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Good morning. Last week I heard former President Jimmy Carter speak at the American Academy of Religion on his new book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. He said that even in the United States human slavery is now greater than it ever was during the 18th or 19th century. He reported that two to three hundred girls are sold into sexual slavery every month in his home state of Georgia, for as little as a thousand dollars each - and that many of us living in advanced economies are completely unaware of the abuse happening to young women close to home.

It’s grim to realise that it is happening here and now, rather than somewhere else and in the past. Indeed, I arrived back into the UK to see the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Office analysis which suggests that there could be four times more victims of slavery here than was previously thought. In a nation which celebrates the anti-slavery work of William Wilberforce and others, it is shocking to realise that between ten to thirteen thousand are caught in today’s web of trafficking and forced labour.

I was challenged by Jimmy Carter. He readily acknowledges that religion, and Christianity in particular had contributed to a political, social and economic structure where violence, slavery and inequality were passively accepted. Yet, like Wilberforce, his own reading of the Bible as a whole rather than a few proof texts, energizes him even at the age of 90 to campaign on this issue. He is aware of course of the complex dimensions involving immigration and employment legislation in an international context, but wants to be a courageous voice where so many other political leaders are silent.

There is much being done. The Government’s new strategy document, which runs alongside the Modern Slavery Bill currently going through Parliament, sets out plans for co-ordinated action across government and law enforcement agencies. Later this week London will host a major conference with the hope to work internationally and to provide proper support to victims. But as Teresa May the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Secretary has said, ‘the first step to eradicating the scourge of modern slavery is acknowledging and confronting its existence’. We need to be honest about what is happening here and now.

For Christians this is the beginning of the season of Advent. Traditionally it has been a time to think about God’s judgement which is all about acknowledging and confronting our failure to be fully human. Perhaps reflecting on modern slavery might be a sobering contrast to spending the day buying on Cyber Monday those things which I didn’t get on Black Friday.

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