News

3 / 1 / 2016

Sunderland Soroptimists, Taxi Initiative

SI Sunderland’s anti human trafficking work continues unabated working with the Youth Parliament and Gary Herrington, Strategic Co-ordinator for Child Sexual Exploitation across the Sunderland Partnership.

Early in the New Year, Mr Herrington begins training taxi drivers in order to raise their awareness of human trafficking and to arm them with the ability to identify and report any concerns. The drivers really will be the eyes of the community. Stickers are on order to go in the vehicles.

Sunderland Soroptimists’ work is a fantastic example of team work and network in action!

29 / 11 / 2015

SI Yorkshire Anti-Slavery Group Conference

Yorkshire SI Anti Slavery Group recently organised a very successful multi agency conference looking at how gender stereotyping impacts upon issues of trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Delegate Chris Low reports on the conference here.

24 / 11 / 2015

Poole Soroptimists at Unchosen Event

Soroptimist International Poole members represented the Purple Teardrop Campaign at the recent Dorchester Stands Against Slavery event.

Unchosen is a Bristol-based charity that raises awareness of modern day slavery through film.

After the showing of Unchosen’s film on forced labour, there was a panel discussion with questions from the audience opened by the Mayor of Dorchester and answered by representatives from the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, Poole Police and Unchosen.

The Purple Teardrop Campaign’s stand distributed leaflets, posters, bookmarks and pin badges to raise awareness of human trafficking and raise funds for rescued victim support.

8 / 11 / 2015

Thank you to Soroptimists!

Soroptimists who attended the SI Great Britain and Ireland conference in Glasgow last week will have had the opportunity to hear the Purple Teardrop Campaign presentation to conference on Saturday and to pick up our conference leaflet which summarises key milestones and achievements of Soroptimists and our wonderful supporters who fight against human trafficking.

For those people who didn’t make it to conference, here’s an electronic copy of the leaflet.

8 / 11 / 2015

Dorset Police Pilot new Modern Slavery Referral Scheme

To mark this year’s Anti Slavery Day, Dorset Police has confirmed it is one of the first forces in the UK to pilot a new Modern Slavery referral scheme. Instead of referrals being handled centrally by the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the referral and assessment is done at local level.

The move follows a review of the National Referral Mechanism last year. The new scheme, also being piloted in West Yorkshire, has established a central case management unit; multi-disciplinary decision-making panels and introduces new Slavery Safeguarding Leads from this month.

Head of Major Crime, DCI Stewart Balmer said ‘Slavery Safeguarding Leads will have a vital role in decision making on modern slavery cases. They will be responsible for referring cases of potential victims for consideration by the regional multi-disciplinary panel. Upon referral, the individual will gain access to immediate help and support.’

Slavery Safeguarding Leads will be established in all relevant public authorities including the police; NHS; local authorities;Gangmasters Licensing Authority;Border Force; UK Visas and Immigration.

For more information, see the Dorset Police website.

24 / 10 / 2015

SI Barnstaple and Unchosen present Films against Slavery on 27 October

BRISTOL CHARITY RAISES AWARENESS OF MODERN SLAVERY IN THE SOUTH WEST 

BARNSTAPLE STANDS AGAINST MODERN SLAVERY at the Castle Centre on 27 October 2015 

Unchosen and Soroptimist International of Barnstaple are proud to announce the premiere of Unchosen’s Films Against Slavery at the Castle Centre on Tuesday 27 October from 18:00 to 19:00.

People from all communities are invited to attend this free event to find out what slavery might look like in their area and what they can do about it. A film screening will be followed by a panel discussion with experts in the local anti-slavery field.

Modern slavery remains widespread in the UK with the Home Office recently estimating that there are between 10,000 to 13,000 victims at any one time. It can affect men or women, boys or girls; it can affect people from any background, of any nationality including British nationals as well as those trafficked into the UK. Forced labour is a type of modern slavery and accounts for nearly half of all cases in the UK – many of these cases take place in rural areas.

Unchosen is a Bristol based charity that uses the power of film to fight modern slavery. It aims at empowering individuals, communities and organisations to recognise the signs of modern slavery and take action. The event is organised in collaboration with Soroptimist International, which is committed to improve the lives and status of women and girls through education, empowerment and enabling opportunities.

Unchosen will be encouraging individuals and groups to order their own free copy of Films Against Slavery to screen in their own community settings.  Melissa Blackburn, Unchosen manager explains, “The most damaging myth about slavery is that it is invisible. We can see it if we know what to look for.  We want to give communities the tools to identify slavery and the confidence to know what to do about it. If we are vigilant to look and find nothing then we can celebrate this but it is not acceptable in this day and age for slavery to go undetected.  We want people to order these DVDs and screen them in their communities so that more people are informed and know how to respond.”

