iServi News | 7 August 2020 | Term 3, Week 3
Year 11 Christian Service Learning and Social Justice Education
Our Year 11 students participated in a challenging Christian Service Learning and Social Justice Education day last week. Building on an understanding of why and how we engage in Christian Service, we spent the day exploring our core topic of ‘Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery’, aligned with the United Nations’ World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on 30 July.
Ensuring all participants could access great resources and support as we delivered our program, we collaborated with volunteers from ACRATH (Australian Catholic Religious Against the Trafficking of Humans) and with our new School Psychologist, Ms Nadia Truong.
In the first session, we outlined the scale and scope of modern day slavery. Astonishingly, 150 years after slavery was made illegal, the world has more slaves today than at any time in history. We heard that every country serves as a source, transit or destination for this crime, defined by the United Nations as control of a person through fraud or coercion and physical or psychological means, to exploit them.
Forms of slavery we examined included:
- Forced labour
- Child trafficking
- Domestic servitude
- Exploitation in domestic, agriculture, hospitality and construction industries
- Forced marriage
- Sexual exploitation
- Being paid less than living wage within supply chains for coffee, tea, chocolate and the fashion industries.
We looked at the exploitative working conditions and practices for those who manufacture or provide the ingredients for much of what we buy; from mobile phones and clothes and to coffee and Easter eggs.
In the second session, students participated in three workshops in order to deepen their understanding and explore ways they might address the human abuses presented in the Cocoa Story, the Fashion Industry and Forced Marriages.
After lunch, students worked in small groups on a campaign of their choice. These included:
- Ensuring the College Café, Staff Room and College Functions are slavery-free
- Using the Ethical Fashion Guide
- Supporting the creation of slavery-free supply chains
- Educating others about forced marriage
- Supporting ACRATH by advocating and fundraising for their campaigns
- Making Easter slave-free through the choice of chocolate eggs
- Lobbying chocolate makers, fashion labels, manufacturers and retailers
I thank ACRATH, Servite staff and all Year 11 students for their magnificent contributions to the day.
Mr Chris Callus
Assistant Deputy Principal – Service and Justice Education