UK Internal trafficking

Group targets grooming of girls

Girls are threatened and isolated from their families. The scale of the problem of British girls being lured into prostitution in their own country is being examined by the Home Office.
A working group is being set up to examine "internal trafficking" of girls in their teens or younger.
In some cases, girls as young as 10 are believed to have been groomed by youths pretending to be boyfriends. They are passed on and end up in prostitution.
Campaigners said the authorities had been slow to react to the problem.
In a report seen by the BBC, the Home Office recommends that "the newly formed UK Internal Trafficking Group will seek to define the extent and nature of this phenomenon".
It can happen to any child from any family.
Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker confirmed it had commissioned work to examine internal trafficking.
He said a film was also being made to be shown in schools to warn children of the dangers.
"There's work going on with prosecuting authorities to make sure they're aware of this issue and understand it and then there's work going on in communities to make sure that people are aware of this as a potential problem," he said.
"We also want to have services that protect and support victims as well."
Threats and beatings
The BBC has learned that internal trafficking follows a typical pattern in which a girl aged about 12 is approached and won over by a good-looking, well-dressed teenage boy.
He gives her jewellery, mobile phones and later drink or drugs, and pretends to be her boyfriend.

"Emma" told the BBC she was groomed by a teenage boy
Once under his spell, the girl is turned against her parents and persuaded to have sex with her boyfriend's older "uncles" or "friends" to pay him back for the money he has spent on her.
Gradually, she finds herself spending all her time with the older men who force her, often with violence, to work as a prostitute.
Meanwhile, her original "boyfriend" is out targeting another young girl.
One victim Emma, which is not her real name, was targeted when she was 13.
"In schools we're always warned about a man in a white van, but we're never warned that someone nearly your own age could be targeting you to groom you for prostitution," she said.
Emma was too terrified to ask for help.
"They've threatened to rape my mum and make me watch," she said.
"Firebomb my house. Shoot me, shoot my family. They've threatened to do all sorts of things."
Parents 'bewildered'
Hilary Willmer, from the Coalition for the Removal of Pimping (Crop), said she had seen dozens of cases of internal trafficking.
Ms Willmer said: "It can happen to any child from any family. The men, the gangs have all the experience. The children, the families and the parents are bewildered, don't know what's happening."
She welcomed the Home Office action, but said part of the problem was the law.
The whole issue with trafficking is that it's a secret, covert crime and there's a great deal of control placed over the victims
Nick KinsellaUK Human Trafficking Centre
Once older than 13, a girl may be asked to give evidence in court against an attacker.
"In practice, unless the primary victim is prepared to give evidence then it's very difficult to make charges stick," Ms Willmer said.
"The men know this, so they often wait until the girls are 13 before actually having sex with them."
North Yorkshire Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said many forces were aware of this problem and officers were now trying to piece together the national picture.
He said: "It is a very difficult crime to detect. We are talking about people who don't want to talk about things in the open.
"When they actually find out the extent to which the exploitation has been carried out on them, how much they have been abused, how much they've been forced to have sexual partners, it's a very difficult thing to comes to terms with."
The UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) in Sheffield recently appointed a dedicated detective sergeant to work on internal trafficking cases.
Nick Kinsella, head of the UKHTC, said the scale of the problem was unclear.
"The whole issue with trafficking is that it's a secret, covert crime and there's a great deal of control placed over the victims and so that's always difficult to break down irrespective of the age," he said.

Moving on

A colleague asked me yesterday why I hadn't forgotten about my daughter by now, is that what people really expect?
Could any mum ever forget 16 years of love?
Ask any mum in our situation how they feel and I'm sure they will tell you the same......you never give up hope!
Hope that one day your loving child will appear at the door, hope that the nightmare will be over, hope that the family will be truly happy again and most of all hope that the perpetrator is punished for his crimes.

Of course we will never be able to turn back time, some things have changed for good, physical things and emotional. For those of us left behind have changed, our lives have not panned out the way we had planned and the future remains very uncertain. But what of our daughter, what has happened to her life? We know that her man/boyfriend/pimp (call him what you will) has prevented the authorities from seeing her.we know that he has driven a wedge between her and her friends & family.We know that she has lost the opportunity to complete her education and yes sadly we know that she has been introduced to street drugs.
The door is always open, but how do we convey that message to her when we are not able to speak to her, hopefully the IP address in Bristol will log onto this blog again this week.

