Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de paul 
British Province

Trafficking: how can we help?

On 26th January 2008 in St Thomas's parish, Riddrie, Glasgow, Daughters of Charity and other members of the Vincentian Family gathered to hear Bronagh Andrew of TARA, (Trafficking Awareness-Raising Alliance) an anti-trafficking organisation based in Glasgow. She spoke about the "growing phenomenon" of women being trafficked into the city.

TARA has discovered that women from 26 countries are currently involved in the
off-street sex trade. Since October 2007 the police in Scotland have rescued more
than 30 trafficked women. The scale of the problem found in Scotland is part of the
UK-wide Police Operation codenamed Pentameter II.

Preliminary figures indicate a dramatic growth in the problem. Under Operation
Pentameter I in 2006, Scottish officers visited 25 premises, made 12 arrests and
rescued six women including one girl under 18. UK-wide, during the previous operation,
there were more than 200 arrests, 120 people were charged and 84 women were
rescued; 12 of these were under 18. Pentameter II has now been extended.

To date, since it began in October 2007, Scottish Police Forces have found more than
30 women in brothels and private saunas, most of them in their 20s. These women
are believed to have been brought here against their will.  They are understood
to have been brought into the UK from a number of countries in South-East Asia and

Eastern Europe. Several of the women are thought to have come from China and
have been forced into the sex trade by "Snakehead" gangsters. Most of the women
have been rescued from private brothels and flats across Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh.

After Bronagh’s input, the participants broke into groups to discuss various case studies
which helped us tease out the underlying issues of trafficking: lies, misinformation,
betrayal of trust, isolation, fear, confusion, abuse, shame, secrecy, intimidation, becoming
a non-person with no identity papers, violence, dependency, sex for profit, manipulation, the stealing of a person’s human rights.

Then the question was raised: What could we as a Family do to help? This was a hard question because of the underground, secretive nature of trafficking. We did, however, come up with some practical suggestions:

1. Helping to raise awareness

2. Lobbying MPs and joining online campaigns

   

3. Reporting suspicious behaviour to the police

4.  Being prepared to offer a temporary “safe space” in our homes

5. Fund-raising to support the work of TARA
   

 

For further information: Tel 0141 2878307. bronagh.andrew@drs.glasgow.gov.uk
Website: CHASTE: CHURCHES ALERT TO SEX-TRAFFICKING ACROSS EUROPE www.chaste.org.uk 

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