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There are a number of organisations working to directly support survivors of trafficking and campaign on the wider issues. Below are just a few of the agencies operating within the UK and abroad:
STOP THE TRAFFIK is a global movement campaigning against all forms of trafficking. They work to PREVENT the sale of people, PROTECT the trafficked and PROSECUTE the traffickers. The organisation was set up in 2006 and now has more than 1000 member organisations in 50 countries.
STOP THE TRAFFIK continues to:
- Educate: raise awareness and understanding of human trafficking and what can be done about it
- Advocate: engage with communities and professionals to create an environment where it is harder to traffik, hide and exploit people
- Fundraise: financing STOP THE TRAFFIK projects and anti-trafficking activities around the world which work with advocates, those vulnerable to and those who have been, trafficked
Anti-Slavery is an international organisation that is working to eliminate all forms of slavery. The forced prostitution of people who have been sex trafficked is one of the forms modern slavery takes.
Anti-Slavery International was founded in 1839 and is the world's oldest international human rights organisation. Anti-Slavery educates the public about the realities of slavery and campaigns for its end. It lobbies government and agencies to make slavery a priority and develop plans to eliminate it.
The POPPY Project is a provisional organisation which offers accommodation and support for survivors of trafficking. It was set up in 2003 and is funded by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (reporting to the Ministry of Justice).
The POPPY Project has 54 bed spaces in houses across England and Wales which they can offer to women who have been trafficked into the UK, sexually exploited, and forced to work in prostitution in the UK. If the POPPY Project cannot provide accommodation, they can offer other services working in partnerships with:
- Hostels working with homeless people
- Refuges for victims of domestic violence
- Embassies
- Refugee Legal Centre
- Immigration Advisory Service
- Refugee Arrivals Project
- International Organization for Migration
Women are offered health assessments, counselling, education and English classes, help contacting family and friends, legal advice, and liaison with police and immigration services.
Unchosen is an anti-trafficking charity promoting human trafficking film campaigns nationwide. Through film, documentaries, interviews and Q&As, Unchosen raises awareness about domestic servitude, forced labour, child and sex trafficking happening here in the UK.
Unchosen is the only film campaign in the UK that concentrates solely on human trafficking, and incorporates discussion and Q&As with the directors. The initiative aims to make people aware that slavery still exists in the 21st century, and to show them how they can get involved in stamping it out. To that end, Unchosen also looks at the issues that surround human trafficking, including fair trade, poverty and immigration. Some of the organisations they work in partnership with are Amnesty, Anti-Slavery, Blue Blindfold, Barnardo’s, ECPAT, Fairtrade, Greenpeace, International Organisation for Migration, The Pierian Centre, The POPPY Project, STOP THE TRAFFIK and University of the West of England.
Amnesty International is an international human rights organisation and was founded in 1961. Amnesty’s purpose is to protect people wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied. Amnesty campaigns on a wide range of issues but Stop Violence against Women is one of their priority campaigns. It aims to hold governments accountable for violence against women occurring within their territories, and challenge attitudes that normalise and encourage people to accept violence against women in the UK.
The Helen Bamber Foundation is a UK-based human rights organisation, and was formed in 2005 to help rebuild lives and inspire a new self-esteem in survivors of gross human rights violations.
They work with survivors of cruelty such as genocide, torture, trafficking, and rape to strengthen their inner resources as well as offering practical support and treatment.
Helen Bamber also aims to build awareness and find new ways to engage with the media and decision-makers. They aim to bring the reality of sex trafficking to the forefront of social consciousness and empower people to take action.
7. The Anneli Project at Leeds Women’s Aid
The Anneli Project runs a safe house service for women who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Launched in September 2009, Anneli forms part of Leeds Women’s Aid; a local charity which was founded in 1972 and provides accommodation and support to women and children experiencing domestic violence.
Anneli offers safe housing and specialist support including help with issues around immigration, sexual health, mental health and substance use, money, housing and the criminal justice system. They also provide easy access to specialist counselling, interpreting, training, health and education services.
ECPAT UK is the UK national representative of ECPAT International, which was set up in Bangkok in 1991 as a campaign to End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (what ECPAT originally stood for).
ECPAT now stands End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes. They are a leading children’s rights organisation campaigning against the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the UK and on its international aspects. In particular, they focus on the protection of trafficked children and children exploited in tourism and the prevention of such crimes. This is done in a number of ways:
- Campaigning
- Monitoring and Research
- Training
- Policy Development and Legal Reform
- Capacity Building
- International ECPAT Network
For more information on how you can get involved with these organisations, please click on the Take Action page or visit their websites.
Other useful agencies and groups to know about:
1. UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC)
The UKHTC is a multi-agency centre for the development of expertise and cooperation in relation to the trafficking of human beings.
It plays a role in co-ordinating work across these various stakeholders and, with its partners, delivers a diverse set of programmes, including targeted campaigns to prevent and reduce trafficking in human beings (THB).
Raising the awareness of THB is the primary message and the Centre does this by addressing the four key audiences:
- People who have been trafficked
- The public
- Law enforcement
- Other professionals
The Centre has responsibility for a number of important actions which are set out in the UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking. The Centre conducts research, develops improved training packages, promulgates best practice and develops an improved knowledge and understanding of the way criminal enterprises that are associated with human trafficking operate.
The UK Border Agency is responsible for securing the UK borders and controlling migration in the UK. They manage border control for the UK, enforcing immigration and customs regulations. They also consider applications for permission to enter or stay in the UK, and for citizenship and asylum.
3. UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
The UNODC undertakes field-based project work, research and analysis on the issue of human trafficking, amongst other drug and crime related activities.
The three pillars of the UNODC work programme are:
- Field-based technical cooperation projects to enhance the capacity of Member States to counteract illicit drugs, crime and terrorism
- Research and analytical work to increase knowledge and understanding of drugs and crime issues and expand the evidence base for policy and operational decisions
- Normative work to assist States in the ratification and implementation of the relevant international treaties, the development of domestic legislation on drugs, crime and terrorism, and the provision of secretariat and substantive services to the treaty-based and governing bodies
As the only United Nations entity focusing on the criminal justice element of trafficking crimes, the work that UNODC does to combat human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants is underpinned by the United Nations Convention on Trans-national Organized Crime and its protocols on trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling.
4. English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP)
Since 1975, the International Prostitutes Collective has been campaigning for the abolition of the prostitution laws which criminalize sex workers and their families, and for economic alternatives and higher benefits and wages. They believe that no woman, child or man should be forced by poverty or violence into sex with anyone. They provide information, help and support to individual prostitute women and others who are concerned with sex workers’ human, civil, legal and economic rights.
5. Support After Rape & Sexual Violence Leeds (SARSVL)
www.supportafterrapeleeds.org.uk
Support After Rape & Sexual Violence Leeds (SARSVL) is a feminist organisation supporting women and girls who have been affected by sexual violence at any time in their lives, promoting their needs and working towards the elimination of sexual violence. SARSVL wants all women and girls to be free from the fear and experience of sexual violence. Their telephone helpline is now up and running: 0113 202 1844.
For more information on these organisations, please visit their websites.
Anti trafficking groups...
STOP THE TRAFFIK
Anti-Slavery
POPPY
Project
Unchosen
Amnesty International UK
Helen Bamber Foundation
Anneli Project - Leeds Women’s Aid
ECPAT UK
Other useful agencies and groups...
UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC)
UK Border Agency (UKBA)
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
English Collective of Prostitutes
Support After Rape & Sexual Violence
