Category Archives: Trafficking

14 March 2023 17:30 ~ The Ruth Adler Human Rights Lecture 2023 – Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh – Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh

The Ruth Adler Human Rights Lecture 2023 – Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh, the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children.

  • A King Khalid Lecture Theatre Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Nicolson Street Edinburgh EH8 9DW
  • Ends 19:30
  • Free (*)

The Ruth Adler Human Rights Lecture

Speaker: Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh, the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children

About the Speaker:

Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh (The Gambia) was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2020. She started her mandate on 1 May 2020.

Ms Singhateh is a trained lawyer with over 20 years of experience, currently working as an international Consultant on human rights and legal and institutional reforms. She holds a master’s degree in International Business Law from the University of Hull and has undergone numerous trainings in child rights programming, arbitration and mediation, and legislative drafting. She is a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, in the UK.

Ms Singhateh has held a number of high-level positions in public service in the Gambia. She is a former Justice Minister and has held positions as prosecutor, legislative draftsperson, High Court Judge and Justice of Appeal. She has drafted laws, organized and conducted many training sessions, delivered presentations at both national and international fora and written articles and reports on many issues relating to protection and promotion of human rights, particularly on the rights of the child. As Minister of Justice, Ms Singhateh personally supervised and oversaw the drafting of the laws that prohibit and criminalize female genital mutilation and child marriage, and successfully presented them in Parliament for enactment in 2016.

Learn more about Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh’s work on the UN Website. https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-sale-of-children

About the Event:

The Ruth Adler lecture series was inaugurated in 2008 at Edinburgh Law School in memory of lecturer and human rights activist Ruth Adler. Ruth’s work was fundamental in instituting women’s rights and children’s rights in Scotland, establishing multiple organisations in both of these areas. The Ruth Adler Lecture has become an important event in the Human Rights Calendar in Scotland. The series has included high-profile lectures from Philippe Sands, Shami Chakrabarti and Professor Bryan Stevenson.

This lecture will be followed by a reception where you may have the opportunity to meet and network with other attendees.

(*) Please register https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ruth-adler-human-rights-lecture-2023-ms-mama-fatima-singhateh-tickets-518608541107

 

March 10, 2023

14 March 2023 17:30 ~ The Ruth Adler Human Rights Lecture 2023 – Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh – Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh

The Ruth Adler Human Rights Lecture 2023 – Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh, the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children.

  • A King Khalid Lecture Theatre Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Nicolson Street Edinburgh EH8 9DW
  • Ends 19:30
  • Free (*)

The Ruth Adler Human Rights Lecture

Speaker: Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh, the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children

About the Speaker:

Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh (The Gambia) was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2020. She started her mandate on 1 May 2020.

Ms Singhateh is a trained lawyer with over 20 years of experience, currently working as an international Consultant on human rights and legal and institutional reforms. She holds a master’s degree in International Business Law from the University of Hull and has undergone numerous trainings in child rights programming, arbitration and mediation, and legislative drafting. She is a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, in the UK.

Ms Singhateh has held a number of high-level positions in public service in the Gambia. She is a former Justice Minister and has held positions as prosecutor, legislative draftsperson, High Court Judge and Justice of Appeal. She has drafted laws, organized and conducted many training sessions, delivered presentations at both national and international fora and written articles and reports on many issues relating to protection and promotion of human rights, particularly on the rights of the child. As Minister of Justice, Ms Singhateh personally supervised and oversaw the drafting of the laws that prohibit and criminalize female genital mutilation and child marriage, and successfully presented them in Parliament for enactment in 2016.

Learn more about Ms Mama Fatima Singhateh’s work on the UN Website. https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-sale-of-children

About the Event:

The Ruth Adler lecture series was inaugurated in 2008 at Edinburgh Law School in memory of lecturer and human rights activist Ruth Adler. Ruth’s work was fundamental in instituting women’s rights and children’s rights in Scotland, establishing multiple organisations in both of these areas. The Ruth Adler Lecture has become an important event in the Human Rights Calendar in Scotland. The series has included high-profile lectures from Philippe Sands, Shami Chakrabarti and Professor Bryan Stevenson.

This lecture will be followed by a reception where you may have the opportunity to meet and network with other attendees.

(*) Please register https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ruth-adler-human-rights-lecture-2023-ms-mama-fatima-singhateh-tickets-518608541107

 

March 10, 2023

Bust the Business Model: How to stop sex trafficking and sexual exploitation – APPG on Commercial Sexual Exploitation

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Commercial Sexual Exploitation has launched Bust the Business Model – a report and website on how to stop sex trafficking and sexual exploitation in the UK.

The UK is currently a high-profit, low-risk destination for sex traffickers. Pimping websites operate free from criminal sanction, enabling sex traffickers to quickly and easily advertise their victims to sex buyers; and the small minority of men who pay for sex do so with impunity, fuelling organised crime and causing untold harm to victims.

