Writing the Unthinkable: Child Trafficking
We asked our friend and Cardiff-based author, Sue Barrow, to write a post to introduce her new novel…
‘Accountant and wife kept girl as slave.’
The July 2008 headline in the British press had me gripped. Child trafficking was a crime I had never heard of: parents in poverty tricked into sending their children abroad on the false promise of a better life. It sounded horrific. The abusers in the article hailed from West Africa, as did their victim. She may even have been a relative since almost half of identified cases of child trafficking are reckoned to begin with some family member involvement.
What the report did make clear was that the teenager in question was forced to work long hours unpaid – cooking, cleaning and caring for the couple’s child – that she was physically abused and denied schooling, and even contemplated suicide.
Straight away I knew this was a subject I had to write about. With three books for children and teens already under my belt I recognised how important it would be to get my facts right. So I began researching the subject of trafficking, reading anything I could get my hands on – in print and online - and joining local church initiatives aimed at encouraging Christians to become better informed.
Of course I realised my story, any story, wasn’t going to make even the tiniest dent in this appalling trade in people. But written as a thriller - exciting, engaging, and thoroughly-researched, might people sit up and take notice? That was my goal. Raise awareness among young people in particular and maybe, just maybe, some would commit themselves to the fight against modern slavery. That would make it a story worth telling.
Like the girl in the report I decided my main character would hail from a country with one of the worst track records in human trafficking.
Sent illegally to the UK to the home of her cousin, fifteen year old Roza anticipates a warm welcome, a comfortable home and university prospects. But when she arrives she discovers her father has sold her to pay off his debts. Forced to work as an unpaid servant, beaten and abused, Roza doesn’t think life can get much worse. . . until she escapes.
My journey to publication was initially one of rejections and rewrites, and took far longer than I expected – fifteen years in total! But throughout it all I sensed God’s hand in quite extraordinary ways. An adult novel on the theme of trafficking arrived in the post from someone who had no idea I was planning to write on the subject. Then an opportunity arose to join a volunteer team in Moldova, helping at a vulnerable girls camp. When I returned I discovered that Red Community was on my doorstep in Cardiff. Through volunteering with Embrace, their ‘befriending’ programme, I’ve learned so much more about the long-term impact any kind of slavery has upon the human heart and mind.
The final confirmation of God partnering me – and the icing on the cake! - was the email I received from a friend I hadn’t seen for almost ten years, saying she and another writer were setting up their own small press in Bournemouth and if it was still available, could they publish my trafficking novel? I said ‘Yes!’
Twelve months later in September 2022, SOLD was published an e-book, before being officially launched in print form at the National Museum of Wales in February.
And the future? Last month I had the privilege of talking to 250 teenagers about human trafficking at a school in Swansea. It’s my hope that there will be many more opportunities to spread the word, in high schools as well as adult groups.
SOLD is available from Amazon and Good Reads, in Kindle form and in paperback.