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The
first
UK Anti-Trafficking Network (UKAT) conference, ‘Combating Global
Trafficking : Approaches, Strategies and Interventions’ will be held
in London on 11 March 2002 at Bloomberg L. P. TV Centre, City Gate House, 39-45
Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1PQ. Organised
by WomenAid International, the conference is the first of a series of
anti-trafficking conferences that will take place during 2002 with the aim of
supporting the development of a UK National Strategy and Plan of
Action to combat the trafficking of people, the fastest growing criminal
activity in the world.
Antonio Vitorino, EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, has frequently stated ‘governments acting individually cannot address the problem adequately’ and many governments are now taking collaborative action to counter the high level of human trafficking of women and children to and through Europe. The United Nations and the European Parliament have repeatedly stressed the indispensable role of non-governmental organisations and individuals in combating violence in all its forms and encouraged their increased involvement. WomenAid has now established a UK Anti-Trafficking Network Platform (UKAT) to facilitate the development of appropriate strategies and action in Britain. We
cannot build a strong civil society without working together and creating
associations and networks that enable us to make progress on the issues we care
about or are threatened by. The growth of trafficking threatens national and
global communities and collaboration is essential at all levels. Speakers
include: Radhika
Coomaraswamy, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women Ms
Coomaraswamy opens the conference with a review of the UN response to this
rapidly increasing criminal activity and has also agreed to chair a session on
international counter-trafficking coordination and strategies.
Ms Coomaraswamy is a lawyer and has been the Special Rapporteur on Violence
Against Women since 1994 when the post was established. The
Italian Ambassador, Signor Luigi Amaduzzi, Signor
Amaduzzi has agreed to speak about the Italian perspective on the scale of the
problem, the response, strategies and interventions. Italian collaborative
activities outlined will including the focus on the EU-Africa Summit goal to
combat the trafficking of women and girls from Africa by securing endorsement of
a ‘Plan of Action’ at Lisbon in 2003. The
High Commission of Nigeria According
to the Nigerian Minister of State Justice, Mr Muso Elayo Abdullahi, about 45,000
Nigerians are trafficked to Europe each year. Some of these Nigerian girls are
ending up in Britain. The Federal Government of Nigeria has submitted a bill to
the National Assembly which would make trafficking a punishable offence and is
cooperating with other States on the development of further action against
trafficking. Ambassador
of Ukraine. The
Government of Ukraine and the Ukraininan NGO community are working together with
international agencies to develop effective counter-trafficking strategies. Many
young Ukrainian women are lured into the sex industry by promises of work
abroad, while economic conditions within the country worsen. Many of these women
are forced into prostitution on arrival in a foreign country.
They are physically prevented from returning home, their passports are
confiscated, their money is taken and they may not be able to ask for help
because of unfamiliarity with the local language and customs. There is
evidence of Ukrainian girls trafficked into the UK. Mr
Peter Brannen, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director of the ILO London office, Peter Brennan will be speaking on the invaluable work ILO/IPEC undertakes to combat trafficking in children. For almost a decade the International Labour Organisation’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child labour (IPEC) has mobilised global action to combat child labour. According to ILO, there are some 250 million working children around the world and many are victims of the ‘worst forms of child labour – such as slavery, prostitution, pornography and bonded labour. Professor
David Barrett, Dean of Faculty of Healthcare and Social Policy, Luton University Professor
Barrett will speak about the organised trafficking of teenage asylum seekers and
their coercion into the sex trade. Professor Barrett is a co-author of
‘Knowledge of Evil’ the first detailed study of the commercial exploitation
of children and youth for sex. Mr
Justice Singer, Family Division, Royal Courts of Justice Sir
Peter Singer will be talking on child protection and the need for greater
awareness of the issue of trafficking and the apparent absence of political will
to respond to the phenomenon of women and children trafficked to and through the
UK. Inspector
Paul Holmes, Metropolitan Police, Formerly
working in the Metropolitan Police Clubs and Vice Unit, and currently the
chairman of an Interpol working group on trafficking, Inspector Holmes will
provide an update on Interpol activities. Mr
Malcolm Harper, CMG, Director
United Nations Association (UNA) Malcolm
Harper will speaking about the value of NGO activities in awareness-raising and
lobbying for change and why UNA is a partner organisation of the UK
Anti-Trafficking Network, UKAT. Mr
William Hughes, Director-General, National Crime Squad will
speak about ‘Project Reflex’, the multi-agency task force established set up
last year to co-ordinate anti-trafficking operations and to develop effective
strategies. Project Reflex is a multi-agency response to organised immigration
crime, including people trafficking. Led
by the National Crime Squad, Reflex brings together all the key agencies
involved in the interception and prosecution of people who traffic in human
beings into the United Kingdom. The
main agencies involved are the Immigration Service, the National Criminal
Intelligence Service, the security and intelligence agencies, Europol, Customs
and Excise and key police forces including the Metroploitan police, Kent and the
British Transport police. Carol
Howlett, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Deputy
Assistant Commissioner Howlett leads for the Association of Chief Police
Officers on child protection issues and is dealing with the trafficking of women
and children for sexual exploitation. Minister
of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Mr Koba Narchemashvili, It
is hoped that Mr Narchemashvili will also participate in the conference as part
of his official visit to the UK. Pida
Ripley, Founder WomenAid International Established in 1987, WomenAid International is a humanitarian aid and development agency that also campaigns against human rights violations. Since 1993 WomenAid International has been working in republics of the former Soviet Union (CIS) where crumbling state control has been an open invitation to organised crime. WomenAid, through its Georgian-based ‘Health and Gender Equity Centre’ took up the challenge of anti-trafficking work several years ago and developed a Georgian national anti-trafficking network. During 2000 WomenAid developed an anti-trafficking multi-media awareness campaign, ‘Be Smart! Be Safe!’ which has now become an annual event with the Georgian government authorizing State TV and radio to broadcast public service announcements produced by WomenAid and endorsing and assisting distribution of Be Smart! Be Safe! leaflets and posters. During
the development of the WomenAid anti-trafficking programme in Georgia it became
very evident the ‘network platform’ is a very useful mechanism for
awareness-raising of the complex issue of trafficking of persons and securing
coordination and collaboration across a broad cross-section of national society.
WomenAid believes that
similar networks would be very useful in ‘receiving’ countries. Accordingly,
last year WomenAid International set about establishing a UK Anti-Trafficking
Network Platform (UKAT). This UK Anti-Trafficking Network conference is the
first of a series of such conferences that will be held during 2002. Attendance
by invitation only.
The
conference will be held in the Auditorium at Bloomberg TV Centre, City
Gate House, 39-45
Finsbury Square,
London EC2A 1PQ. Registration
commences at 0945 hrs. Conference
1030 hrs. to 1730 hrs.
For more information please contact: WomenAid International, 3 Whitehall Court, Whitehall, London SW1A 2EL Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7839 1790 & 020 7976 1032 Fax:
+ 44 (0) 20
7839 2929 Press
line:
+44 (0) 20 7925 1331 Email: conference@womenaid.org |
