General

A shocking report in the Independent warns that the UK risks 'losing the fight' against human trafficking, unless the criminal justice system urgently improves its response to the crime.
There is widespread evidence that many trafficked people are prosecuted for crimes that they are being forced to commit, whilst the criminal bosses who enslave them go unpunished. 
Shockingly, one judge told a woman who had false papers 'I accept that you have been a victim of trafficking and you were exploited', whilst sending her to prison for 12 months.
Anti-Slavery International branded such cases as 'unacceptable'. 
And we'd like to ask:  Are we letting down those very people that we are fighting to save?

Read the full article by clicking on the link below:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/exclusive-uk-is-warned-it-is-losing-fight-against-modern-slavery-8654529.html?goback=.gde_2051349_member_248974350

Source:  The Independent

Thanks to the Croydon Advertiser for bringing the plight of trafficked women in our area to the readers' attention once again.  

Last night I went out for a drink with my friends.  One of them told me that her neighbours, who are a group of Turkish men, are frequently very loud at night and so she cannot sleep.  She can hear women screaming and crying in the courtyard at around 4 a.m. on most occasions.  She has reported this incident.

Since 2006, Stop the Traffik have been campaigning to keep the ingredients of injustice and exploitation out of the manufacture of chocolate.

Thanks to the pressure from them, some of the major companies have now begun to take steps to become more accountable for how they source their cocoa.

However, recent predictions are that the demand for cocoa for chocolate will rise to no less than 1 billion tonnes in the next decade, which is putting huge pressure to supply this demand on cocoa farmers, especially in West Africa.

Our fears are that this will lead to an increase in human trafficking, as panic spreads and the need for cheap labour increases.

Please continue to seek out fair-trade chocolate and cocoa products at every opportunity.  And if you care to do so, keep badgering the big companies to change their ways and ensure that their cocoa is sourced and paid for responsibly. 

For more information on this, click here.
Photo:  Stop the Traffik

Stop the Traffik have launched a fantastic new website at http://www.stopthetraffik.org/spot/dashboard which aims to help people know what they are looking out for when faced with trafficking in its various forms. 

You can find out more by clicking on the link and hovering over the boxes on the pages that interest you.

Source:  StT

The Guardian has published an article which has highlighted the awful growing trend of women, who befriend and deceive other women into human slavery.

Previously thought of as more benevolent and tender-hearted than men in the role of pimps, it has been revealed that the female face is successfully persuading young women into a way of life that would not appeal if a man was asking them to get involved.

What is more, there are circumstances when the women who turn traffickers were once trafficked victims themselves, who have turned to the role of perpetrator because of the money that is available to them, or because they are promised freedom if they 'recruit' another woman in their place. 

According to a United Nations report, women make up the largest propotion of traffickers in no less than a third of countries which have given statistics on the crime.  There is also horrific evidence that women are often used when under-18s are being targeted, or when crimes are given a higher risk of attention from police.

For the full article, click here.
Source:  The Guardian

Fiona Bruce, MP (Con, Congleton) has raised the alarm about 'female gendercide' which is causing the abortion of baby girl foetuses in 'huge numbers'. 

She claimed that China now has 37 million more boys than girls, because of the one-child policy and the preference for boy children.  As we have already mentioned here on this blog, female gendercide has also meant that human trafficking is being fuelled by the demand for female children, who are being kidnapped and sold as the demand for suitable wives increases. 

However, Ms. Bruce sought to bring the attention of the House of Commons to the fact that, despite condemning this practice in far-flung countries, it is in fact happening right here in the UK.  Together with fellow MPs, Ms. Bruce asked that the police be aware of this illegal practise, and take measures to prevent it. 

For more, click here.
Source:  They Work For You

Hi! magazine has given the recent showing of The Whistleblower at the Spreadeagle Pub in Croydon an excellent review.

You can read it by clicking on the link below.

We were excited to read about the review of CCAT itself too.  As the writer put it, the fact that Croydon is home to brothels in which up to 80% of the working prostitutes are likely to be trafficked is 'a sobering thought for people who...previously thought of Croydon as a good place to nip down to for a massive M and S, and a quality fruit and veg market.....'

http://www.hihimag.com/ents/film/2013/03/review-the-spreadeagle-pub-cinema-the-whistleblower/

Here she is, looking amazing after completing a half-marathon for us at CCAT right here in (not so) sunny Croydon!  Asisat ran last Sunday and is now over half way through her pledge of running two and a half marathons for CCAT.  She has the Edinburgh marathon ahead of her, but we are SO PROUD that she has already raised nearly half of her target of £5000 - all of which goes to our work at CCAT.