An estimate of 13,000 people in the UK are victims of modern slavery, according to Unseen, the human rights charity which wants to help those who will spend Christmas Day “in chains”. The UK-based creative agency, Aesop has created a series of paper chains for the non-profit to highlight modern slavery by creating chains that illustrate their real stories.
The Unseen paper chains (3ft in length when put together) are available to buy exclusively here – with all funds raised going to Unseen. Supporters can also donate to the charity and download the designs. To spread the word and share support, you can use the hashtag #UnseenChristmas.
Below are the stories of each design and the personal story connected with it:
Manisha’s story: (Illustrated by Tom Jay)
Born in Africa, Manisha’s mother left her as a baby and her father used to drink.
She was sent to live with her aunt in the UK who had promised to get her into a school and look after her. Her aunt paid for her to come to the UK, but didn’t do anything about getting her into a school. Instead, Manisha spent her days cooking, cleaning and looking after her aunt’s two children, working non-stop from 6am to 1am each day. She was beaten most days and once hit so hard in the head she had to have stitches. One day her aunt tried to drown her in the bath, but luckily Manisha’s screams were heard by neighbors who called the police.
On arriving at Unseen, Manisha received support to access health services and counseling, legal representation, and supported housing, in addition to help in finding a place to worship. She needed emotional support from staff and help with budgeting, accessing welfare benefits, looking for work and attending local education classes.
OUTCOME: She was granted positive conclusive grounds (identified as trafficked) and resettled in supported housing in the UK.
Grace’s story: ( Illustrated by David Doran)
Living in Africa, Grace experienced the horrors of an uprising and witnessed her husband and child being shot and killed in front of her. To make ends meet she collected bottles on the street. Desperate, she accepted a promise of a better life in the UK from someone she thought of as a family friend. But when she got here, Grace was locked in a house and raped daily. She had no passport and couldn’t speak English. Her trafficker profited from selling her for sex. But one day her trafficker didn’t lock the door properly and she escaped.
Found by the police, Grace was brought to Unseen’s 24-hour safe-house, set up specifically for survivors of human trafficking. Her trauma had left her physically scarred together with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and extreme anxiety. But, with Unseen’s help she received professional healthcare and psychological support, one-to-one sessions with specialist staff and access to education and legal advice.
OUTCOME: Grace has now left the safe-house and joined Unseen’s resettlement service, which will continue to support her until she’s able to re-establish her life – independent and free from exploitation. She’s learning english, attending regular courses and is now volunteering in the community, working with other vulnerable women.
Asif’s story: (Illustrated by Andrew Rae)
Asif escaped persecution in his home country and arrived in the UK vulnerable and desperate for work. He managed to find a job but was subjected to labour exploitation for three years, working in various restaurants for little or no pay, sleeping on their floors and frequently receiving burns and scars, which caused him great mental and physical stress.
Thankfully, a former colleague put him in touch with a refugee support service, which eventually led him to get help from Unseen’s outreach service. The service has helped him with the practical and emotional support he needs to start to get his life back on track. This included support with securing safe accommodation, opening a bank account, employability skills, helping him rebuild his self-esteem and assistance to create a support network around him in the community.
Asif says that if he’d had 24-hour support when he needed it, “it would have changed my life. I would have had my basic needs met and felt there was someone there beside me”.
OUTCOME: At the time, Unseen could only offer Asif outreach support, however, the charity has now opened a new 24-hour safe-house for male victims of trafficking. It’s the first of its kind in the country and an important step in supporting the most vulnerable who’ve been exploited against their will.
Stephen Lynch, Creative Director at Aesop tells DIVERGE how it all began:
Where did this idea come from?
The idea came about while my creative partner Ben and I were throwing around some ideas to help raise awareness of the Modern Slavery charity Unseen. Their CEO Andrew Wallis had given us a brief to make some noise around the launch of their new helpline. We came up with lots of ideas, some of which we are hoping to implement next year, but this one felt most appropriate for Christmas.
Why is it significant?
There are an estimated 13,000 modern slaves in the UK alone and there are more slaves in the world today than at the height of the slave trade. The scariest part is that we have all unwittingly made use of slaves while going about our daily business. They quite often work in plain sight doing menial tasks and manual labour. That’s why the charity is called Unseen. Their work includes educating people to look out for the signs of modern slavery that are so easily missed or simply ignored.
We wanted to echo this thought in our idea so aside from the paper chains themselves symbolically representing slavery, the chains look festive on first glance but reveal a story of modern slavery on closer inspection. Some of the illustrators took this even one step further – in David Doran’s illustration of Grace’s story, for example, her hair is the shape of a keyhole, representing how her identity was destroyed when she was locked up by her captors. She escaped one day when they forgot to lock the door and thanks to Unseen has been able to rebuild her life and her identity.
How long did it take to initiate? From concept to delivery it was about 5 weeks. We presented the idea to Andrew and once we had his approval we set about finding the illustrators. The wonderful people at Bernstein & Andriulli suggested a range of artists from their agency and they were all delighted to be involved (and we were delighted to have them!) Getting the paper chain kits printed and packed took about two weeks during which time our in-house digital team set about creating the microsite for the campaign – www.unseenchristmas.com
What kind of feedback have you received? The reaction has been really good so far. We’ve had coverage in both industry and consumer press and anecdotal feedback from anyone we’ve sent the chains to has been very positive about the idea, the craft and the cause.
How important is diversity to your agency? It’s more important than ever. With the support of Aesop, I’m personally involved in a group called PrideAM here in the UK. We work to improve the inclusion and representation of LGBT+ people both within the advertising and marketing industry itself and in its output. It’s a challenge but it wouldn’t be worth doing if it wasn’t.
Additional thoughts: Unseen have recently launched the Modern Slavery helpline. If you need help, or you think someone may be a victim of slavery or exploitation, call the confidential UK modern slavery helpline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
