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I attended a three day conference in Trinity last week on modern day slavery in Europe. Delegates came from a variety of backgrounds, social action groups, government health organisations, academia, violence against women groups, Irish Human Rights Commission, Free The Slaves, The Poppy Project, International Organisation for Migration.
I attended because I’ve become interested in what I’ve been reading about women being trafficked into Ireland and being forced into prostitution. But I realised that once you begin to scratch the surface of trafficking, a hugely complex network of interlinked contributory factors and consequences emerges. Globalisation, the use and misuse of power, extreme poverty, gender violence, freedom of choice, the right to work, the value of labour and skills, the availability of education,the legalisation of prostitution, immigration and border policies, cultural diversity, media representation, health and the spread of HIV/AIDS, consumerism. The list is endless as are the numbers of different groups approaching the “problem”. And the differing opinions on the success and appropriateness of various campaigns are also evident. I talked to a number of people about “The Truth Isn’t Sexy” and while a lot of people thought the way the images were used were challenging and subversive, others thought them demeaning towards women and pornographic. Trafficking is happening in Ireland, although at the moment official statistics are in the preparatory stages and it does seem to be occurring on a “small” scale. But numbers are often misleading and can obscure the stories behind the figures.
For me, it was a rather overwhelming introduction to the scale of slavery in modern times and how it is always dangerous to assume that your perspective is the right and only one. To be surrounded by people who are highly educated in their field, have been committed over a long period of years to their work and who are not afraid to get their hands dirty was a privilege, although at the end of the conference I did feel as if my brain had been fried. If you want to read more, Kevin Bales’ book “Disposable People: New Slavery in a Global Economy” is a good place to start.
On the college front, I received the glad news that I passed all my exams although I still have a physiology re-sit in September before I can rise with the class. And the song writing is on-going, with work in the studio going really well with Keith Lawless who is producing the new album. The sound is gentle and simple and I like the work process. It’s very laid back, with much more time to record, listen and re-record than I have ever had before. I have no idea when I will release it although I hope before the end of the year. There’s not really any rush…
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