Does anyone know how Eugenie got interested in anti-slavery in the first place?
This is from The Anti Slavery Collective website:
https://theantislaverycollective.org/our-team/Our Story
EUGENIE AND JULES ARE BEST FRIENDS AND ABOLITIONISTS
We met on the bus on our way to a school trip and knew at once that this was just the beginning of a life-long friendship and adventure!
After following each other around the world, then to Newcastle University, and into our careers. In 2012, we went on a trip to Kolkata, India. Here, we visited an organisation called Women’s Interlink Foundation and first became aware of modern slavery. Aloka Mitra , the founder of Women’s Interlink, rescues girls from modern slavery, gives them a home and teaches them a simple vocational skill – fabric printing.
We were shocked to discover the extent to which slavery still exists. In fact, there are more enslaved people today than at any other point in history and, at any one time, someone is being trafficked within a mile of where you live. We often associate slavery with chains and shackles, but modern slavery is a hidden crime that is often hard to detect.
We spent the next 5 years educating ourselves. We became obsessive investigators and would visit anyone who could help us expand our knowledge; from policy makers, law enforcement agencies and academics, to NGOs, social workers and survivors. We asked everyone we encountered, ‘what can two young girls like us do to help?’ Without fail, the answer was always raise awareness. So this became our mission.
In 2017, we proudly launched The Anti-Slavery Collective.