It's time to tackle trafficking :: Cosmopolitan UK

http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/lifestyle/big-issue/its-time-to-tackle-trafficking?click=main_sr

Source: Cosmopolitan UK

Trafficking is on the rise - and now a unique project is tackling the issue head-on.

19 October 2012 by Rosie Mullender

Back in February, Cosmo interviewed Sophie Hayes*, 29, a British woman sold into sexual slavery by her best friend. For six months, Sophie was forced to sleep with up to 30 men a night, until her dramatic rescue.

It was a shocking story – and today, it was reported that although more work than ever is being done to crack trafficking operations, the number of people being trafficked to the UK for sex, forced labour or domestic slavery is on the increase.

Although this could partly be due to more incidents of trafficking being identified and reported, it’s a disturbing problem that the charity Stop The Traffik is keen to tackle.

In a unique project, they joined forces with the global initiative UN.GIFT to launch its GIFTbox project – a series of mammoth ‘presents’ standing at over 3m x 3m tall, which deliver the message that ‘things are not always as they seem.’ 

The front of each box pictures a smiling woman, accompanied by quotes including, ‘Enjoy a little extra cash,’ and ‘Provide financial support for your family.’

Once lured inside, visitors are faced with a powerful image: the monochrome faces of three women peering out from the darkness. Across them stretches a banner of text, which reads: ‘I was promised a life of great opportunity. I was sold to work. I was trafficked.’

It’s a powerful way to show how the equivalent of 35 double-decker buses full of people are trafficked every day – duped into thinking a better life is waiting for them before being sold into sexual or domestic slavery.

The boxes first appeared during Olympics in response to the increase in trafficking that is often seen during sporting events and now, GIFTboxes are being used in communities all around the UK – from schools to businesses – in order to raise awareness.

The project’s aim is to unearth the ugly secret of one of the world’s largest organised crimes and encourages us to do something about it. Trafficking might seem a world away from your front door, but Stop The Traffik is committed to showing people the difference they can make.

To find out what you can do to prevent human trafficking, click here – and watch the video below to see people’s responses to the GIFTbox project.

http://youtu.be/vQO60aCO_0son.

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Catherine McKinnell: Marking Anti-Slavery Day 2011

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/catherine-mckinnell/marking-antislavery-day-2_b_1014327.html

Catherine McKinnell

Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North and Shadow Minister for Children and Young Families

1807 is the date that is commemorated as the year in which Wilberforce's campaign to abolish slavery succeeded, with the passing of The Slave Trade Act 1807. But it was not until 1833 that the Abolition of Slavery Act was passed - Wilberforce died just three days after. His public work and tireless campaigning on this issue of profound importance was done.

Yet - almost 180 years after slavery was abolished - there is one form of trade that is still thriving in austerity Britain: the modern-day slavery that is the trafficking of human beings.

October 18th marks the UK's second Anti-Slavery Day in an attempt to raise awareness of this heinous and hidden crime.

The sheer number of children being brought illegally into the country is deeply concerning. Figures from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre show an average of 300 children are trafficked into the UK per year. But it is the purposes for which they are brought that cause the most alarm. These include sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, benefit fraud, cannabis farming, street begging, theft and shoplifting. And a recent and sinister BBC report suggested at least 400 African children have been abducted and trafficked to the UK in the last four years, allegedly for witchcraft purposes.

Children identified as victims of trafficking in the UK are taken into local authority care, but as The Observer reported earlier this year, a disturbing number of these children simply go missing - often permanently, with many falling into the clutches of their abusers again.

That's why ECPAT UK has been working alongside The Body Shop (and indeed politicians from all parties) to campaign for the Government to establish a proper system of guardianship for the children who are victims of this appalling crime - delivering a 730,000-strong petition on the issue to Downing Street in May.

A guardian appointed to every victim would ensure that they get the right care, accommodation, education, healthcare and language support, and of particular importance, that the child has access to legal representation. This proposal is backed by the UN, and the UK Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. It is also a requirement of Article 16 of the new EU Directive on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting Victims, which the Coalition finally agreed to opt-in to in March.

