Santa Marta Group

We're #hiring a new Communications and Network Officer in London Area, United Kingdom. Please share this with your networks! #humantrafficking #modernslavery

Confirming the need for the work of organisations like @StellaMarisOrg All workers should be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of which waters they are in. #humantrafficking #modernslavery https://lnkd.in/eP5MpD2C

Globally, 1 in 3 victims of human trafficking is a child, with the majority being girls. There is an urgent need to take comprehensive measures to help child victims. This requires joint efforts at national and international level. #EndHumanTrafficking #modernslavery

At GSN, we are committed to eradicating modern slavery and human trafficking. As Kevin Hyland emphasizes, we advocate for systemic change and call on G20 countries to take decisive action to combat these human rights abuses. #EndSlavery #G20 #Brazil #Act4SDGs

We have advocated for many years for better regulation of these sectors. It is encouraging to see this form of criminality at last being recognised. However, it is crucial that those implicated, who may be victims of #trafficking, are offered adequate support, and that their vulnerability is not exacerbated in this process. https://lnkd.in/e2Ek9p8u

We were pleased to deliver another great awareness workshop in Shoreham-by-Sea on Saturday. There were many thoughtful insights from people with a range of experience: personal, professional or voluntary. We're grateful to The Catholic Diocese of Arundel & Brighton and Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) for their ongoing support, and to everyone who took time out of their Saturday to engage with #humantrafficking and #modernslavery.

Great to have James Harris, the new Director of the Centre for Countering Human Trafficking, at our conference last week. #humantrafficking #modernslavery #partnership

Yesterday I opened the Senior Leadership Summit on Collectively Combatting Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery hosted by An Garda Síochána and Santa Marta Group, in Cork. Those responsible prey on the most vulnerable people in our society and show no regard for life, human dignity or basic human rights. The prevention, detection and prosecution of this exploitative and particularly heinous crime is something this Government and I as Minister for Justice take very seriously. Our new National Referral Mechanism will help to identify victims and link them with supports and services. This is a cornerstone of the new National Action Plan that I published last November along with ongoing development of training and awareness raising work with NGOs. We must ensure front line staff in industries such as hospitality or airline and shipping know how to spot the signs and where to go for help. Legislation to establish the new (NRM) will complete all stages in the Houses in the next week, enabling me to enact it as soon as possible.

Concluding the An Garda Síochána and Santa Marta Group Human Trafficking Leadership Summit, Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris presented closing remarks. #humantrafficking #modernslavery Cardinal Vincent Nichols further emphasised the importance of partnerships. “People don’t enter into partnerships unless they know they lack competence”. “Sometimes we are unable to deliver what needs to be delivered on our own. For this we require partnerships that are firm and under mutual recognition of competence.” Cardinal Nichols spoke about the need to create cycles of virtue and strength “in order to bring to an end this horrible crime of human trafficking”. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris closed by saying how important it is that we learn from this conference and use the lessons learned for the next one. He highlighted the need for increased partnerships, as well as the need to “raise awareness among the police service” but cautioned that we need to “be careful about how we introduce this more and more into society” through awareness raising campaigns. “Thank you to the Santa Marta Group for being here and showing great leadership and highlighting the impact of the Church and NGOs in fighting this heinous crime.” - Commissioner Drew Harris.

Superintendent Nick Dale from West Midlands Police kicked off Day 2 of the summit with a session on his work disrupting and dismantling #organisedcrime groups. For the first panel of the day, we were privileged to have several experts speak about #labourexploitation: Speaking on labour exploitation, Garda Detective Chief Superintendent Colm Noonan said, "This is not something that’s unknown to you, it’s the person doing your nails or serving your coffee. People underestimate how prevalent it is." Superintendent Nick Dale from the West Midlands Police discussed the effectiveness of "bad publicity" for companies. The issue of labour exploitation within corporate #supplychains must receive more mainstream attention. The second panel of experts spoke about forced criminality: “It’s out there, it’s big.” Garda Detective Superintendent, Derek Maguire spoke about forced criminality being “the most hidden form of human trafficking”. He also pointed out, “If something doesn’t look right, it usually isn’t”, emphasising the importance of reporting to the police. JP O’Sullivan from MECPATHS highlighted the importance of the lens in which this issue is viewed and the language that is used in media to discuss victims, stating it “must be appropriate for children.” “They are not criminals; they are children that have been forced into criminality and they must be presented as such.” “If our frontline professionals aren’t seeing trafficking and victims for what they are, how are children or victims supposed to understand it” – JP O’Sullivan, MECPATHS. Sergeant John Schofield from Greater Manchester Police further highlighted the importance for education: “It’s all about education – there is no limit to what we should be doing”, underscoring the urgent need for raising awareness.