Category Archives: Trafficking

9 October 2019 9:00 ~ CEASE Summit 2019 – Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) UK – London

  • Until 16:30 @ Central Hall Westminster, Storey’s Gate, London SW1H 9NH
  • Tickets £15 – £35 (*)

CEASE UK 2019 is about exposing links between all forms of sexual exploitation and the vast global sex industry.

We believe that will never see an end to sexual abuse and exploitation until we challenge the industries that profit from turning women into objects and turning sex into a commodity.

We believe that we must speak out about the harms of hypersexualised culture in order to transform our society into a place that upholds and respects the dignity, humanity and worth of every last person.

If this is an issue you care about, come to CEASE 2019 and hear diverse speakers including survivors, academics, activists, MPs, lawyers and charity workers offering unique and fascinating insights into the latest research, news and developments.

  • Discover more about the interconnectedness of different forms of sexual exploitation
  • Gain unique and diverse perspectives on how to address the drivers and underlying causes of abuse
  • Get updates on the latest news, initiatives and developments

For more details, see our web page for the CEASE Summit 2019.

(*) Book tickets online at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cease-summit-2019-tickets-64665694834

CEASE UK: Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation (UK)

CEASE UK is a national independent charity committed to exposing the connections between all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse.

We believe that effective approaches to tackling this issue requires a robust analysis that takes consideration of the insidious influences that affect social norms, assumptions and behaviours. Many of the abuses we’re witnessing today- everything from child sexual exploitation to rape and sexual assault- are driven in the powerful influence of hypersexualisation, pornography and the commercial sex trade. What’s defended as benign fantasy and a matter of individual choice causes real harm to individuals, communities and to society as a whole.

What we do

Through the presentation of robust and relevant facts, research and information, including through strategic cooperation with other charities, organisations and policy makers, we seek to:

  • Expose the links between different forms of sexual exploitation, promoting joined-up thinking and preventing silos.
  • Explore how pornography and the global sex trade are direct and indirect drivers of sexual exploitation.
  • Highlight the harmful influence of pornography and the global sex trade on cultural and social norms and attitudes (for example hypersexualisation, the sexual objectification of women and the commodification of sex).

August 28, 2019

Charities find lack of Home Office support is placing trafficking victims at risk of further exploitation – British Red Cross

  • New report finds that recognised survivors of trafficking are facing homelessness, psychological trauma and re-trafficking due to lack of support
  • The British Red Cross, Ashiana and Hestia have joined forces to call on Government departments to work better together to implement policies that guarantee improved care for survivors of trafficking
  • The charities are demanding that victims are given at least 12 months of specialist support to prevent them falling back into the hands of traffickers

Charities say they are concerned that victims of trafficking are being forced into homelessness, destitution and further exploitation due to the lack of support available to them.

New research from the British Red Cross, London-based Hestia and Sheffield-based Ashiana reveals that the Home Office policy of giving recognised survivors of trafficking only 45 days of accommodation and financial support leaves them facing poverty and struggling to cope with complex mental health needs.

According to the research, those without UK or EU nationality are placed at the most risk as they have no automatic right to remain in the UK after the Home Office has accepted them as being survivors of trafficking. As a result, they are ineligible for many forms of support such as healthcare, secure accommodation and mental health treatment.

Freedom of Information data obtained by the British Red Cross found that 752 people recognised as survivors of trafficking between 2015 and 2017 had no right to remain in the UK and therefore were unable to access permanent accommodation, mental health support and financial assistance.

The British Red Cross, which is one of the few organisations providing emergency support to people when they leave exploitation, has worked alongside specialist support organisations Hestia and Ashiana over the past 12 months to pilot a model of long-term support to survivors of trafficking across the UK.

The pilot found that the lack of suitable permanent accommodation available to non-UK/EU nationals is exacerbating the mental ill-health of survivors and putting them at an unreasonable risk of re-trafficking.

Half of those supported by the project were female survivors of sexual exploitation, yet most had previously been placed in mixed-sex accommodation where male guests had unregulated access to the property – putting them at risk of further exploitation.

Repeated re-housing also resulted in survivors – 66% of which had mental health needs – having substantial difficulties accessing treatment and repeatedly having to go to the bottom of waiting lists. What’s more, over half of those supported by the pilot had children yet their needs were rarely considered in decisions made about their parent, with repeated moves having a negative impact on the children’s wellbeing and education.

The three charities are now using the findings to call on the government agencies to create care pathways that place the survivors of trafficking at their heart. The includes the Home Office to provide tailored support for at least one year to anyone recognised as a survivor of trafficking under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – the UK Government’s process for determining whether someone is a survivor of modern slavery – as well as leave to remain in the UK for at least 30 months to give people the time to recover and receive the help they need.

The call comes a month after the Home Office, facing a judicial review of their current policy, were forced to accept that longer-term support is needed for victims of trafficking. But details of what this system will look like are still to be announced.

What was the pilot project between the British Red Cross, Ashiana and Hestia? 

Ashiana, Hestia and the British Red Cross partnered to deliver 12-months of support to survivors of trafficking. Between us we helped 70 people between February 2018 and May 2019, ensuring that they had access to specialist mental health support, links to employment, English language classes and safe accommodation.

How was the research carried out?

The research focused on exploring the impact of long-term support on survivors of trafficking; what helped and hindered survivors of trafficking as they recovered from their experiences; and whether longer-term support reduces the specific vulnerability of women survivors to gender-related violence, abuse, exploitation and disempowerment.

The report was led by the British Red Cross involved reviews of the cases of the 70 people supported through the programme; qualitative interviews with staff members and survivors of trafficking; and the analysis of data from a tool that assessed the wellbeing of survivors.

What are key recommendations?