Bust the Business Model provides comprehensive evidence of the need for legislative action to reduce demand for sexual exploitation, hold perpetrators to account and provide support – not sanctions – for victims. The report also tackles common myths and misinformation about approaches to combatting sexual exploitation.

https://www.bustthebusinessmodel.org/

May 5, 2021

Government failing child victims of trafficking – ECPAT UK

The government is failing in its treatment of child victims of trafficking in a hostile immigration system, according to shocking new data obtained by ECPAT UK under the Freedom of Information Act ahead of the 10 year anniversary of the UK’s Anti-Slavery Day.

The data shows that 4,695 adults and children subject to immigration control were confirmed as victims of trafficking in the four-year period of 2016-2019. However just 28 child victims were granted discretionary leave to remain in the UK.

The Home Office failed to reveal how many of the 4,695 victims were children, but annual statistics on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism – the UK’s system for identifying victims of trafficking –  show that in these four years, children comprised nearly half of all people identified as potential victims.

Child victims of trafficking who have been confirmed as victims by the National Referral Mechanism may be granted discretionary leave outside of the UK’s immigration rules, in recognition of their specific needs and vulnerabilities.

In these cases, the Home Office should automatically consider a grant of discretionary leave in line with children’s rights under domestic and international law. Additionally, the period of leave should be long enough to provide each child with a ‘durable solution’ – a long term outcome in line with their best interests.

However, the FOI data showed the vast majority of both adult and child victims are only granted discretionary leave for periods of up to 12 months. For children, such a short grant of leave is rarely in their best interests as it does not provide the stability they need to stay safe and recover from the trauma and abuse they have experienced.

Furthermore, the FOI data showed that of the total number of victims of trafficking granted asylum and humanitarian protection, children were underrepresented; comprising just 20.7% of those granted asylum and 29% of those granted humanitarian protection.

The data does not provide information on the number of young victims of trafficking granted ‘UASC’ leave as unaccompanied children seeking asylum, which lasts two years or until a young person turns 17-and-a-half; whichever period is shorter.

However from our direct work with trafficked young people we know that many are granted this form of leave as a ‘stop gap’ measure which leaves them in constant anxiety as to their futures, and is highly unsuitable due to the specific need for stability among those who have suffered substantial trauma.

It is well established that immigration insecurity is a significant driver of trafficked and unaccompanied young people going missing from care, which can indicate they are being (re)trafficked.

Part of a longer press release at https://www.ecpat.org.uk/news/government-failing-child-victims-of-trafficking-exclusive-data-reveals

See also:

October 22, 2020

Surge in child exploitation cases – Children and Young People Now

The number of suspected cases of child exploitation in the UK rose by nearly half last year, latest figures show.

Annual data from the National Crime Agency on the number of people referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – the system used to identify UK trafficking cases – shows there has been a 45 per cent increase in the number of children identified as potential victims over the past year.

A total of 4,550 children were identified by UK authorities as potential victims of trafficking in 2019, up from 3,137 in 2018. Additionally, nearly half of all victims identified were children – in line with findings from the previous year.

Professionals working with vulnerable children they suspect of being exploited are required to report cases to the NRM. Once reported, cases are assessed with support put in place for those that are confirmed.

The vast majority of child victims were from the UK, however significant numbers of children from Vietnam, Eritrea, Albania and Sudan were identified as potential victims.

In 2019, three quarters of all children identified as potential victims were boys, although campaigners say this is likely to be due to increased recognition of male victims of child criminal exploitation (CCE).

In October 2019, labour exploitation and CCE were recorded as separate exploitation types, having previously been grouped together. This reflected the increased threat posed by criminal gangs towards children, particularly through county lines drugs activity.

Data for the final three months of 2019 shows there were 664 referrals just for CCE and a further 138 in which CCE was suspected alongside other forms of exploitation – meaning CCE accounted for 56 per cent of all exploitation in that quarter.

Campaign group ECPAT UK said the rise in the number of suspected child cases had been driven by increased identification of CCE including “county lines”.

Laura Duran, senior policy and research officer at ECPAT UK, said: “Yet again we’re seeing a rise in the number of children identified as potential victims but no accompanying resourcing of support for those affected.

“These numbers represent only those identified as potential victims by professionals – we know that the true number of victims is likely to be significantly higher, so we can expect these figures to continue to rise each year.”

Iryna Pona, policy manager at The Children’s Society, said the “shocking” figures should “ring alarm bells”, but were likely to be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to showing the number of children trafficked.

“Too often children at risk are not identified and knowledge of the NRM remains patchy among professionals,” she said.

“The rise in referrals reflects how vulnerable children are being targeted by criminal groups, including for county lines operations – in which criminals cynically groom them using drugs, alcohol and promises of status and wealth then coerce them with terrifying threats, violence and sexual abuse.”

Pona warned that criminals could take advantage of the coronavirus crisis to target children who may be isolated from their usual support networks or missing supervision and support offered by school, college and other education settings.

“Schools and social care should work together to ensure all vulnerable pupils have support from a trusted professional who can check on their wellbeing and help keep them safe at the current time – and that all can attend education wherever possible,” she added.

Analysis by the Local Government Association last year showed the number of children referred to the NRM had risen by 800 per cent since 2014.

https://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/article/surge-in-child-exploitation-cases

See also:

 

April 9, 2020