15 vulnerable girls, one as young as 11, were subjected to acts of sexual violence between 1987 and 2003 including rape, forced prostitution,…
Nigel: They fed me, that was it. That was the only thing they did do, you know what I mean? They said the money would be there at the weekend. I went, ‘Make sure my money’s there, you know what I mean?’ I said, ‘I just want my money. I work hard, I just want my money, that’s all I want.’…