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
Land of Hope and… Apathy?
One of my favourite comics is a series of sketches called ‘The British Character’, produced in the satirical magazine Punch during the 1930s. As the name suggests, it’s a brilliant send-up of the oddities of “British” personalities. In one particular sketch, captioned “Political Apathy”, a scruffy political enthusiast tries in vain to provoke some passion in … Read more
PCC, easy as 1-2-3
Allo, allo, allo… Just one day until PCC elections take place across most of the UK! Regarded by some as ‘the biggest shake-up in years’ for UK policing, the elections are certainly sparking debate, with many questioning the allegiance of candidates, who are typically aligned with political parties. Partisan politics aside, the PCC elections pose … Read more
Castles, Cannabis and Constables: The PCC Elections
They say that “an Englishman’s home is his castle”. I don’t know what you think of when you hear the word castle. For me it awakens memories of drizzly days walking around remote fortresses with huge unfriendly walls and neat, lavish interiors. The sort of place where you could live in undisturbed solitude for years … Read more
Where does the buck stop?
The stark link between big business and human trafficking was hard to ignore this week in the Guardian report of ‘trafficked and beaten’ workers collecting chickens for Freedom foods. In a joint operation between Kent police, the GLA and the Serious Organised Crime Agency 30 Lithuanian workers were liberated from a gangmaster company in Kent. … Read more
NEW Community Roadshows for 2012!
Last year we kicked off our community roadshows and what a few months we’ve had! We travelled all over the country and delivered 7 roadshows in Sussex, Surrey, Hertfordshire, West Midlands, and London. Over 500 people came along to find out about human trafficking, how it affects their area and what they can do to … 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
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
Cut the strings of the trafficking puppet masters
Today, the London Metropolitan Police are spreading the word around London about their new human trafficking hotline which we hope will encourage victims and those who may know of victims to help cut the strings of their puppet-master traffickers. STOP THE TRAFFIK are really excited to work with the Met police on this project. With … 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
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
Newsround 9/7/10
Canada – 11 women rescued from forced prostitution in massage parlour A popular Richmond Hill massage parlour has been raided over the weekend. 11 women were found inside, however only one was willing to give a statement against the men who police believe were running the parlour. The women were forced to provide sexual services … Read more
Anti-Trafficking Report DAMNS UK Measures on Trafficking
The Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group has just released a report criticizing UK measures to protect trafficking victims. It concludes the UK has not established a system led by the idea that a person who has been trafficked has been the victim of abuse and needs a recovery period before being exposed to the rigours of the … Read more
GLOBAL NEWSROUND 04/06/10
GLOBAL NEWSROUND 04/06/10 CORRUPTION IN MEXICO: IMMIGRATION AGENTS CHARGED WITH TRAFFICKING 13 former Mexican National Migration agents are pending trial on human-trafficking charges. They were arrested in March at Cancun airport for allegedly belonging to a ring that brought Chinese into the country via the Beijing-Italy-Cuba-Cancun route. The Caribbean resort city of Cancun is a … Read more
Global Newsround 27/05/10
RYDER CUP: SEX TRAFFICKING WARNING The increase in trafficking around major sporting events has led to an increased risk of women and children trafficked to Wales for the sex trade for the Ryder Cup golf tournament in Newport from 1-3 October. A new report called “Knowing No Boundaries” said that Greece had licensed a large … Read more
Global Newsround 21/05/2010
ONLINE PROTEST MAKES CHOCOLATE GIANT CUT ITS DEFORESTATION FOOTPRINT STOP THE TRAFFIK thinks the Greenpeace campaign -that has seen Nestlé succumb to eco-friendly palm oil- is a great illustration of what community action can achieve through the power of new media campaigns by NGOs, which can galvanise multinationals in a way that was not possible … Read more
2. What if…?
…a landlord realised their property was being used as a cannabis farm, and the Vietnamese teenager living there had been trafficked and would be arrested by the police upon discovery?
Global Newsround 13/05/2010
LONDON BROTHEL OWNERS FACE JAIL Following a series of raids last July, Michael Dalton, 44 and Nikki Chen 56, were convicted this week by Croydon Crown Court for controlling prostitution for gain. The couple trafficked women from China to work in the brothels and told their families they would be at risk if they tried … Read more
What will the government approach to human trafficking be in 2009?
In November 2008, the announcement that London’s Metropolitan Police’s Human Trafficking team would have its Home Office funding cut from April 2009 represented a major setback to official efforts to fight human trafficking in the UK. The Human Trafficking Team was young, set up as recently as March 2007 and the news of its closure came soon after the … Read more
Closure of the Metropolitan Police’s Human Trafficking Team
It has recently been announced that the Metropolitan Police’s Human Trafficking Team will not receive government funding after April 2009. STOP THE TRAFFIK sees this as a major setback in UK efforts to bring offenders to justice and rehabilitate the victims of human trafficking. The decision to close the Team has been criticised by members of parliament, … Read more