The rabbit hutch has now gone,the garden looks even more lonely,the house has lost its sparkle,
the grandparents have lost their only granddaughter.
Perhaps time heals all wounds as people say, but these wounds run deep and time isn't something that is in abundance for everyone.
So my love, if you read this, please take note-

Your family will always love you, no matter what,
You will NEVER be forgotten,
The door is always open,you just need to shout,
Please don't be a stranger, get in touch,
I long for you to be knocking at the door to say can I come in,
Rather than the police asking us to identify a body.
There is help out there for you,
Please just ask,
If it's the last thing I ever do,
I will fight for justice until the bitter end

I Love you babes & always will

"Love It" magazine

In this weeks edition there is what is called -a shock news report:

GIRLS FORCED TO BE PROSTITUTES AGED 10

The article mentions boyfriends showering girls with gifts,jewellery,mobile phones
Girls being lured away from friends and family
Encouraged to drink and take drugs
Persuaded to have sex with older friends or 'uncles' to pay for the gifts
Parents begging for help from the police and social services

Perhaps to many people it may seem far fetched,in fact a year ago I would have thought the same.Now sadly for many people this is the reality of Britain today,it doesn't just happen in inner cities it can happen anywhere and it can happen to anyone.

I have sat today having coffee with a drugs advisor,getting information on the effects of drugs and what parents can do to help their children.
These children have had their childhoods stolen by men who promise the earth,who tell the girls its real love and they are the only people who really understand them.
The truth is that these men are very dangerous and they get a thrill out of each victim they win over,unlike the parents,they aren't interested in the long term welfare of the girls,more so the short term welfare of their wallets.

Lets hope that the Home office minister quoted in the article takes the tough action on the perpetrators that he has promised.
Too many lives have already been ruined,this crime has to stop,these girls have to be protected.

The suffolk murders

The murder trial has started this week of 5 Suffolk prostitutes.The interest in the case at the time didn't seem appropriate, yes it was covered for a few weeks and then all forgotten until this week.
The parents of those girls must have been devastated,not just by their deaths which were traumatic enough,but also by the way that the public didn't seem that bothered because of their roles in society.
The question is did these girls choose prostitution as their careers?.....somehow I doubt it.
They all had a drug problem,more than likely introduced by their pimps.

These girls were all exploited,let down by society and even more so let down by the authorities who quite frankly don't care.
Social workers are only interested if they can get a happy outcome and place a tick in their case complete box.

How many more young girls will have their lives ruined by pimps?
How long will it take for the authorities to stand up and take notice?

6th form applications

This week is very important for my daughter's friends, it's their last chance to apply for places in the 6th form at the school where they have matured from pre-teens into outstanding young ladies and gentlemen.

The school is very special, one of the few Grammar schools left and has outstanding results.More than that though is the very special bond that the pupils have both with teachers and fellow pupils.

The year 11 pupils have now reached the stage when most of them will go on to the 6th form , and in a few years time many will then follow on to University.

My daughter, like her friends and classmates had such an amazing future ahead of her, there was never any pressure, just the knowledge that with such a good start to life they could achieve whatever dreams and aspirations they had.

So what does the future hold for her now?
Who knows.

A far cry from the safe and sheltered environment she was used to.


It's never too late to turn back the clock

quote

Kahlil Gibran - "Life without liberty is like a body without spirit."

January weekends

So much happens in a year,many things change,time never stands still,perhaps that's a good thing sometimes,we all wish at some point in our lives that we could turn back time.

When I look back to this time last year our nightmare was just beginning,I remember attending parents evening,telling some of the teachers that I was concerned about my daughter's relationship with a man.They reassured me that her schoolwork wasn't affected so not to worry,she was doing so well,on target to have such a promissing future,her whole life ahead of her.
Of course events were to move on very quickly from then,becoming out of control so soon it took everyone by surprise.

We used to walk around car boot sales,looking for bargains,this time last year we went to one such sale,our daughter had been shopping the day before and had returned very happy with a bag full of gifts from a boy she had told us she knew from school.While we were out that day she received a disturbing phone call,from the man ,he was threatening to kill himself because he said that she didn't love him.

In hindsight it would have been better if he had gone through with it,of course we now know that this was just one of his many silly games.
This saga of shopping and then suicide threats was to happen a further 3 weekends running,our diary from last year shows our total dispair.We consulted parentline,the police,the samaritans and social services but no-one seemed to understand sexual grooming.
The only good thing was that she was still attending school,bringing some sort of normailty to everyone's lives,especially hers.


So what about this year,a very different situation.
There are now 3 of us living at home,we don't do car boot sales anymore,in fact every aspect of our lives has changed.
I guess the only thing that remains the same is our son,he has regained his wicked sense of humour that was missing for so long last year.
He has changed so much,grown up into a fantastic young man,I'm so immensly proud of him.
We are now very aware of the dark side of life in this country,something that we were totally unaware of this time last year.
I have spent some time on the phone today,helping out another family,being a shoulder to cry on,a listening ear,someone to sound off at.
You see our case is far from unique,this sort of thing is happening on a daily basis to families all over the country.It doesn't matter what background you come from,where abouts in the country you live,or how you have brought your children up.These men are total scum,they get a kick out of ruining other people's lives,for their own personal gain.