24 / 10 / 2015

SI Sunderland works with Youth Parliament

SI Sunderland is working with the Sunderland Youth Parliament. On 30 September, Sunderland Soroptimists had a debate with the Youth Parliament who subsequently came up with an action plan for dealing with child trafficking.

The young parliamentarians are helping with the PTC lobby and making use of PTC materials, including our Powerpoint presentations, our cd and our loves me/loves me not bookmarks.

And on 14 October, SI Sunderland had a display on trafficking and domestic violence at the Bridges Shopping Centre.

24 / 10 / 2015

Kingston Upon Thames Soroptimists at Heathrow Terminal 5

Soroptimist International Kingston Upon Thames marked Anti-Slavery Day at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.

It is estimated that there are at least 13,000 people in slavery in Britain right now, and only 1% have a chance of seeing their exploiter brought to justice.

S I Kingston Upon Thames, working in partnership with the Purple Teardrop Campaign were invited by the Border Force to partake in their awareness day by helping them to distribute leaflets to departing passengers.

Also invited were ECPAT UK and Hillingdon Borough Council’s Social Services department.

24 / 10 / 2015

Report on Modern Day Slavery Summit, Manchester

Modern Day Slavery Summit, Manchester Town Hall Thursday 15 October 2015 

A 180 attendee conference, comprising a broad spectrum of professionals from both the statutory and voluntary sectors.

The format of the all-day event consisted of formal speakers; interactive dvds of anonymised trafficked victims; dvds of police officers investigating alleged slavery activities; NSPCC personnel providing real life MDS stories; round table discussion groups on MDS case studies.

Tony Lloyd, Mayor, spoke of the dilemma of protecting the trafficked victims due to the resource implications involved, which is not always popular with the general public. “Partnership working is the key.”

Offer Stern-Walker Head of the MDS Unit, Home Office, spoke of the lack of reliable figures for trafficked victims in the UK. The new MDS law provides tools to allow the police to act; courts to have powers of sentences; assets to be seized from perpetrators to help victims; notifying authorities of illegal employment practices does not constitute prosecution of victims.

Sir Peter Fahey, Chief Constable GMP, spoke of the public being vigilant to reporting unusual activities and criminality that could lead to MDS issues. Prevention is the key, and greater powers of sentencing will prevent re-offending. Safeguarding is a major factor when young victims are involved. He explained the changing nature of policing today. Moving away from traditional expensive resource statistics gathering eg motoring offences to addressing population needs, multi-agency integration teams, office sharing of MDS personnel. Current ‘MDS Challenger Project’ in GMP will put vulnerable people first and safety a priority focus.

Kevin Hyland Anti–Slavery Commissioner (former Police Officer) spoke of the misrepresenting/misreporting MDS ethos in the past. He complemented GMP on their huge increase in prosecutions during the past twelve months. Surprisingly Canary Wharf in London has been a huge hotspot for MDS activities. Sharing data will help to save lives. Partnerships with Faith Groups have been found to be hugely beneficial.

Ross Jackson Head of Crime GMP spoke of the MDS epidemic, which is currently occurring in the UK. In Greater Manchester last year only 2 crimes were reported, this year 67 crimes have been reported so far (more than the Metropolitan Police). He urged front line staff to be alert and vigilant to coercive behaviour, false claims for benefits and money control tactics. Key points –partnership, joint vision, alert recognition of MDS and understanding victims’ needs.

Mandy John-Baptiste NSPCC Child Trafficking Advice Centre (CTAC) challenged, ‘Would we recognise the signs of MDS?” These would include unexplained injuries, socially withdrawn, poor hygiene, living at place of employment, bars at windows, unusual comings and goings, working long hours, overcrowded conditions.

Role of CTAC; –

• Coordinate and advisory – support, leaflets, training.
• Advocate for children – expert reports, statutory meetings and casework.
• Influence and challenge from a wide perspective.

Paul Broadbent, Chief Executive Gangmasters Licensing Authority, gave a very powerful presentation on the major issues of MDS. The government, following the cockle pickers at Morecambe Bay tragedy set up the Authority. He stated there were 21 million worldwide MDS victims and in Europe 888,000.  Jobs highlighted as risk situations for MDS include agriculture, food packing & processing and cleaning.

Types of slavery; –

Bonded labour, forced labour, sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation, organ harvesting, trafficking and organ donation.

Associated crimes: –

Sham marriages and college fraud.

Ending this action packed day we were left with – What can we do?

• Educate yourself and be aware of possible MDS.

• What action to take and when.
• Contact Crimestoppers if suspicious.
• Use Fair Trade products.

Benefits for Soroptimists- Networking, raising awareness of Soroptimism using display and literature, offers from various agencies and police to visit Clubs and Region explaining what their role involves with MDS and reciprocally to learn more about our organisati

Margaret Molyneux, Region Chair PAC, South Lancashire

24 / 10 / 2015

SI Bedford’s Training the Trainer Conference

Training the Trainer Conference “Taking positive action against modern slavery in Bedfordshire” Friday 16th October at Moggerhanger Park, Bedfordshire.

