Tauranga singer and songwriter, Anna Hawkins’ career began at the ripe young age of seven.
In her early twenties, she released her first album which was a mixture of originals and re-workings of classics. Since then, she has released four albums.
“I love how the power of music connects people,” says Anna. “For my debut album, I flew to Poland and recorded with a live orchestra. It was so awesome to see my songs take shape. That was definitely a career highlight.”
However, it wasn’t until recently she realised her passion for helping fight the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, human trafficking.
According to aid and development organisation Tearfund, fifty million people are trapped in modern slavery worldwide. Of this, an estimated 6.3 million are victims of forced commercial sexual exploitation – more than the population of New Zealand.
“If you look at the statistics and do a little bit of research into this subject, it’s mind-blowing, it’s heartbreaking, it’s just wrong,” she says.
“Freedom is something we all understand and desire. It’s a basic human right, all people deserve to be free,” says Anna.
When Tearfund’s Engagement Manager Luisa Giacon asked her to sing at Tearfund’s Trafficking Unlocked event, she said, “absolutely, without a doubt”.
“For a long time, I’ve wanted to fight this dark trade, even if it’s just in the smallest of ways.”
Trafficking Unlocked is a charity dinner to raise money to help fight human trafficking in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“It’s being hosted in Tauranga for the first time, which is exciting for the bay,” says Anna.
Khouch* who Tearfund met in Cambodia earlier this year is a survivor of human trafficking. The 29-year-old was born into poverty – one of 11 siblings.
Khouch received a call from a woman she’d never met. This woman promised her a high paying job that would allow her to send money home to her family. All she had to do was go to China and marry a Chinese man. The woman also promised that $250 NZD would be sent to her mother after she got married. Khouch accepted the offer, and in January 2020, was taken to China. Heartbreakingly, she didn’t know her life was now in the hands of a trafficker and, once she arrived, she was moved regularly to escape the Chinese police while she waited to marry.
”I saw a Chinese man give money to a trafficker. I don’t know how much. The next day, I was arrested by the police and sent to prison as an illegal immigrant whilst the trafficker escaped,” said Khouch. “I was scared because I did not know where I was being taken. I was sent to a detention centre for about three weeks and to prison for eight months. Conditions were very bad, and I did not have enough food.”
In May 2021, Khouch was sent back to Cambodia and referred to Tearfund’s partner where she was placed in emergency accommodation with a loving foster mother. She received clothing and other essential items, counselling and a new identity card. Since then, she has reconnected with her mother and was given help to reintegrate into family life. Tearfund’s partner also helped Khouch start a small business selling soft drinks and sugar juice. Demand for her business has grown and she now sells groceries too.
“As a mum of a 14-month-old daughter and a four-year-old son, I can’t imagine a worse nightmare – being unable to find your child. I just think that could have been me or my kids. I read stories like this, and it makes me want to cry,” says Anna.
“I just can’t comprehend being promised a better life and then realising you’ve been coerced and deceived. I’m so privileged to have been born and raised here. Once you’re aware of the issue of human trafficking, you can’t help but do something about it,” she says.
If you want to hear Anna sing and find out more about human trafficking and what Tearfund is doing to help fight it, book your tickets today for Trafficking Unlocked which takes place in Tauranga on November 3.
*Not her real name
