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Modern slavery on display at shop selling items named after victims

Anti-Slavery Australia is raising awareness and funds to prevent modern slavery across the country with an activation on Sydney’s Oxford Street, Human Mart, which is selling items that represent people being exploited.

Coffee Cocoa Gunpowder, the creative agency from Chiquita King and Ant Melder, supported Anti-Slavery Australia in developing the concept of the store, and The Glue Society worked to bring it to life.

Items in the store include tins of vegetables, blocks of chocolate, packets of pasta, boxes of cereal, and bottles of drink, each named after a different person who has been trapped into slavery.

According to Anti-Slavery Australia, around 15,000 people are being kept in slave-like conditions in Australia today, used as domestic workers, cheap labour in sexual exploitation and trapped in forced marriages. Only one in five victims are detected.

Anti-Slavery Australia are the only specialist legal practice, research and policy centre committed to the abolition of modern slavery, including human trafficking, forced labour, servitude, and forced marriage in Australia.

“This is a truly brilliant way to raise awareness about all forms of modern slavery and have real impact to prevent these human rights abuses and better protect victims. These agencies are inspiring, it has been a joy to work with such creative and artistic people,” said Anti-Slavery Australia founder, Jennifer Burn.

The Glue Society’s, Alice Cogin, explained the store was meant to launch last year, but was held back due to COVID-19.

“This has been a project 18 months in the making and a true labour of love. We were set to launch Human Mart last year, the week that Australia went into lockdown and so, to be able to bring it back this year has been extremely rewarding,” Cogin said.

“For most Australians, we are unaware of the prevalence of modern slavery in our country. It’s easy to think that these types of things don’t happen here, but they do. It was important to us that this initiative honour the individual stories of survivors and demonstrate the need for more awareness and ultimately more action.”

King described the project and the partnership with Anti-Slavery Australia as a privilege.

“Professor Burn is a force of nature and the work her team are doing for victims of modern slavery is inspiring to say the least. Collaborating with The Glue Society reminded me that the people you surround yourself with to meet the ambition, is as important as the idea itself,” she said.

Human Mart will be open to the public from today to Thursday 25 March from 10am to 6pm. Candid Communications, the new agency from Frank PR alumni Jodie Moses and Olivia Meena, is leading media relations on the activation.

Credits

Anti-Slavery Australia
Jennifer Burn, Director
Sarah Di Giglio, Coordinator
Carolyn Liaw, Researcher
Sandeep Dhillon, Lawyer
Yvette Selim, Researcher
Ruth McLelland, Manager
Emma Burn, Research Assistant

Coffee Cocoa Gunpowder
Chiquita King, Co-Founder and Managing Director
Ant Melder, Co-Founder and Creative Partner
Chris Clausen, Head of Design
Lewis Clarke, Copywriter
Emily Hahn, Senior Business Director
Lauren Maneschi, Art Director
Rachel Tse, Designer
Diane Villavieja, Project Director
Hayden Wright, Head of Social Media
Alan King, Store Design and Installation
Mary Hackett, Executive Assistant

The Glue Society
Direction: The Glue Society
Design & Experience Director: Alice Cogin
Design: Roshan Ramesh
Production Assistant: Holly Warner

Production: Revolver

Candid Communications
Olivia Meena, Co-Founder
Jodie Moses, Co-Founder
Maddison Cochran, Consultant

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