This conference was organised and supported by BAMS (Bedfordshire Against Modern Slavery), which was formed in 2012 to highlight and tackle modern slavery. The founder members were Kristy Adams previously a Bedford borough councillor, a senior police office and two members of SI Bedford, Rita and Pauline. The aim of the conference was to continue to raise aware and assist “first responders” to understand their responsibilities especially in relation to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) enabling them to begin to cascade information to their work teams as part of in house training programmes. It was fortuitous that the day we choose for our conference was the very day that Kevin Hyland (Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner) launched his strategy to tackle modern slavery. This did cause us a few problems as Kevin was originally our first speaker, but due to his media commitments he had to postpone his arrival and presentation until the afternoon; luckily our presenters were happy to change their time slots.

Paul Connop from the UKHTC started the day (after lots of coffee and biscuits) and gave a splendid presentation regarding the work of his agency and an excellent overview of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Paul also spoke about the situational and environmental indicators of modern slavery as well as factual and investigative indicators; he gave some examples of different types of modern slavery that the UKHTC had encountered and the action taken. We were all moved by his narrative regarding a young very vulnerable man from Wales who was enslaved by travellers on a horse breeding site from 2000 – 2013 before eventually being freed by police.

Diane Payne The Programme Development Manager from the Salvation Army was our second speaker and continued in the same vein by outlining the work of the Salvation Army with regard to modern slavery. Diane actually started by speaking a little about the history of the Salvation Army’s work with regard to human trafficking and slavery which commenced in 1885 in their work with young prostitutes in London and beyond. Since 2011, the Salvation Army has been the prime contractor for managing the support for adult victims of trafficking in England and Wales, it now includes modern slavery. Diane spoke expertly about the referral time lines, impact of trafficking, indicators and NRM. Diane engaged with the delegates throughout the presentation and her session was also well received.

DCI David Cestaro from Bedfordshire Police gave a small but perfectly formed presentation regarding the present situation in Bedfordshire including three recent police operations undertaken. These were two traveller sites in which over 15 vulnerable men were rescued and the perpetrators were given long prison sentences and one brothel in which 5 Eastern European women were rescued recently.

Tatiana Jardan The Director of Human Trafficking Foundation provided an overview of the work of the foundation especially the networking among various organisations and charities it facilitates. Tatiana also spoke about the modern slavery exhibition that is now stored at Moggerhanger Park. At lunch time when the delegates were all visiting the anti-slavery exhibition, Kevin Hyland arrived and took advantage of the quiet to grab a coffee and some lunch before his presentation. It was good to catch up with him and hear a little about his future plans, he made particular reference to all the work undertaken by Soroptimists and expressed his thanks and admiration for the organisation. He certainly knows all about us and remembers meeting us at CSW in NY last year and the projects we are involved with across the world.

Kevin Hyland OBE Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner delivered a brilliant presentation starting with his view of the international scene and how we must tackle modern slavery at source and his plans for doing this by working with governments, NGOs and others across the world. He stated “There appears to be indications of systemic under-recording and misreporting in statistics compiled by the police and other agencies. All of this suggests that the true picture may be even worse than the current figures indicate”. Kevin also gave us an overview of his new strategy and his work with The Pope, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe (Commissioner of London Metropolitan Police), church leaders and police in the Santa Marta Group tackling human slavery and supporting survivors. Once again every one present will remember his presentation from a narrative regarding a survivor who just wanted a hug from the Pope and that’s exactly what she received when Pope Francis visited a centre she was attending. Kevin started and finished his session with a William Wilberforce quote “You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know”.

We were all inspired and energised by Kevin’s presentation and we look forward to continue working with him into the future in tackling modern slavery. His strategy is well thought out, but will require additional funding and man power resources in order to succeed. Let’s hope he achieves this.

Andrew Selous MP Prisons and Probation Minister gave a brief account of the government’s journey towards creating the New Modern Slavery Legislation We were also unexpectedly joined by Olly Martin the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire who also spoke a little about the work of and challenges of funding Bedfordshire Police. During the afternoon a film crew from Bedfordshire Police joined the conference to film material for a fly on the wall series to be screened at a later date on BBC4 showing the work of Bedfordshire Police.

Opting to use Moggerhanger Park for our anti-slavery conference was a conscious decision because of its strong links with William Wilberforce via the Thornton family who owned the house previously. There are three anti-slavery exhibitions based at Moggerhanger including the one that was recently displayed in The House Of Commons. Delegates were able to visit the exhibitions at lunch time.  In all a great but exhausting day!  Rita and I were supported and assisted by two of our SI Bedford colleagues Margaret Badley who did a great job with the technical issues and photography, whilst our President Pauline Stewart assisted in booking in, networking and much more. Our thanks to them both.

Pauline and Rita
SI Bedford