St Mary’s University to Host UK BME Anti-Slavery Network Conference

The Bakhita Centre at St Mary’s University, Twickenham (SMU) is hosting a conference by The UK BME Anti-Slavery Network's (BASNET) at its Exchange theatre on Thursday 10th October. The conference will explore the wellbeing and protection of survivors of modern slavery in government funded safe houses, with the theme ‘uniting for equality’.

BASNET is the first network in the UK and Europe that is dedicated to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in the anti-trafficking and anti-slavery space.

Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at SMU, Neena Samota, has worked with BASNET to co-design and deliver the conference with a group of survivors. The conference will focus on concerns found in BASNET’s recent report 'The Safehouse is Not Safe', and aims to provide recommendations and reassurance to survivors and other conference participants that their voices are being heard.

The Bakhita Centre at St Mary’s University is a leading centre for research on slavery, exploitation, and abuse. Established in 2015 in response to the growing scale of modern slavery and human trafficking globally, the Bakhita Centre is committed to improving understanding and responses to survivor care and support that addresses issues of equity, diversity, inclusion, and cultural competency.

The conference will be held on Thursday 10th October from 12-5pm at The Exchange, Twickenham.

As part of the event, there will be three different panel discussions:

• Experiences of inequalities in Government Funded Safe Houses; what needs to Change

• Improving Protection and Race Equality in Modern Slavery Safe House Provisions for Survivors

• Improving Partnerships between Culturally Competent Community Organisations and Victim Care Contractors/Sub-Contractors.

Find out more and book your conference ticket.