  1. People who have been found to be survivors of trafficking should continue to receive tailored, person-centred support that helps them to rebuild their lives after they have left the NRM, irrespective of their immigration status
  2. Survivors should be protected and given security, through the grant of immigration status of at least 30 months.
  3. People who have been found to be survivors of trafficking should be able to access secure, appropriate long-term accommodation.
  4. People leaving the NRM with a negative conclusive grounds decision should have a care pathway in place to help the access advice

Part of a longer Press Release at https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/press-releases/lack-of-home-office-support-places-trafficked-victims-at-risk

August 1, 2019

30 August 2019 ~ Submit Evidence – Inquiry into trafficking for sexual exploitation – APPG on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade – Closing date

A cross-party panel, led by MPs Frank Field and Maria Miller and Baroness Butler-Sloss, has launched an inquiry into trafficking for sexual exploitation in England and Wales. The inquiry, a follow-up to the Government’s commissioned review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, is investigating whether the legal framework of Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) makes it a more attractive destination for those involved in trafficking adults for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

If you would like to submit evidence to this inquiry, please send your answers to the questions below to modernslaveryactreview@gmail.com 

  1. Name and organisation (if relevant)
  2. What impact do current laws relating to prostitution and modern slavery have on the scale and nature of trafficking for sexual exploitation into and around England and Wales?
  3. How could the Government improve the laws to reduce trafficking for sexual exploitation?

The word limit for submissions is 1500 words.

The deadline for written submissions to the inquiry is Friday 30 August 2019.

https://appgprostitution.uk/events/traffickinginquiry/

 

July 25, 2019

1 in 6 trafficked and unaccompanied children in care are reported missing in the UK – ECPAT and Missing People

Two leading UK charities, ECPAT UK and Missing People, have released a new report warning that trafficked and unaccompanied children are 30 times more likely to go missing than other children their age.

Additionally, in 2017, trafficked and unaccompanied children went missing from care on average 7 times, highlighting grave safeguarding failures on the part of local authorities.

Still in Harm’s Way follows on from the charities’ ground-breaking Heading Back to Harm report, which highlighted the alarming number of trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care – with many never found.

Using new data, Still in Harm’s Way reports that in 2017:

  • 1 in 4 (24%) trafficked children were reported as going missing from care (246 of 1,015)
  • 15% of unaccompanied children were reported as going missing from care (729 of 4,765)
  • 190 children had not been found; almost 20% of the total number of trafficked and unaccompanied children reported missing (975)

The charities found that trafficked and unaccompanied children are much more likely to go missing than other children, including other looked after children. Over 1 in 6 (975 of 5,780) trafficked and unaccompanied children were reported missing in 2017; nearly 30 times the rate of other children, and almost double the rate of other looked after children, of whom just over 1 in 10 are reported missing. This highlights the failure of local authorities to adequately safeguard these children, who are already extremely vulnerable.

In 2017, each child victim of trafficking that was reported missing went missing on average 7.2 times – a huge 200% increase from 2014-15 (2.4 times). Repeat missing episodes are key indicator of heightened vulnerability, so this worrying statistic suggests safeguarding responses may be getting worse.

In comparison with the previous research, there was a 58% increase (1,015) in the number of children reported as identified or suspected victims of trafficking, highlighting possible improved recording and reporting practices by local authorities. However, the research found that accurate data remains an issue as many local authorities were still unable to provide the data requested. What’s more, there is still no systematic recording and reporting of these issues at the local authority level and no central Government data collection or reporting to assess trends and ensure effective interventions.

Vietnamese children comprised the highest number of trafficked and unaccompanied children recorded as going missing from care. The second largest group of trafficked children who went missing were British, reflecting internal trafficking and exploitation.

As the previous report found, there are numerous reasons why these children go missing. These include a lack of trust in authorities and carers, the continuing control of a trafficker or exploiter, a lack of appropriate accommodation, uncertain immigration status and fear of immigration control.

Urgent action must be taken

Following these alarming findings, the charities say action should be urgently taken to improve safeguarding at the local level. This must include mandatory training for social workers and other frontline workers responding to missing children, the provision of safe and appropriate accommodation placements, specialist guardianship for all unaccompanied and trafficked children, and a multi-agency decision-making process to ensure a long term, stable future for each child. Furthermore, authorities must ensure systematic data collection and reporting on this issue.

Notes:

  • Still in Harm’s Way is based on responses to Freedom of Information Requests (FOIs), sent to all local authorities in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, asking how many trafficked or unaccompanied children went missing from care in the calendar year of 2017. Missing People and ECPAT UK collaborated with University College London on the data collection aspect of this research.

Part of a longer press release at https://www.ecpat.org.uk/news/1-in-6-trafficked-and-unaccompanied-children-in-care-are-reported-missing-in-the-uk

January 10, 2019

Too many foreign national and trafficked women face inappropriate imprisonment – Hibiscus Initiative

Vulnerable foreign national women in the criminal justice system, including trafficking victims, are facing inappropriate imprisonment and the threat of deportation at the expense of rehabilitation or support, according to a new report published by the Prison Reform Trust and Hibiscus Initiatives.

The report, Still no way out, found that foreign national women, many of whom are accused or convicted of non-violent offences and who have in many cases been trafficked or coerced into offending, are receiving inadequate legal representation, poor interpreting services and disproportionate punishment.

Its findings suggest that measures put in place to protect victims of trafficking and modern slavery are too often failing to prevent prosecution for offences committed as a consequence of exploitation by traffickers.

The report draws upon data from a number of sources, including evidence gathered by Hibiscus from its work with foreign national women in prison, published statistics, freedom of information requests, parliamentary questions, inspectorate reports and research studies.

Read the summary report here

http://hibiscusinitiatives.org.uk/index.php/2018/09/17/still-no-way-out-report-published/

September 21, 2018