BBC Radio 4 Appeal for Tanzania’s children in domestic slavery

Patron Julie Etchingham presents Anti-Slavery International’s BBC Radio 4 Appeal to be broadcast on 5 November.

• Our appeal was broadcast on Sunday 5 November and is now closed. You can still listen to it on the BBC Website. However, if you wish wish to donate, please do so via our website, as donation made on BBC website will no go to a different charity.

There are an estimated 1 million children doing domestic work in Tanzania, the majority of them girls. Poverty and hardship in rural areas force children to migrate to the cities to find work. Many girls also run away from home to avoid domestic abuse or forced marriage.

Far from their families they are vulnerable to exploitation. They are forced to work grueling long hours and are often segregated from the rest of the household, eating their meals alone and sleeping on a mat on the floor instead of a bed. This is just one of the forms that modern slavery can take.

Our work to unlock the future of child domestic workers

Anti-Slavery’s project in Tanzania partners with local grassroots organisations to help girls like Sophia escape slavery. As an organisation, we not only provide shelter and support for individual victims, but also seek to change the conditions that allow slavery to happen.

We provide a safe space for child domestic workers where they can learn about their basic rights, such as a fair salary, a contract of employment and time off to attend school or training. We build their confidence and organise them in committees, so they can stand up for their own rights.

It costs only £27 to send a child to attend these groups.

We also reach out to employers, to change the way they treat their staff and show them the benefits of this. We open a dialogue in the community, between employers and community leaders, to begin the process of challenging the social norms and attitudes that allow slavery to happen.

This approach has been extremely successful and saw dramatic changes in attitudes in communities where we work.

Our appeal was broadcast on Sunday 5 November and is now closed. You can still listen to it on the BBC Website. However, if you wish wish to donate, please do so via our website, as donation made on BBC website will no go to a different charity.

• Read more about our work with child domestic workers in Tanzania

Julie Etchingham’s message

Watch our patron Julie Etchingham deliver a message for Anti-Slavery supporters:

• Read Julie’s personal blog on how stories of trafficked women made her take action against slavery

You can also listen to the recording of Julie about her passion to fight modern slavery: