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‘Our Voices’: hearing from young people affected by sexual violence
This week’s guest post is written by Claire Cody. Claire is a Research Fellow at the International Centre: Researching Child Sexual Exploitation, Violence and Trafficking at the University of Bedfordshire. Claire is Project Lead for ‘Our Voices’, a three-year pan-European project funded by the Oak Foundation. Prior to joining the Centre, Claire worked for Plan International’s Headquarters and was Oak Fellow at the Centre for Rural Childhood where she developed Home: The Child Recovery and Reintegration Network.
‘Our Voices’ builds on work undertaken by a team at the International Centre. The Centre prioritises children and young people’s participation. Recent projects include: working with young people living in gang-affected communities to develop short films related to stopping sexual violence; and supporting young people to develop resources for professionals and other young people about health and sexual exploitation as part of the ‘Be Healthy’ project. One of the Centre’s current project’s, Making Justice Work, uses participatory research methods with young people to understand their experiences of the justice system and to explore how the system could be improved for those affected by child sexual exploitation.
After trafficking. The (re)integration needs and experiences of trafficked children.
Regular contributor Rebecca Surtees from the NEXUS Institute is back this week. This post focuses on one of the findings identified in “After Trafficking. Experiences and challenges in the (re)integration of trafficked persons in the GMS”, a regional study of (re)integration in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). The research study was commissioned by the six COMMIT governments as part of the 2nd and 3rd COMMIT Sub-regional Plan of Action (2008-2010 and 2011-2013). The study, conducted by NEXUS Institute, analysed the effectiveness of (re)integration processes and structures from the point of view of trafficked persons and the service providers that support them, uncovering whether and to what extent services currently offered to trafficking victims and their families are meeting their (re)integration needs, including any unmet assistance needs. The study was coordinated by the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and was overseen by a Regional Working Group comprised of Save the Children UK, World Vision International, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), NEXUS Institute and UNIAP.
This study was based on in-depth interviews with 252 trafficked persons from all six countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) about their experiences of (re)integration, including successes and challenges, as well as future plans and aspirations. The study included persons who had been identified and assisted, as well as those who were not identified and/or did not receive assistance. Understanding the diverse and complex post-trafficking trajectories sheds light on a wide range of issues and dynamics at play in the (re)integration processes in the GMS. It also highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of existing (re)integration mechanisms and processes. (more…)
Displacement of Syrians: implications for a human trafficking crisis
TTRP’s inaugural 2014 guest post is written by Stephanie Hepburn. Ms. Hepburn is a journalist and author of HUMAN TRAFFICKING AROUND THE WORLD: HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT.
The New York Times reported in November that with no end in sight to the Syrian conflict and large parts of the nation destroyed, the United Nations, governments and international humanitarian organizations are calling Syria the most challenging refugee crisis in a generation. If accurate, the implications are grave for the human trafficking of this displaced population of 2.4 million and growing.
Over the past seven years I have researched the impact of unrest and displacement on people’s vulnerability to human trafficking. Refugees, having been displaced from their home country, are vulnerable to human trafficking because they face continued uncertainty, financial strain, and lack of legal and/or social inclusion. The lack of inclusion means they have little access to education, health care and housing. It also means they face significant barriers in accessing jobs in the formal labor market — they may be legally prohibited from working in the host nation or are unable to participate as a byproduct of social exclusion. This means that refugees often can only find work in the informal economy. By its very nature the informal sector is unregulated, making it an ideal space for unscrupulous employers to exploit and traffic workers. (more…)
Slut-shamed: perpetuating mythologies of (underage) consent
The inevitable media backlash against the trials and convictions of “celebrities” for the sexual exploitation of girls has begun in the UK. The long-simmering idea that children could be complicit in, and indeed consent to their own abuse, has surfaced. For example, Eddie Shah, a former owner of the Today newspaper, found not guilty of six counts of rape of a girl under the age of 16, said in an interview:
Rape was a technical thing – below a certain age. But these girls were going out with pop groups and becoming groupies and throwing themselves at them… If we’re talking about girls who just go out and have a good time, then they are to blame. If we talk about people who go out and actually get ‘raped’ raped, then I feel no … everything should be done against that.
A column by Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail focused heavily on the dropping of sexual offences charges against another entertainer, Jim Davidson, accusing the associated police operation, Yewtree, of becoming a witch-hunt. These public pronouncements, notably by men, have been matched by worrying developments in a recent sexual assault case in which the prosecuting barrister, Robert Colover, described the 13-year-old victim as “predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced.” The defendant was found guilty of sexual activity with a child, among other offences, but was given a suspended sentence. Criticism, including from the Lord Chief Justice, was levelled at the judge in the case for his comments at sentencing that the victim “looked and behaved older”, a factor he took into account when deciding the sentence. (more…)
Extended misery: punishing victims
April proved to be a trying month for the UK Government’s relationship with Europe on the issue of human trafficking. The deadline for the implementation of Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims was in mid-April and, as organisations such as ECPAT have been advocating, the Government is continuing to fail to put in place adequate measures to protect victims of trafficking from prosecution. The Directive establishes minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in human trafficking and seeks to improve the protection of victims. An examination of recent cases before the Court of Appeal have shown that implicit in the UK’s approach to this issue is the fact that victims are not being identified at an early enough stage in the criminal justice process. (more…)
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