Anti-Slavery International, founded as the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1839, is an

international non-governmental organisation An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope. NGOs are independent of government ...

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

and

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

, based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It is the world's oldest international

human rights organisation A human rights group, or human rights organization, is a non-governmental organization which advocates for human rights through identification of their violation, collecting incident data, its analysis and publication, promotion of public awareness ...

, and works exclusively against

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and related abuses. In 1909, the society merged with the

Aborigines' Protection Society The Aborigines' Protection Society (APS) was an international human rights organisation founded in 1837,
...

to form the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society, whose prominent member was

Kathleen Simon, Viscountess Simon Kathleen Rochard Simon, Viscountess Simon, DBE (formerly Manning, Harvey; 23 September 1869 – 27 March 1955) was an Anglo-Irish anti-slavery activist. She was inspired to research slavery after living in Tennessee with her first husband, and ...

. It became the Anti-Slavery Society in July 1947, and from 1956 to 1990 it was named the Anti-Slavery Society for the Protection of Human Rights. In 1990 it was renamed Anti-Slavery International for the Protection of Human Rights, and in 1995 relaunched as Anti-Slavery International. It owes its origins to the radical element of an older organisation also commonly referred to as the "Anti-Slavery Society", the

Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

, which had substantially achieved

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

by August 1838. The new British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was created to campaign against the practice of slavery in other countries.

History

Background

Buxton Memorial Fountain 20170826 143302 (49400969987)

The

Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, also known as the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and sometimes referred to as the Abolition Society or Anti-Slavery Society, was a British abolitionist group formed on ...

, founded in 1787, also referred to as the Abolition Society, was responsible for achieving abolition of the

international slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

, when the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

passed the

Slave Trade Act 1807 The Slave Trade Act 1807, officially An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not abolish the practice of slavery, it ...

. The

, later known as the (London) Anti-slavery Society, was founded in 1823 and was committed to the abolition of slavery in the

, which was substantially achieved in 1838 under the terms of the

Slavery Abolition Act 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Earl Grey's reforming administrati ...

Foundation (1839)

With abolition of slavery throughout the British dominions achieved, British abolitionists in the Agency Committee of the Anti-Slavery Society considered that a successor organisation was needed to tackle slavery worldwide. Largely under the guidance of English activist

Joseph Sturge Joseph Sturge (1793 – 14 May 1859) was an English Quaker, abolitionist and activist. He founded the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (now Anti-Slavery International). He worked throughout his life in Radical political actions suppo ...

, the committee duly formed a new society, British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society on 17 April 1839, which worked to outlaw slavery in other countries. It became widely known as the Anti-Slavery Society, as had the earlier society. The first secretary was

John Harfield Tredgold John Harfield Tredgold (1798 – 22 May 1842) was an English chemist in the Cape Colony in Africa. He held a number of voluntary roles including Secretary of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. The suburb of Cape Town called Harfie ...

, the first treasurer,

George William Alexander George William Alexander (1802–1890) was an English financier and philanthropist. He was the founding treasurer of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1839. The American statesman Frederick Douglass said that he "has spent more t ...

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

. Along with the founding committee, which included the Anglican

Thomas Fowell Buxton Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet (1 April 1786Olwyn Mary Blouet, "Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, first baronet (1786–1845)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed., May 201accessed 25 April 20 ...

, the Quaker

William Allen William Allen may refer to: Politicians United States *William Allen (congressman) (1827–1881), United States Representative from Ohio *William Allen (governor) (1803–1879), U.S. Representative, Senator, and 31st Governor of Ohio *William ...

, and the Congregationalist Josiah Conder, they organised the first

World Anti-Slavery Convention The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The exclu ...

in London in 1840, that attracted delegates from around the world (including from the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, in the South of which slavery was at times referred to as "our

peculiar institution ''The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South'' is a non-fiction book about slavery published in 1956, by Kenneth M. Stampp of the University of California, Berkeley and other universities. The book describes and analyzes multiple ...

") to the

Freemasons' Hall, London Freemasons' Hall in London is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England and the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England, as well as being a meeting place for many Masonic Lodges in the London area. It is located in Gr ...

on 12 June 1840. Many delegates were notable abolitionists, with

Thomas Clarkson Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known ...

the key speaker, and the image of the meeting was captured in a remarkable painting that still hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. The convention had been advertised as a "whole world" convention, but the delegates representing anti-slavery societies in the United States included several women, among them

Lucretia Mott Lucretia Mott (''née'' Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an American Quaker, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongs ...

and

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...

