Modern Slavery - the red flags to look out for in our teenagers

What is modern slavery, why should we care, and what do we need to know to keep our teenagers safe?

*This episode deals briefly with suicidal thoughts. If this is likely to be triggering for you, please skip this episode.

Modern slavery is something we hear about on the news, but don't imagine it could happen to someone we love. I was struck by a conversation on another podcast - Two Women Chatting - about an incident that had happened to one of their adult daughters that felt like a narrow escape, so I wanted to cover the topic on Teenage Kicks. Hopefully being aware of the risks will help young adults and teenagers to avoid them, as well as knowing how to help other people who might be victims.

Sujo John is an international motivational speaker and humanitarian who was launched into public speaking following his survival experience of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on New York's World Trade Centers. He's since set up YouCanFreeUs, an international human rights organisation fighting modern slavery worldwide, through advocacy, rescue and rehabilitation.

In this podcast I ask Sujo why modern slavery is on the rise, why we should care, and what our children need to be aware of as they start out on their own journeys into adulthood.

At one point in the podcast Sujo does some working out on a calculator as he's speaking. He's explaining how many men a trafficked sex worker will have to service in 15 years of doing the work (the average time they work). For audio only listeners, I want to share that that number was 160,000...

Sujo is no stranger to trauma in his teenage years either, having had to come to terms with the death of his sister to leukaemia when he was just 9. He battled depression and thoughts of hopelessness, but describes his healing as he began to help others – something which he says he learned through having the opportunity to meet Mother Teresa.

Who is Sujo John?

Find out more about Sujo and his work here:

Sujo's websiteThe YouCanFreeUs foundationOn instagram

More teenage parenting tips from Helen Wills:

Helen wills is a teen mental health podcaster and blogger at Actually Mummy a resource for midlife parents of teens.

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There are already stories from fabulous guests about difficult things that happened to them as teenagers - including losing a parent, becoming a young carer, and being hospitalised with mental health problems - and how they overcame things to move on with their lives.

You can find more from Helen Wills on parenting teenagers on Instagram and Twitter @iamhelenwills.

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Please note that Helen Wills is not a medical expert, and nothing in the podcast should be taken as medical advice. If you're worried about a teenager, please seek support from a medical professional.

Podcast produced by James Ede at Be Heard production.