There are almost 50 million people worldwide in some form of slavery on any given day, according to the Global Slavery Index, including tens of thousands of exploited persons in the UK. Today. Not historically. Children, women and men. Those appalling and shaming statistics, allied with reading the horrendous testimonies of dozens of survivors, compelled Gordon Miller to align his passion for cycling with his marketing and communications skill-sets to undertake personal challenges that would raise awareness of modern day slavery.
Precious’s testimony
- Precious* is a victim of modern day slavery. She was trafficked from Lagos, Nigeria, to London, U.K.
- She was recruited to work in the financial sector. The job did not exist. She was duped.
- Her passport was taken from her soon after she was met by the “recruiters”. They were in fact the first traffickers in a long chain.
- Precious was taken overland to North Africa and put on a dinghy to cross the Straits of Gibraltar to Spain.
- She did not know where exactly the boat landed but landmarks she identified indicate it was a beach in southern Spain.
- Precious was then driven to Madrid where she was forced to work as a prostitute.
- Approximately 2 weeks later she was drugged and transported by road and sea to London via France.
- Again, she did not know her exact route across the English Channel but based on her estimation that the journey took several hours, the route may have been Le Harve to Portsmouth.
- On arrival in London, Precious was again forced to work as a prostitute. She had no passport and no automatic right to work/remain in the U.K. She was trapped in modern day slavery.
- She escaped those who enslaved her and was given refuge in a safe house by a U.K. charity while her case is being considered by the Home Office.
*Not her real name.