Sadly, Ministers disagree - repeatedly arguing that Section 11 of the 2004 Children Act gives local authorities a statutory duty to ensure that they safeguard and promote the welfare of all children. Yet, this duty clearly isn't working, and how would Ministers know anyway? The Children's Minister Tim Loughton recently indicated in answer to a parliamentary question that the Government has no records of how many child trafficking victims are currently in care, or how many may have gone missing.

A proper system of guardianship would also help to increase the dismally low prosecution rate for trafficking offences against children - providing victims with the support they need through the prosecution process. But, the Attorney General - responsible for the CPS - made it quite clear in the Commons recently that the matter was outside of his remit. More worryingly, the CPS appears unable to track its own progress on the issue as it has admitted it 'has no records to identify how many prosecutions and convictions there have been of cases involving allegations of trafficking children'.

Despite the Government's attempts to take human trafficking seriously, all of this displays a worrying lack of joined-up thinking on the issue. What better way for Ministers to demonstrate they really are serious about tackling this growing problem - and indeed to mark Anti-Slavery Day 2011 - than to agree to establish a proper system of guardianship for child trafficking victims? It would not only change the lives of those vulnerable children, but also ensure that Wilberforce can rest in peace.

Follow Catherine McKinnell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/catmckinnellmp

PM urged to back trafficking moves - mirror.co.uk

Image via Wikipedia

9/02/2011

Prime Minister David Cameron should stop pandering to anti-European sentiments within his party and endorse an EU directive on sex trafficking, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper is to say.

Ms Cooper will condemn the Government's failure to back the measures which aim to co-ordinate European efforts to combat the trade in sex slaves.

She will also outline Labour's approach to tackling human trafficking as millions of people prepare to head to the UK for next year's Olympic Games.

The shadow home secretary will also raise concerns over changes to the UK Human Trafficking Centre and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) centre.

In her speech at the Stopping Traffick '11 conference in central London, Ms Cooper will say: "David Cameron must stop pandering to anti-European prejudices in some parts of his party and sign the directive.

"The Olympic Games, dismantling of the UK Human Trafficking Centre and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and the deep cuts to voluntary groups will all make ending trafficking of vulnerable women and girls a greater challenge. That's why the Government should back tough new measures and Europe-wide action."

She will add: "Now more than ever we need increased leadership and determined action from this Government if one of the most heinous crimes in today's society is to be stopped."

Conference organisers said almost 4,000 women are brought into the UK each year to work within the sex trade, but Britain was one of only two EU member states that have not opted into the directive.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "We are committed to tackling human trafficking and have already put in place many of the commitments that the directive requires.

"We are currently looking closely at the latest draft of the directive and considering its merits. If we conclude that opting in brings benefits to the UK, we will apply to do so."

Source: MIRROR.CO.UK
PM urged to back trafficking moves - mirror.co.uk

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London acts to safeguard trafficked children

Image via Wikipedia

Released on 07 February 2011

The London Safeguarding Children Board has launched a new set of guidance and tools to help agencies identify and support children who have been trafficked.

Trafficked children can be subjected to sexual exploitation, enforced labour or drug dealing, sold or forced to commit crime by the organised gangs or individuals who have brought them into the country or trafficked them between cities within the UK.

The London Safeguarding Children Board guidelines aim to support social workers, teachers, police, health workers and other professionals who may come into contact with suspected victims of trafficking.

To test how well the guidance and assessment tools worked in practice, a pilot scheme was carried out involving 12 local authorities, seven of which were in London. The trial was monitored by the London Safeguarding Children Board and a range of partner organisations, including representatives from the Home Office, CEOP, the UK Border Agency and UK Human Trafficking Centre, the Crown Prosecution Service and ECPAT UK.

A total of 56 children were identified during the 14-month pilot, 47 of whom were referred to the National Referral Mechanism, an official system set up following the UK Government’s ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

The main findings from the pilot are:

• Once a child is identified as being a victim of trafficking, immediate action must be taken before they go missing. 
• Awareness needs to be raised among the public and professionals who can sometimes underestimate the scale of the issue.
• Multiple interviews with various agencies can be traumatic for young victims of trafficking – a single multi-agency assessment is preferred.
• Teams of agencies need to work more closely together and be more proactive in sharing information quickly with organisations in neighbouring areas as well as the voluntary sector.

Following the pilot scheme, the London Safeguarding Children Board is publishing its Trafficked Children Guidance and Toolkit as a resource for all local authorities and other agencies which may come into contact with trafficked children.

