Category Archives: Trafficking

The Poppy Project is now an independent Entity

The team at the POPPY Project wishes to announce it is now an Independent Entity. POPPY was founded by the late great Denise Marshall in 2003 under the umbrella of Eaves Housing for Women. In the weeks following an announcement of Eaves’ closure the POPPY team made a unanimous decision to establish the project as an independent entity so that our great work supporting female victims of human trafficking and modern day slavery can continue.

POPPY is and will remain a leading voice in championing the human rights of survivors of human trafficking. We are of the view that the women and girls we assist deserve a holistic, independent and human rights based support, and we will continue to empower those who are silenced or not heard. We take this opportunity to thank all our friends, volunteers and supporters.

They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds!

Check https://www.facebook.com/poppyprojectuk/timeline

November 5, 2015

Eaves’ Poppy Project welcomes High Court order that Home Office failed to identify victims of trafficking in detention

Eaves’ Poppy Project welcomes the High Court order on the detention of victims of trafficking in the case of PU, K and Y in which we acted as interveners. The High Court declared that the Home Office breached their own guidance in failing to identify the claimants as victims of trafficking and failed to conduct any further investigations into the cases.

The Detained Fast Track (DFT) process is counter to the aims of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and The Poppy Project has long said the use of the DFT hinders identification of potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery.

Poppy Project Manager, Irina DoCarmo says:

“We have supported women who have escaped trafficking and exploitation only to be detained by immigration authorities when they seek safety. We find this unjust and unjustifiable. Detention violates human dignity and we are pleased that in these cases the detained fast track has been found to breach the human rights of the claimants.”

It is imperative that those who are not parties to this litigation also have the opportunity to have their trafficking decisions reviewed by the Home Office as part of their obligation to proactively identify victims of trafficking.

We now call upon the Home Office to engage fully with the sector and those working in detention to better understand and identify potential victims of trafficking. We hope that there will be a space for trafficking organisations and detention organisations in any review of the DFT and any next steps taken.

About Eaves’ Poppy Project

The Poppy Project was set up in 2003 to provide high-quality support, advocacy and accommodation to trafficked women; that is, women who have been brought into England or Wales to be exploited in some way. This could include but is not limited to sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, forced illicit activities and organ harvesting.

Support workers work with women to create individual support plans for them, which can include financial help, support accessing health services and treatment, specialist counselling, criminal, immigration and other legal advice through our dedicated legal hub, Poppy Legal, and other support as needed.

Eaves’ Poppy Project was represented by Kathryn Cronin and Maria Moodie of Garden Court Chambers, instructed by Hogan Lovells.

Press Release at http://www.eavesforwomen.org.uk/news-events/news/eaves-poppy-project-welcomes-high-court-judgement

August 1, 2015

17 September 2015 ~ Working with Women Trafficked into Sexual Exploitation – Women and Girls Network – London

1 day – Expert Led Seminar – Training Course

Course times: Registration starts from 9.30am. Training will be between 10am-4.30pm.
Venue: To be confirmed (Central London)

Aim: This FREE Expert Led Seminar aims to provide an opportunity for practitioners to enhance their understanding and awareness to attune to the specific needs of women who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.

About this course: This course will provide an opportunity to gain further insight into the process of trafficking from a gender responsive perspective. The day will provide a context to appreciate the global impact of sexual exploitation on women’s mind, body and spirit and provide empowering holistic therapeutic techniques to support women’s recovery and healing. The course will include multicultural competencies to enhance practitioner’s sensitivity to cultural identity. In addition, the course will provide participant’s with opportunities to explore clinical dilemmas and challenges that may be present in this work.

How to apply: Please visit www.wgn.org.uk/training to download Application and Manager Agreement forms. Completed Application and Manager Agreement forms should be emailed to training@wgn.org.uk by the relevant closing date.

Please apply early to avoid disappointment, as many of WGN’s courses are over-subscribed and the application process may be closed early as a result.

The closing date for applications is: Friday 31 July 2015

For updates about all of the training offered by WGN please visit www.wgn.org.uk/training or follow us on twitter @WomenandGirlsN

 

April 29, 2015

17 December 2014 ~ The New Futures Project Christmas Appeal – Leicestershire & Rutland

We support sexually exploited women/children and are raising funds for Christmas gifts. For many this is the only gift they will receive.

The New Futures Project is a charity which supports sexually exploited women and children from Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, we have been provided this support for almost 20 years. The women and children we support experience many difficulties including trafficking, homelessness, domestic violence and poverty, neglect and physical and emotional abuse. Many of our service users are or have been looked after children and are often estranged from their families, this can make Christmas a particularly difficult time for them.

Our project is divided into two teams one for adults and one for young people these teams are staffed by qualified and registered social workers with many years of experience in working with this service user group. Our team work closely with partnership agencies such as social care and the police in order to safeguard our service users and assist in prosecuting offenders.

For the Past 14 years we have held a Christmas celebration for our service users where we provide Christmas dinner, play games and Santa is there to provide a gift. For the majority of our service users this is the only celebration and gift they will receive.

This year due to funding cuts and limited donations we are struggling to provide this much appreciated service.

Any funding that we receive will be used to purchase much needed gifts such as gloves, socks and toiletries and to provide food for the day.

This project will only be funded if at least £500 is pledged by 17th December 2014.

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-new-futures-project-christmas-appeal

December 12, 2014

8 December 2014 10:00 ~ Stop the traffic! Supporting women in the UK from identification to compensation – in partnership with the Anti-trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit – ROW – London

Building on previous Rights of Women courses that have looked at the National Referral Mechanism and women victims of trafficking, this renewed one day course aims to look at support, compensation and protection within the UK. The course will explain the National Referral Mechanism in detail, providing a brief overview of the cross-over with immigration law.

We will examine the support available for women in the UK, provide a summary of compensation available to women through criminal courts and the criminal injuries compensation authority, as well as through the employment tribunals and the civil law.

Monday, 08/12/14 – 10.00 – 4.00
London EC2
Lunch and refreshments provided
Cost: £50.00

To apply, please download the form from our website here.

November 20, 2014