The stories behind the stats
Human Trafficking has many faces. Every day people become trapped into situations of exploitation akin to slavery. They arrive there through deception or force; taken against their will and sold into any and every industry you can think of. Perhaps you have become a bit lost in a swirl of statistics. We can bandy around … Read more
Are you going to the Olympics? We are!
The Queens’ Golden Jubilee this weekend is a tiny insight into the madness and mayhem we are about to witness with the Olympics just around the corner. Yes, the countdown is on! In just 56 days’ time over 9 million people will descend on our capital to watch the world’s best athletes compete. It is … Read more
Olympic mascots made by Chinese workers in exploitative conditions
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic games (LOCOM) has strict ethical guidelines for Olympic suppliers, however, The Sun exposed that these are not being met. The Sun article states that the cuddly toy versions of the Olympic mascots, Mandeville and Wenlock, have been made in factories in China where workers are paid just … Read more
British sex gangs documentry on tonight
Dispatches documentry tonight at 10.30, channel 4 investigating British gangs grooming young girls for sex. The programme highlights the grooming of young girls for sexual exploitation, an issue linked closely to internal trafficking. True Vision describe the film on their website; Later this month the Minister for Children and Families will launch an action plan … Read more
UN Advisor slams government’s new trafficking strategy
“The UK government is taking the country’s anti-trafficking efforts in a dangerous direction, if its new strategy on tackling human trafficking published today is anything to go by.” This is the view of Steve Chalke MBE, founder of the charity STOP THE TRAFFIK and UN.GIFT Special Advisor on Community Action against Human Trafficking. Steve said, “The … Read more
Breaking the trafficking stereotype
Yesterday, a man who was found guilty of trafficking women out of the UK, was sentenced to 20 years in jail. This was the first prosecution of its kind in the UK. Before an attempt was made to traffick two girls, 14 and 16, out of the country, the girls were imprisoned in the man’s UK … Read more
Northern Ireland – Police can’t do it alone!
This week, a BBC investigation in Northern Ireland uncovered that up to £500,000 is spent every week on prostitution and police estimate there are 88 brothels in operation. Read more here. Police said gangs can make millions of pounds a year by trafficking women in to the country and exploiting them. Northern Ireland has a higher … Read more
Stolen – new BBC drama addresses child trafficking
Sunday 3rd July, BBC1 will air it’s new 90-minute drama Stolen, from award-winning director Justin Chadwick. Stolen follows the story of one man, Anthony, and three children. Anthony works in the Human Trafficking Unit, battling to make a difference to the plight of exploited children being smuggled into the UK and from there, to anywhere and … Read more
Trafficking in your country – 2011 TIP Report
This week the U.S. Department of State released their 2011 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report. What can you use the TIP for? The TIP is a good resource for trafficking information in countries all over the world. The 2011 report there are 184 countries listed and ranked. If you want to know about trafficking in … Read more
Traffickers no longer ‘sleep tight’ at Travelodge
Staff at the Wyndham Travelodge San Diego, California were recently in the news for being complicit in human trafficking activity operating from within the hotel. One activist heard about it on the news and started a campaign through Change.org It can be hard to imagine that the slightly run down B&B around the corner from … Read more
Who works at the cannabis farm next door?
The Observer thinks the authorities are failing, but could communities also do more to identify potential cases of trafficking? Recently the Observer highlighted the case of Hien, a 14 year old from Vietnam who was trafficked into the UK. Hien was picked up at Heathrow by the British authorities and was put into care … Read more
What are your favourite trafficking films?
A team of New York University (NYU) postgraduate students are getting ready to film Brave Girl, which will tell the story of Bumika, a 13-year old Nepali girl, who is trying to “change the heart of a kidnapper before her fate is out of her control.” We are really excited about this film! With each … Read more
Are you as lucky as Kate?
Today is the big day! If you’ve been following the wedding, you’ve no doubt heard of at least one or two odd souvenirs being sold and the numerous ways people are showing their enthusiasm for the happy couple on their impending nuptials. Many well wishers have made their way to London to camp outside Westminster … Read more
Confused by the price of chocolate
Today dear readers, I am a little confused. For the last few months, we have been following news coming form the Ivory Coast very closely and something occurred to me over the weekend. When countries supplying the world with oil are a touch turbulent (e.g. Iraq / Libya ….) oil prices soar. Over a … Read more
Bloody cocoa in Cote d’Ivoire
People have been asking me what our take is on what’s going on in Cote d’Ivoire at the moment. Is the unrest there affecting the trafficking of kids onto the plantations? What is our response? I want to take some time explaining it, but in a way that is short and simple to understand … Read more
E-learning tools launched on International Woman’s day
On International Women’s Day a joint e-learning initiative between Metropolitan Housing Partnership (MHP) and STOP THE TRAFFIK was launched to educate and raise awareness of human trafficking among authorities, communities, and the public. These e-learning modules explain what human trafficking is, the signs of trafficking people should look out for, and what people can do … Read more
Women of the world UNITE!
