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What is the Stolen Lives Project?
‘Stolen Lives’ is a collaborative, open-educational project, bringing together academics, musicians, artists and educationalists. It aims to raise awareness of modern-day slavery, human trafficking and trans-global child labour issues, thereby helping to inform today's (and tomorrow’s) anti-slavery campaigners by providing them with an engaging vibrant tool to help the fight against modern slavery
We are pleased to announce an exclusive partnership with NASUWT, which will help keep all resources free for all to use.
Project Aim
Behind the project is a serious intent, namely to use music and images to promote awareness of modern-day slavery and – just as important – the pressing need to do something about it. Nineteenth-century abolitionists were well aware of the power of music to persuade and inform: indeed, anti-slavery songs were an important part of their opinion-building activities, particularly in the United States. The same is true of images, whether Wedgwood’s famous image of the kneeling slave, or the cross section of the slave ship ‘Brookes’. ‘Stolen Lives’ follows in the same tradition. Put simply, our aim is to use music and images to inform public opinion and, in the process, create a sense of moral repugnance against modern-day slavery and for slavery in all its forms.
We should never underestimate the power of such aids to change attitudes and impact on policy and policymakers.
Ideas for using the resources
Tips on using Stolen Lives resources in secondary schools - and beyond!
Access suggested running order and length of individual pieces.
Access the unique songs and narratives that make up this project.
As William Wilberforce so memorably put it:
‘You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know’
What can I do?
If you want to get involved in the modern anti-slavery movement and to make your influence felt, here are some useful links and resources:
Anti-Slavery International: www.antislavery.org
Anti-Slavery Usable Past: http://www.usablepast.ac.uk/
Contemporary Slavery Teachers' Resource:
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/learning/slavery-today
Croydon Community Against Trafficking http://theccat.com/
Ethical Trading Initiative: www.ethicaltrade.org
Fairtrade Foundation: www.fairtrade.org.uk
Fairphone: http://www.fairphone.com
Free the Slaves: www.freetheslaves.net
Global Slavery Index:
http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/
Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org
Hope for Justice:
http://hopeforjustice.org/
Legacies of British Slave Ownership:
www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs
Migrants’ Rights Network: www.migrantsrights.org.uk
Stop the Traffik: www.stopthetraffik.org
Walk Free: www.walkfreefoundation.org
Slate Academy, The History of American Slavery
(subscription may be required):
https://www.slate.com/academy
Slave Trade Database:
http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces
Unseen UK: http://www.unseenuk.org/
Stay Informed
Online Resource
Take a free online class with experts on historic and modern slavery.
See the Future Learn website for details.
Video: Modern day slavery
This introductory video opened Trust Women 2013 plenary on rooting out slavery in supply chains. Slavery is all around us. It's been linked to the supply chains of everyday products, from shoes and bags to matches and soccer balls. It lurks in many of the commodities that fuel the global economy: cocoa, coffee, precious metals.
Video: Modern day slavery
In this moving yet pragmatic talk, Kevin Bales (co-investigator on the Stolen Lives project) explains the business of modern slavery, a multibillion-dollar economy that underpins some of the worst industries on earth. He shares stats and personal stories from his on-the-ground research -- and names the price of freeing every slave on earth right now.