, who later were instrumental in the movement for women's rights. Convention leaders refused to seat the women delegates from America, and prominent male abolitionists such as Thomas Knight were outraged. He went on to form his own society. In the 1850s, under Louis Chamerovzow, the society helped

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

write and publish his autobiography a decade before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

ended slavery in the United States. The second secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society, appointed under the honorary secretaries Joseph Cooper and

Edmund Sturge Edmund Sturge (8 December 1808 – 28 June 1893), was a Quaker businessman and campaigner for liberal causes. Early life Edmund Sturge was born at Olveston, near Bristol, the youngest of the twelve children of Joseph Sturge (1752–1817) and hi ...

, was the Rev. Aaron Buzacott (1829–81), the son of a South Seas missionary also named

Aaron Buzacott Aaron Buzacott the elder (4 March 1800 – 20 September 1864) was a British missionary, Congregationalist colleague of John Williams (the 'Martyr of Erromanga'), author of ethnographic works and co-translator of the Bible into Cook Islands ...

. With American slavery abolished in 1865, Buzacott worked closely with Joseph Cooper in researching and publishing work designed to help abolish slavery in elsewhere, particularly in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century Anti-Slavery Society campaigned against slavery practices perpetrated in the Congo Free State by King

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

. It was the first campaign in history that used photography to document the abuses (photographs were taken by the missionary

Alice Seeley Harris Alice, Lady Harris ( Seeley; 24 May 1870 – 24 November 1970) was an English missionary and an early documentary photographer. Her photography helped to expose the human rights abuses in the Congo Free State under the regime of King Leopold ...

). The campaign eventually helped bring an end to Leopold's tyranny. In 1909, the society merged with the

Aborigines' Protection Society The Aborigines' Protection Society (APS) was an international human rights organisation founded in 1837,
...

to form the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society.

was a prominent member and stalwart of the society. In the 1920s the Society helped end the indentured labour system in the British colonies after campaigning against the use of Indian and Chinese "

coolie A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

s". In 1921 Played a pivotal role in ending the activities of the

Peruvian Amazon Company The Peruvian Amazon Company, also called the Anglo-Peruvian Amazon Rubber Co, was a rubber boom company that operated in Peru in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Based in Iquitos, it became notorious for the ill treatment of its indigenous workers ...

, which was using indigenous slave labour in rubber production. The organisation also successfully lobbied for the League of Nations inquiry into slavery, which resulted in the 1926 Slavery Convention that obliged all ratifying states to end slavery. It also heavily influenced the content of the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery. In 1944, a Journalist

James Ewing Ritchie James Ewing Ritchie (1 May 1820 – 1898) was an English journalist and writer. Born in Wrentham, Suffolk, the son of Reverend Andrew Ritchie, he was educated at Coward College and University College, London , mottoeng = Let ...

issued a paper to the society on sugar trade and slavery.Ritchie, James Ewing. 1944.
Thoughts on Slavery and Cheap Sugar, a Letter to The Members and Friends of The British And Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.
' From 1947 to 1956 it was called the Anti-Slavery Society, and from 1956 to 1990 the Anti-Slavery Society for the Protection of Human Rights. In 1990 it was renamed Anti-Slavery International for the Protection of Human Rights, and in 1995 Anti-Slavery International. Anti-Slavery International was one of the original supporters of the "End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking" campaign (

ECPAT ECPAT International is a global network of civil society organisations that works to end the sexual exploitation of children. It focuses on ending the online sexual exploitation of children, the trafficking of children for sexual purposes, the se ...

), and helped set up the UK branch in the 1990s. It also helped to organise the 1998 Global March against Child Labour, which helped lead to the adoption of a new

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in 1999.

21st century

In the 21st century it worked with Nepalese NGO INSEC to secure Government backing to abolish the

Kamaiya Kamaiya and Kamlari (also called Kamalari) were two traditional systems of bonded labour practised in the western Terai of Nepal. Both were abolished after protests, in 2000 and 2006 respectively. Origins The system of bonded labour existed in ...

form of bonded labour; in 2003 with local NGO Timidria conducted a survey that led to the criminalisation of slavery in Niger, and lobbied the Brazilian government to introduce a National Plan for the Eradication of Slavery. Two years later ASI organised a major campaign on child camel jockeys in the Gulf States, which influenced the UAE's decision to rescue and repatriate up to 3,000 child

camel jockey Camel racing is a popular sport in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Mongolia and Australia. Professional camel racing, like horse racing, is an event for betting and tourist attraction. Camels can run at speeds up ...

s. In the UK, it successfully lobbied to make trafficking of sexual and labour exploitation a criminal offence in 2004. In 2008 it was amongst groups that supported a former slave, Hadijatou Mani, in obtaining the verdict of the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political union, political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an ...