Chair of the London Safeguarding Children Board, Cheryl Coppell said: “The pilot has provided a wealth of knowledge about how we can improve the safeguarding of children suspected of being trafficked.

“Trafficking is a complex form of child abuse and it is essential that agencies proactively work together to identify, assess and help trafficked children to recover from their ordeal.

“Trafficked children are at increased risk of significant harm because they are largely invisible to the professionals and volunteers who would be in a position to assist them. The adults who traffic them take trouble to ensure that the children do not come to the attention of the authorities, or disappear from contact with statutory services soon after arrival in the UK, or in a new area within the UK.

“There are very specific challenges surrounding trafficked children and there could be as little as a golden hour to take action to help them before they go missing.

“We have included the lessons learned from the pilot in our comprehensive guidance which we hope will be a valuable source of information and practical help for local authorities and their partners in safeguarding these vulnerable young people from further harm.”

Chief executive of the CEOP, Peter Davies said: “Child trafficking is a form of child abuse. CEOP identified 287 children from 47 countries trafficked into the UK in 2009-2010.  These children were subject to sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, exploitation in cannabis farms and compelled to perpetrate street crime.

"CEOP is committed to raising awareness of child trafficking among frontline workers in local authorities and their partners. We believe that the London Safeguarding Children Board guidance and toolkit will be an effective resource for the helping frontline workers identify and safeguard trafficked children.”‪‪

ENDS
For a copy of the London Safeguarding Children Board’s Safeguarding Trafficked Children Guidance and Toolkit, visit www.londonscb.gov.uk/trafficking

The 12 local authorities involved in the pilot were: Camden, Croydon, Glasgow, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kent, Manchester, Slough, Solihull and Southwark.

The UK Government’s ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in December 2008. Following this, a National Referral Mechanism was implemented for adults and children trafficked into and within the UK.

Through the Safeguarding Trafficked Children Sub Group, the London Board will continue to support agencies in their efforts to identify, safeguard and protect victims and break the networks that traffic and exploit children.

Source:LondonCouncils
London acts to safeguard trafficked children

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Child sex trafficking study sparks exaggerated racial stereotyping | Law | The Guardian

Authors of study pinpointing Pakistani gangs say that data from a small sample has been generalised

• Caroline Davies and Karen McVeigh
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 January 2011 18.50 GMT
• Article history



Authors of study on 'on-street grooming' in the north and Midlands, where young girls have been targeted on the streets and at school gates, are concerned their findings about Pakistani gangs have been generalised. Photograph: Gari Wyn Williams/Alamy

Researchers into child sex trafficking within the UK have warned of the dangers of racial stereotyping amid claims of a widespread problem of British Pakistani men exploiting under-age white girls.

Authors of the first independent academic analysis looking at "on-street grooming", where young girls, spotted outside, including at the school gates, have become targets, said they were concerned that data from a small, geographically concentrated, sample of cases had been "generalised to an entire crime type".

The authors, Helen Brayley and Ella Cockbain, from UCL's Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, said they were surprised their research, confined to just two police operations in the north and Midlands, which found perpetrators were predominantly but not exclusively from the British Pakistani community, had been cited in support of the claims that such offences were widespread.

Their comments follow claims that a culture of silence has impeded investigations into a hidden pattern of offending by British Pakistani gangs sexually abusing hundreds of young white girls.

The view points to the convictions of 56 men, all but three of whom were Asian and most from the British Pakistani community, found guilty of sexual offences involving on-street grooming. There have been 17 court cases in 13 urban areas in the north and Midlands since 1997.

The most recent case involved the conviction of nine men in November on sexual offence charges, relating to 27 victims in Derby, 22 of whom where white.

Nick Clegg has called such criminal pimping gangs "grotesque", and Keith Vaz, chair of the Commons home affairs committee, has called for a police inquiry.

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim youth organisation, has condemned the perpetrators, claiming they believed that "white girls have fewer morals" and are "less valuable" than Muslim girls.

But Brayley and Cockbaine, whose six-month study was cited as evidence, said they were worried that limited data had been extended "to characterise an entire crime type, in particular of race and gender". They challenged claims that white girls were deliberately sought out by offenders. "Though the majority … were white so too were the majority of local inhabitants." Comparing the percentage of white people in the areas with black and ethnic minorities, their data, they said, showed "black and ethnic minority girls over-represented among the victims".

