Stand Up: St Andrews Against Slavery

I met with one of the founders of St Andrews Against Slavery, Bonnie Groves, on Sunday night at the library, which seems to have become my second home since starting third year. Despite the dreariness of our surroundings and the prospect of returning to half-finished essays, Bonnie’s enthusiasm and excitement concerning her society was truly inspiring, and provided a more than pleasant break from academic work.

Bonnie set up the society last year with Lili Vankó in their endeavour to make people more aware of human trafficking and slavery since “not everyone knows that it exists, and it’s much bigger now than it was before.” Bonnie thinks that it’s especially important to educate her fellow students because “graduates of St Andrews will be influential and important. If they knew more about this issue, they could think about changing their business models, like using more sustainably sourced goods for example.” The society is more concerned with raising awareness within the student community than fundraising, but once they’ve got a core committee established, they plan to choose an organisation to support with any money they raise through bake sales and events.

Saturday October 18th is Anti-Slavery Day UK, and so the girls have planned a few events this week in the run-up to the important day. On Tuesday 14th they’ll be outside the Vic from 09:00 until 16:00 selling baked goods donated by some of St Andrews’ favourite cafes, including Northpoint, Gorgeous and Bibi’s. On Thursday there’ll be a screening of the critically acclaimed film ‘Gardens of the Night’ in School 3 at 18:30, which follows the lives of two children who are sexually exploited by their uncle. Saturday marks their exhibition ‘Journey’, which aims to reproduce the experience of a sex slave by aid of audio-visual installations. “We got the idea from the Helen Bamber Foundation, and students have already donated some really cool artwork. It will only take fifteen minutes to look around, so people don’t need to worry about it taking up too much of their day.”

Although Bonnie hasn’t been in direct contact with any victims of human trafficking, she has read a lot about it and seen numerous films, and plans to get involved in more hands-on work in the future. Having undergone a slight disillusionment with St Andrews’ societies last year due to the lack of attention they receive from the majority of students, she really wants her society to be about more than just “the signing of petitions.” She’s aware that some people don’t want to know too much about such an upsetting social problem, but so long as everyone is vaguely aware that the problem exists, she’ll feel as though she’s done what she set out to do.

If you’re interested in being a member of St Andrews Against Slavery, or have any questions about its aims and plans for future events, you can message the Facebook group page or email Bonnie directly at [email protected]. You can even run for a specific role within the committee at the society’s AGM, which the girls are going to arrange after “the madness of this week.”

Images courtesy of Aviva Gillman, Bonnie Groves and Lili Vankó