UK government trafficking action plan

The UK government today today published their long-awaited policy document on human trafficking. It is a long but interesting document for all those involved in the struggle for justice for those trapped in various forms of slavery in the UK - please read it and educate yourself.

The key objective from The Truth Isn't Sexy point of view appears to be objective 12

“To reduce the demand for trafficked people in the UK” with the action “To undertake publicity and awareness raising measures targetted at reducing demand”

The text accompanying says:

“A key element of the new approach to prostitution is to focus not only on those who exploit individuals through prostitution, including the traffickers, but also to address the demand side. This means building on the innovative work, undertaken as part of Operation Pentameter, to target men who might use massage parlours, saunas or other kinds of brothels, through men’s magazines, websites or other targeted media using advertisements which raise awareness of trafficking for sexual exploitation and warn of the risks involved.”

5 live discussion

The Truth Isn't Sexy and the general issue of sex trafficking is being discussed this morning on BBC Radio 5 Live.

womens hour

The Truth Isn't Sexy campaign had a lengthy section on Women's Hour today.

earth to Bono

Spending money to buy stuff to raise money is not a sensible solution to world poverty. There is only one way.

You might wear fancy sunglasses, but you're turning into an idiot, Bono.

sorry

NEWSFLASH - christians say sorry

the truth isnt sexy parliamentary launch

The Truth Isn't Sexy campaign will soon be having a parliamentary launch with support of politicians from various political parties, the police and agencies working with Trafficked people.

I just want to reiterate here the point of the campaign, what we are doing, what we are not doing and why.

Basically, in this anniversary year of abolition, various groups have focussed on modern slavery. These include Amnesty International, Anti-slavery international, CASTE, Save the Children, the Anti-Trafficking Alliance, the Salvation Army, Worldvision/ECPAT, Womens Aid and the Stop the Traffik coalition.

Each of these groups has their own agenda and their own ways of working.

The Truth Isn't Sexy campaign is run by a very small group of volunteers. We are not a formal charity or associated with any other group, we are not trying to compete with anyone else nor trying to suggest that we have massive amounts of knowledge on the subject.

We are campaigning on the issue of trafficked people being forced into the UK sex industry. We believe the best way to tackle this issue is to inform those who are most likely to come into contact with trafficked people in the UK sex industry - ie those who use prostitutes, which some say amounts to up to 10% of the male population. We have produced some beermats which we hope will challenge those who pay for sex to think about whether the prostitute is actually a willing participant or an enforced worker. These are being spread around the student unions at universities and other venues.

It has already become apparent to others that we have no policy regarding prostitution. We neither vocally support the rights of women to chose a career in the sex industry nor condemn those involved. That is not because as individuals we do not have opinions on the subject, but because we believe it is not relevant to this campaign.

The relevance being that we want to make a difference to the trafficked people involved in prostitution rather than become involved in a wider debate about sex.

three old ladies, a US attorney and some fantastic quotes

Some of you may remember me blogging previously about the nuns of Jonah House. These three Dominican nuns broke into a nuclear bomb silo as part of a peaceful protest. As a result they were sentenced and imprisoned for several months - bear in mind that these nuns are in their 70's...

They were released on license on condition of payment of a fine. Having taken on a vow of poverty, they refused to pay the fine - which they said would only go to fund a politico-military complex which they did not support in any case.

This January, their probation officer asked to be removed from the case so he could supervise someone who actually represented a threat to the nation. The nuns had deliberately violated the terms of their release - such as getting permission to leave the state where they lived in order to deliver tins of food to military families (which they were trying to do instead of paying the fine. The court said it did not accept tins of food against payment of a fine. Which had to be one of the most hilarious statements a court has ever made).

The US Attorney responded to the statement from the probation department thus:

As noted, the probation department has essentially asked the Court to end its responsibility of supervising the defendants as it is a waste of time. For most of their adult lives, the defendants have been wasting the time of the government at a cost to taxpayers and to hundreds of federal and state employees who have better things to do than facilitate the defendants' repeated, tiring construction of their soapbox.

If I have a headstone, I would like to have that carved over my grave.

One day the government will learn - it is impossible to punish people who are protesting against a greater evil and for whom imprisonment is not any kind of deterrent.