They added: "This challenges the view that white girls are sought out by offenders, suggesting instead that convenience and accessibility may be the prime drivers for those looking for new victims."

Conclusions from their study were cited in an investigation by the Times into the subject, which sparked calls for Home Office research.

Hilary Willmer, of the Coalition for the Removal of Pimping, said that since 2002 her group had supported 400 families where girls were the victims of grooming and sex abuse by mainly Pakistani men. "The vast majority are white families and the perpetrators are Pakistani Asians. We think this is the tip of the iceberg." But she cautioned against treating the matter as a race crime. "It's a criminal thing."

According to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, in 2009, the victims were mainly "white British in their mid and late teens" but also Bangladeshi and Afro-Caribbean. Networks of "white British, British Asians and Kurds had been "identified" as internal traffickers, with ethnic and national background varied "between groups" and geography.

Source: guardian.co.uk

Child sex trafficking study sparks exaggerated racial stereotyping | Law | The Guardian

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Hundreds of children at risk as police fail to track and prosecute traffickers - Crime, UK - The Independent

Study identifies 'tip of the iceberg' as vulnerable young are smuggled into Britain for fraud, cannabis farming, prostitution, and slavery

By Emily Dugan

Sunday, 2 January 2011

Getty Images. Some 53 'trafficked' children disappeared from care; 42 are still missing

Criminals who traffic hundreds of children into and around the UK are not being adequately investigated or prosecuted, according to the country's leading child-protection unit.

Vulnerable children could be at risk thanks to a lack of knowledge and resources to catch their traffickers, a study from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) reveals. The report says that public sector cuts could exacerbate the situation, with two specialist police units in effect already closed.

Hundreds of children are smuggled into Britain every year and are used for slavery, prostitution or other crimes, according to the CEOP research seen by The Independent on Sunday. At least 287 children were identified as "potential victims" of trafficking between March 2009 and February 2010, a figure that experts say is likely to be the "tip of the iceberg".

More than a third of these children were brought to Britain for the sex trade, while some 18 per cent were made to cultivate cannabis. Children were also smuggled to be used for benefit fraud, forced labour, street crime or as domestic servants.

Some 53 trafficked children – almost one in five of the victims – subsequently went missing from care. Of these, 42 are still recorded as missing.

The report will increase pressure on the Government to sign up to the EU directive on human trafficking, which would make it easier to prosecute traffickers and protect victims.

Appointing independent guardians for child-trafficking victims was recommended by the study, to help prevent so many going missing from care. This is also one of the conditions of an EU directive to which Britain has refused to sign up.

Vietnam was the most common of the 47 countries of origin for trafficked children. The study found 58 Vietnamese child victims, the majority of whom were boys aged 13 to 17, exploited as "gardeners" to cultivate cannabis plants in factories.

The CEOP study, called Strategic Threat Assessment: Child Trafficking in the UK, called on the police to do more to tackle the crime: "The number of trafficking investigations and successful prosecutions must increase in order to act as a deterrent to traffickers," it said. "There are only a handful of UK police forces which have units designated and trained in running investigations into trafficking."

Christine Beddoe, director of End Child Trafficking and Prostitution UK, said: "All indications show that this is just the tip of the iceberg. What is worrying is that so few police forces are identifying trafficked children and prosecuting the traffickers.

"The alarming number of Vietnamese children being trafficked into the UK, yet with no traffickers being arrested, is a disgrace and signals an urgent call to action for police across the UK. The Home Secretary should be responding to Parliament about why so little is being done to protect these vulnerable children."

The Government has said it will launch an "action plan" on trafficking in the spring.

Join The IoS campaign

The Independent on Sunday is campaigning to persuade the Government to sign up to the EU directive on human trafficking. The directive will strengthen our laws to protect victims, and make it easier to prosecute those who enslave them. Readers can call on David Cameron and Nick Clegg to do the right thing by signing the petition on the campaigning website 38 Degrees.

To sign the petition, go to: www.38degrees.org.uk/stop-trafficking

Source: The Independent
Hundreds of children at risk as police fail to track and prosecute traffickers - Crime, UK - The Independent

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