Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain. We are committed to combatting slavery and human trafficking.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that at least 21 million men, women and children around the world are in some form of slavery. Most are in Asia, although even in Europe hundreds of thousands are suspected to be victims every year. In the UK, the Home Office estimates that 10-13,000 people are in modern slavery at any one time.

This is unacceptable and must stop. Instances of forced labour take many forms. But each time a person is working or providing a service against their freedom of choice, and cannot leave that work or service without penalty or the threat of penalty, it is forced labour.

This statement has been published pursuant to Section 54 subsection 7 (a) and 7 (b) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which requires organisations to disclose publicly the steps they are taking to tackle slavery, servitude, forced labour and human trafficking (together known as modern slavery) and to publish their slavery and human trafficking statement on their website including a link to the statement on the website’s homepage.

Bookham Baptist Church welcomes the requirements of Section 54 of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sees the transparency it encourages as coherent with our support for the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and our support of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

This statement sets out our commitment to human rights and the steps taken by Bookham Baptist Church in the fight against modern slavery.

At Bookham Baptist Church we respect human rights, we aim to support the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)and we do not tolerate any form of modern slavery. We also support the UN Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 which calls for the eradication of forced labour and an end to modern slavery and human trafficking and aims to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

We acknowledge that, in order for effective and lasting solutions to be found, the root causes of human rights abuses and modern slavery need to be addressed.

Our approach to human rights is guided by international conventions and standards including the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

We will strive to protect people from unlawful and immoral practices and this transparency statement makes our position clear.

Further information can be found at the Together Free link below.