It Happens Here…
Today the Centre for Social Justice released a report “It Happens Here” detailing what they call a ‘shameful’ failure to address human trafficking in the UK. This report calls for a more victim centred approach and comprehensive training of professionals. If this has caught your attention and you want to know how you can respond … Read more
A smokey sweet global news round
Smokey Activists in Africa are upset about the government’s decision to promote tobacco production but not just because smoking is predicted to be the leading cause of deaths worldwide by 2030 killing 8 million people a year. Tanzania has already seen an increase in trafficking onto tobacco plantations so if there is an increased … 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
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
Global News Round 13.05.2011
Czech Republic As immigration policy gets stricter, human trafficking increases in the Czech Republic. The country has a history of being associated with trafficking but its association is changing form. Where it once was a transit point and trafficking to the Czech Republic was mostly for sexual exploitation, the country is now becoming a destination … Read more
GLOBAL News Round 18.4.2011
Trinidad and Tobago Three Indian men, who are victims of a human trafficking ring in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), are pleading to go home. The men were lured to T&T by a job advert in India offering work in granite and marble fabrication. When they arrived in T&T their passports were confiscated and they were … 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
GLOBAL News Round 25.3.2011
Trinidad and Tobago The Slave Trade Act was passed 204 years ago today. In T&T they are commemorating the day with the inaugural celebration of Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In recognition of the day, the Caribbean Umbrella Body for Restorative Behaviour (Curb) has launched an online network which they hope will help end human trafficking and … Read more
UK opts in to EU Directive!
Good news! Today, the UK government decided to opt in to the EU Directive on human trafficking, which requires awareness-raising campaigns and education programmes. More good news! STOP THE TRAFFIK has been, and will continue to, do just what they are asking for! We are raising awareness and educating our communities not only in the … Read more
GLOBAL News Round 12.3.2011
Jamaica One man: It is rare that victims of trafficking are willing to come forward and help the police but one Indian man has. He became a victim of human trafficking by the hands of the company previously employed for and has stepped up to help the police in Kingston to fight forced labour. After … 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
Global News 08/02/2011
Zimbabwe “They put you on the phone and beat you up while your relatives are listening.” Established, organised criminal gangs specialising in human trafficking, known locally as Omalaitsha, have flourished under President Mugabe. Working in conjunction with the Guma Guma gang, which is described as “a brutal network of border control thugs”, the Omalaitsha traffik … 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
Global News 20/12/2010
China In the shadows of the skyscrapers and shopping malls that mark China’s economic transformation, homelessness is increasingly rife. You’d think that homeless shelters would be integral to tackling this growing problem – but reports from Beijing suggest that one such shelter has been exploiting the very people it claimed to be supporting. 11 residents … Read more
Global News 15/12/2010
Iceland A lot of people have pointed out that the recent publication by WikiLeaks of US Embassy cables doesn’t seem to have told us much we didn’t already know about the world. But there’s no doubting it will give rise to a few rather awkward conversations and several red faces in diplomatic circles. It appears … Read more
Global News 25/11/2010
Thailand / US If you want a ‘happy ending’, it depends, of course, on where you stop your story. This article from the LA Times is a perfect example. A Thai victim of human trafficking who has just been reunited with his family at LA International Airport after 6 years describes it as the most … Read more
Global News 18/11/2010
US Last week in New York, the UN launched a fund which will provide legal, humanitarian and financial aid to victims of human trafficking. Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon summed up the plight faced by trafficking victims quite neatly: “Many victims end up stranded, friendless… and may not ask for help because they … Read more
Global News 04/11/2010
US Baseball is not a thing that I know much about, or have ever really paid much attention to. I remember playing it a few times in PE lessons at school and recall the teacher instructing me to “swing really hard in case I hit it”. I feel that this teacher may have failed to … Read more
Global News
South East Asia: A series of successful arrests has hopefully brought to an end a human trafficking operation that spanned Thailand and Laos. A police raid on a bar led to the discovery of 12 Laotian girls being held in a Holiday Inn hotel in Muang Lop Buri. This raises the question yet again of … Read more
Exploitation of labor rights in Chocolate production is ongoing
The worst forms of child labor, forced labor and trafficking of children have not been eradicated yet, on the contrary, a newly released study gives real evidence about the widespread practices and the ineffectiveness of the industry’s efforts. Nine years ago, a voluntary agreement called the Harkin-Engel Protocol was signed by the cocoa and chocolate … Read more
Diamonds- until death do us part
You’ve probably heard the phrase ”Blood Diamond” before. Possibly you’ve seen the film. And if you’re even vaguely familiar with the subject, you’d probably wish you didn’t know that beneath the sparkle of a ‘girl’s best friend’, lies a very unsettling contradiction. In Zimbabwe, like in many parts of Africa, diamonds are seen as a major … Read more
Global News
Benin- 87 traffickers have been prosecuted and jailed the National Agency for the Prohibition for Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) while it has also rehabilitated more than 4,000 victims since establishing in 2003. There are many Nigerian women forced in the sex industry in Europe (around 10,000 in Italy alone). A project has been commissioned for … Read more
Global News 17/09/2010
PHILIPPINES-268 human trafficking victims, some of them minors, have been rescued from from 10 bars and night clubs in Pampanga. The Philippines is in danger of losing about $250-million in aid from the US if it does not improve prosecution of trafficking cases. Since 2003, only 23 cases led to convictions. ENGLAND- An Indian man … Read more
Global Newsround 10/09/2010
Honolulu – a company victimized nearly 900 Thai workers, more than double the 400 cited in a grand jury indictment that alleges forced labour at farms in Hawaii and on the mainland. The CEO of the company that provided the workers has had bail set at $1million. Belfast – a crime gang controlled by a Scottish … Read more
Reverse Trick or Treating
Halloween 2010 is just around the corner, are that means you can participate in the Fourth Annual Reverse Trick-or-Treating! This year, make an even bigger difference for cocoa growing communities. Forced labor in the cocoa industry will not end unless EACH ONE OF US takes action! Reverse Trick-or-Treating is an initiative launched by Global Exchange. … Read more
Global Newsround 03/09/10
Spain- police have broken up a human-trafficking ring for male prostitution, the first case of its kind. The alleged victims were given stimulant drugs to make them available for sex 24 hours a day. U.S.- in another unusual case, a bondsman has been arrested in an unusual charge of forced labor after he was accused … Read more
Global News 27/07/10
SWEDEN - 8 people were charged with trafficking 10 African women, intimidating them into prostitution by using means of vodoo and debt bondage. A 16 year old girl was forced to continue to pay half of her earnings even after her debt was repaid. GREECE- 2 Bulgarian nationals have been arrested and charged with human trafficking along with … Read more
