James Aspey (born 10 November 1986) is an Australian

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

and lecturer. He is best known for remaining silent for an entire year to raise awareness of

animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or Injury, harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm ...

Personal life

James Aspey was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Aspey was diagnosed with

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

when he was 17, with his physicians telling him that he would live for just six weeks. However, he recovered and underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

for three years, during which time he started abusing drugs. Upon recovery, he became a personal trainer and started working on a cruise ship, travelling around the world giving lectures and hosting fitness classes on the ship. Seven years later, he tried becoming a vegetarian for a week on an experimental basis after having been told by an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

traveler that "eating animals is bad karma". More analysis on

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

eventually led him to

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

. He became vegan after learning that a plant-based diet could also be perfectly healthy and that he could no longer support the slaughter of animals. After taking a year long vow of silence, he travelled the world giving speeches, documenting slaughterhouses, filming debates on the streets and doing interviews. He currently lives in Bali with his wife, Nicole Aspey.

Animal rights advocacy

Aspey traveled around Australia, writing a blog and cycling 5000 km from Darwin to

"to raise awareness of the cruel ways in which humans currently exploit other animals for food, clothing, entertainment, and testing." On 1 January 2014, Aspey pledged that he would not speak for 365 days as activism to protest and highlight animal cruelty. On 13 January 2015, he broke his silence by giving a speech on television in the Australian morning show ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

'' in an interview viewed over 10 million times. He credited the idea of his silent protest as arising from his attendance at a Vipassana meditation centre, having abstained from speaking for ten days and meditating 10 hours each day. By 2017, he had given 150 free speeches. In 2016, Aspey was tattooed continuously for 24 hours to raise money for three charities. His animal rights speech, which had gone viral, has been viewed over 6 million times. In 2019, Aspey was a candidate for the

Animal Justice Party Animal Justice Party (AJP) is a political party in Australia founded in 2009. The party was registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 3 May 2011. The party is also registered in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Vi ...

in the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

state election in the electorate of

Heathcote Heathcote may refer to: Places in Australia *Heathcote, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney **Electoral district of Heathcote, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly **Heathcote National Park ** Parish of Heathcote a parish of Cumberla ...

, and was overseas from before his announcement, until after the election.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aspey, James 1986 births Living people Australian activists Australian animal rights activists Australian exercise instructors Australian veganism activists Silence

Personal life

Animal rights advocacy

See also

References

External links