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SLAVERY
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Theological Reflection ‘Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons’ (Psalm 105.17-18). Sold as a slave by his own relatives – as still so often happens today. In the report by the POPPY project, analysing the characteristics, the experiences and backgrounds of the trafficked women with whom they worked, 58% were recruited by people they knew: 18% by female friends, 14% by their partner, 12% by a male friend or acquaintance and 14% by a friend of their family or partner. In others parts of the world people are forced into marriage by families for financial gain or to reduce the costs within their own family. But for Joseph it comes good (see Genesis 37 and 39-50 for the whole story) and he becomes someone of wealth and power. Therein lies the difference for trafficked people – it is their traffickers who are becoming rich and who exert power and control, while they remain enslaved and powerless. How can we help re-dress the balance – to let their stories have weight and be heard? How can we ensure that they have the opportunities to bring their traffickers to justice, to turn the power relationships on their head? Paul and Silas were accused, in Thessalonica, as "the people who have been turning the whole world upside down" (Acts 17.6). Perhaps it is time Christians, and others, could be described in that way today – as we seek to change a world that is clearly running things the wrong way up?
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