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‘Stop the Trafficking, Stop the Tears, Free Them from their Tormented Years’ are poignant words written by one of our members at the outset of our anti human trafficking campaign in 2008, and which are repeated in part alongside our purple teardrop icon now.
The teardrop represents the suffering of those women and children who are trafficked, exploited and abused throughout the world, including in our local communities. Why purple? The Purple Teardrop Campaign is a Soroptimist International initiative and follows the anti human trafficking work of European and Northern England Soroptimists whose campaign colours and ribbons are purple.
One of the cornerstones of Soroptimist International’s work is the objective to ‘end human trafficking and all forms of violence against women and girls’. This objective lies at the heart of the Purple Teardrop Campaign which in turn has four aims:
- Raise awareness among the general public of the plight of women and children who are trafficked
- Try to suppress the demand for trafficked women by making men who use prostitutes aware that they could be contributing to this trade
- Provide a hotline number so that members of the public can give confidential information on locations where they think trafficked women are being exploited
- Support the safe houses which provide support and practical care for victims who have been freed from trafficking
There are many ways in which you can contribute to help us achieve the Purple Teardrop Campaign aims
- Stay informed – more detailed information is on our ‘Facts’ page which includes links to key organisations with similar objectives to are own
- Purchase Purple Teardrop Campaign posters and pin-badges to both help increase awareness and raise funds for victim safe housing – go to ‘You Can Help’
- Join our e-mail list of people prepared to lobby government on human trafficking issues – sign up here
- Put the Crimestoppers number – 0800 555 111 – into your mobile and report suspected trafficking activity
Remember, You can go to my purple tear drop ( ) to view our services in one place
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