trafficking

Micki and her friend Keir and also Sam were my companions last night. It was Micki's birthday so it was very special to have her with us. We took some photos.

Micki and I share a concern around trafficking - along with many other people. Trafficking is a complex and hidden issue. There are three main reasons people are trafficked - sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and forced labour. Desperate people agree to being trafficked with promises of a better future but actually they become slaves. The threat of reprisals against your family make it hard for trafficked people to come forward. If they do run away they become homeless as they have no recourse to public funds and the trafficker or the people who have kept them in servitude will have kept their passport.

Since 2006 there has been a UK Human Trafficking Centre which is trying to help the victims. and catch the traffickers. At one time a victim would most likely have been put straight into a removal centre and deported but now they are offered support by partner agencies in the voluntary sector, although they are usually repatriated eventually. The Home Office have identified 108 trafficked adults and 40 children in the last 3 months.

In Coventry a group of us have been trying to get funding to do some work on child trafficking - particularly around helping people who may come in contact with them to recognise the signs. Very often young people who arrive here as unaccompanied minors will disappear and reappear a year later.

Like homelessness, trafficking is another of those hidden tragic issues, full of secrets and fear.

We didn't talk about trafficking last night though. It was Micki's birthday and I was determined we should spend some time talking about her! In remembering the highs of last year and her hopes for the future, Micki said that one of the valuable things she had learned was the difference between pitying people and respecting them. I have talked about victims in this blog and although we should notice and do everything we can to stop all forms of oppression, we must not forget that people have amazing strengths and courage. Respect is a good positive value.