Today is International Woman’s Day! Today is the day we put our feet up and celebrate the very simple fact that we are and (in most cases) always will be women. Wondering what to write, the women in our office tried to think of reasons why it is great to be a woman. Ourlist started … Read more
mmmmMars bars in Australia!
Last week (Monday 28th February 2011) MARS in Australia announced their lovely MARS bars in Australia will carry the Rainforest Alliance logo as of June 2011. This followed a campaign where STOP THE TRAFFIK Australia sent 30,000 postcards to supporters who then urged MARS to roll out a product that uses cocoa certified as ‘traffik … Read more
Global Newsround 01.03.2011
Argentina In an attempt to curtail human trafficking within it’s borders, the Argentinean government is considering punishing anyone who pays for sex. The proposal has started a heated debate between women’s rights groups and sex workers. The Association of Women Prostitutes stress the difference between sex work where consent is given, and trafficking which they … Read more
Child sex abuse images: A linguistic revolution
Right, here goes. Let’s cause linguistic mayhem. I am sure most people reading this (hi mum!) are familiar with and may have used, terms like ‘child pornography’, ‘child prostitution’ and ‘underage prostitute’ (erhem Silvio Berlusconi). Well, I reckon it’s time we stopped. The words prostitution, prostitute and pornography are normalised and common in most societies … Read more
‘Have a Heart Nestlé’ Twitter Awards
In the run up to Valentine’s day, people from all over the world used love poems and Valentine’s messages on Twitter to tell Nestlé to ‘Have A Heart’ and put an end to trafficked labour in their supply chains. We thought we’d give some public recognition to the literary genius of STOP THE TRAFFIK supporters … Read more
Global News 28/01/2011
Indonesia The client looks through the photos and contacts the website administrator when they’ve decided which one they’d like to purchase. It’s the kind of online shopping that happens every second of every day across the internet. But this time it’s different. The website? A Facebook group. The site administrator? A human trafficker. The products … Read more
STOP THE TRAFFIK seeks Communications Intern!
STOP THE TRAFFIK are looking for a new voluntary COMMUNICATIONS intern to join their busy (yet dynamic) team! The post lasts 4 months and is based in the London, UK office. Areas of responsibility and specific duties: To work closely with the team on the daily administration of STOP THE TRAFFIK including responding … Read more
Global News 19/01/2011
By Simon Butcher Argentina / Holland One of the largest agri-industry companies in the world – the Dutch grain merchant Nidera – has been accused of human trafficking. Argentinean authorities raided a Nidera plantation near Buenos Aires, where 133 seasonal workers, beleived to be trafficking victims, were found to be working in shocking conditions. The company are … Read more
Father and Son Trafficking Team Convicted
Marius Nejloveanu and his father, Bogdan, have been convicted of trafficking 5 women from Romania to Manchester, UK. The victims were originally told that they could earn up to £1000 a month working in a bar. But after arriving in the country, the father and son team forced them into prostitution, making them see up to … Read more
Training the Protectors
By Simon Butcher Heather Nesbitt is a former police officer who has been involved in investigating trafficking cases. She has written candidly for STOP THE TRAFFIK from her own personal experience on why it is so important for those people tasked with protecting trafficking victims to be adequately trained. “My journey started many years ago … Read more
Poverty and Human Trafficking: Myth-Busting
By Simon Butcher Last week, the Institute for Trafficked, Exploited and Missing Persons (ITEMP) published a new report identifying poverty as the root cause of human trafficking. “By finding the roots of the problem, we can begin to look for permanent solutions,” ITEMP Director of Operations Charles Moore said. You can perhaps imagine the scene: … Read more
Global News 13/01/2011
Ohio, US The manager of Starbucks in Cleveland, Ohio said he was unaware of what was going on. Staff swiping a few dollars from the till for themselves? Giving their favourite customers and extra marshmallow? Customers writing graffiti on the toilet door? No – on all three counts. He was unaware that when a man, … Read more
UK Sex Gangs – It’s about cash not culture
The British media could never be accused of shying away from a race row. But if there was ever an instance where bringing race into the equation was entirely unnecessary, unhelpful and unproductive, it’s here. Last week, The Times newspaper featured a leading article examining the increasing number of cases of internal trafficking in parts … Read more
Global News 06/01/2011
France “It feels like we have broken up a completely medieval gang structure.” Those were the words of a clearly quite taken-aback Parisian police chief. A Bosnian man, Fehmi Hamidovic, is believed to be behind this operation which trafficked young girls from the Balkans to the French capital for the purposes of forced begging and … Read more