(ECOWAS) court that found the state of

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesLiberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

the UK Parliament introduced a criminal offence of forced labour in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. In 2010 the organisation also exposed the routine use of the forced labour of girls and young women in the manufacture of garments in Southern India for Western high streets, prompting, eventually, business and international civil society efforts to end the practice. Anti-Slavery lobbied the UK government to sign up to an EU anti-trafficking law to protect the victims and secure justice for people who have been trafficked (2011). It also played a big part in lobbying the International Labour Organization to adopt a Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers in June 2011. In 2021 Anti-Slavery International has pressured businesses and governments to address conditions in the

Xinjiang cotton industry Xinjiang is the leading producer of cotton in China, accounting for about 20% of the world's cotton production and 80% of China's domestic cotton production. Critics of the industry's practices have alleged widespread human rights abuses, promptin ...

Overview

Anti-Slavery International is the world's oldest international

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

organisation, and bases its work on the United Nations treaties against slavery. It has consultative status with the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

and observer status at the

. It is a non-religious, non-political independent organisation. It works closely with partner organisations from around the world to tackle all forms of

Publications

The society published ''

The Anti-Slavery Reporter The ''Anti-Slavery Reporter'' was founded in London in 1825 as the ''Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter'' by Zachary Macaulay (1768–1838), a Scottish people, Scottish philanthropist who devoted most of his life to the Abolitionism in the United Kin ...

'' from 1839, taking over from the earlier organisation (named the London Anti-slavery Society in its last year of existence (Click on the link labelled "Heading (1XX)" for further detail)). The journal merged with the ''

Aborigines' Friend The Aborigines' Protection Society (APS) was an international human rights organisation founded in 1837,
...

'' to form the ''Anti-Slavery Reporter and Aborigines' Friend'' in 1909, when the BFASS merged with the Aborigines' Protection Society.

Modern-day slavery

Human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

is the illegal transportation of kidnapped women,

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

, and men across international borders in order to put them into slavery at the destination. This form of modern slavery is one of the most common and may affect the most people: it is estimated that between 500,000 and 800,000 victims enter the trade each year. The International Labour Organization estimates that, by their definitions, over 40 million people are in some form of slavery today. 24.9 million people are in forced labor, of whom 16 million people are exploited in the private sector such as domestic work, construction or agriculture; 4.8 million persons in forced sexual exploitation, and 4 million persons in forced labour imposed by state authorities. 15.4 million people are in forced marriage. Anti-Slavery International points to the lack of enforcement of existing laws as a barrier to stopping human trafficking. Discrimination on the basis of social status, religion, ethnicity, gender and immigration status operate as additional barriers. The organization joined more than 180 other groups in a campaign to pressure retailers such as Nike, Apple and Gap to stop using forced labour of Uighurs in their factories located in China.

Anti-Slavery Award

Anti-Slavery International instituted the Anti-Slavery Award in 1991 to draw attention to the continuing problem of slavery in the world today and to provide recognition for long-term, courageous campaigning by organisations or individuals in the countries most affected. * 1991: Bonded Labour Liberation Front (India) * 1992: Ricardo Rezende * 1993: End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (

) * 1994: Edwin Paraison * 1995:

Harry Wu Harry Wu (; February 8, 1937 – April 26, 2016) was a Chinese-American human rights activist. Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps, and he became a resident and citizen of the United States. In 1992, he founded the Laogai Research Fou ...

* 1996: Regional Indigenous Organisation of Atalaya (OIRA) * 1997: Pureza Lopes Loiola * 1998: Cheïkh Saad Bouh Kamara * 1999: Vivek and Vidyullata Pandit * 2000: George Omona * 2001: Association for Community Development (ACD) * 2002:

Backward Society Education Backward Society Education (BASE) is a nonprofit non-governmental organization that works with Tharu in Western Nepal to fight illiteracy, bonded labor from the Kamaiya system, and a number of other issues in the region. The group received the ...

(BASE) * 2003: Vera Lesko * 2004: Timidria * 2005: Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, (Visayan Forum Foundation) * 2006: James Aguer Figueira * 2007:

Coalition of Immokalee Workers The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is a worker-based human rights organization based in Immokalee, Florida, which focuses on the fields of social responsibility, human trafficking, and gender-based violence at work. Built on a foundation o ...

(CIW) * 2009: SOS Esclaves * 2010: Justice 4 Domestic Workers * 2012: Temedt, a social movement in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

References

External links

* * – Includes long list of subjects of the portrait, with links to each. {{Authority control Abolitionism in the United Kingdom Charities based in England Human rights organisations based in the United Kingdom International human rights organizations International organisations based in London Organisations based in the London Borough of Lambeth Organizations established in 1839 Organizations that combat human trafficking 1839 establishments in the United Kingdom Contemporary slavery