ABSTRACT
Religion engages people's deepest convictions about the world and what their places in it should be. It is central to how many people understand themselves and organise their identities. Religion intersects with anti-trafficking activism and advocacy in multiple and complex ways. Sociologist Elizabeth Bernstein and religious studies scholar Janet Jakobsen challenge the idea that the impact of religious influence on anti-trafficking activism and advocacy has been uniformly positive or negative. This chapter addresses how to prevent the religious motivations and convictions that many anti-trafficking activists, advocates and service providers hold as so essential to their work with trafficked and formerly trafficked persons from becoming sources of alienation and disempowerment for the individuals they aim to serve. It discusses the concept of religious privilege and explores how it operates in the anti-trafficking movement. The chapter presents a Code of Conduct for Religious Institutions, Faith Communities, and Faith-Based Organizations for Their Work with Survivors of Forced Labour, HumanTrafficking and Modern Slavery.
