Cut It Out Youth Worker Info Pack

Campaign Information Pack

Dear youth leader, parent, corps officer, leader, etc ALOVE UK is launching a campaign that we hope you and your young people will be able to get involved in!

The ALOVE UK ‘Cut It Out’ campaign aims to raise awareness of and take action against the global issue of human trafficking with a particular focus on human trafficking to fuel the demands of the sex industry.

We want to help you to guide your young people through this issue by helping raise their awareness as to the ongoing issue of human trafficking, helping them to realise that they do have a voice and that it can be used for good and helping them to realise that they can make a difference in their communities and the wider world!

We do appreciate that this isn’t the easiest subject to broach with your young people as it could throw up a whole load of questions and issues with regards to the sex industry, including pornography. So we have created this guide to help you work through this with your young people, as well as giving you varying options at points so you can tailor what you do to the age group you work with.

We really hope that you will join us in raising our voices against the injustice that we see in our world and in our communities and that your young people will be a voice for vulnerable people all over the world!

With many thanks and every blessing,

The ALOVE UK team

What is the campaign about?

We have created a campaign that we hope will achieve these 4 outcomes: 1. To raise awareness among Salvation Army young people as to the global issue of human trafficking 2. To see the advertising of sexual services in magazines and newspapers being made illegal across the UK 3. T o see an end to the use of popup advertising of sexual services/ pornography online 4. T o create an ongoing positive impact in communities throughout the UK due to the formation of ACT groups and new members of Start Freedom (both Stop the Traffik initiatives)

We are basing our campaign around 3 elements: 1. CUT IT OUT – to actively get involved in seeing an end to the advertising of sexual services in magazines 2. SWITCH IT OFF – to make our objections to pop-up advertising known to websites that sell their advertising space to pornographic websites 3. SHUT THE DOOR – to make a difference in our communities by actively campaigning to see an end to human trafficking

The campaign has been designed so that there will be at least one aspect that will be accessible for our whole ALOVE age remit, but with the intention that, due to the nature of the subject, people will be able to join in on a level that is appropriate to them and their age.

Human trafficking & the sex industry – the facts!

Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them. First and foremost, human trafficking is a crime against humanity.

To achieve our campaign aim of raising awareness among Salvation Army young people as to the global issue of human trafficking we want everyone to access the resources that we produce and the awareness-raising material that we will be providing. This will be done through our events, on our website and through our cell material and prayer guides.

We want everyone to be aware of the fact that there is an ongoing issue with human trafficking and that there is very much a link between this, pornography and the wider sex industry.

However, we do need to make it very clear to our young people that not all sex workers are the victims of human trafficking and not all trafficked people are sex workers.

We then hope that, from having their awareness raised as to the issue of human trafficking, young people will take part in one, some or all of our campaign actions.

To achieve our campaign action of seeing the advertising of sexual services in magazines and newspapers being made illegal across the UK we have two suggested campaign actions with one being for slightly older young people and the other being for everyone!

For your slightly older young people – we are suggesting a campaign action that would involve gathering your young people and cutting out the adverts that appear in the back of newspapers and magazines for massage parlours, saunas, etc, because in reality adverts like this are often a front for criminal networks to advertise trafficked victims for sexual services. Once the adverts have been cut out, we then want them to be sent back to the editors of these publications along with the letter template that can be downloaded from the ALOVE UK website stating why we don’t want to see advertising in this way take place.

For everyone – film the very simple message of ‘Cut it Out’ to be included in our video petition to be sent to the UK Government to say that we want to see the advertising of sexual services in the back of publications made illegal. Send all of your video contributions to the team at ALOVE for us to compile – see our website for details and parental permission forms.

Facts • Worldwide more than 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked every year • 77% are women • 87% of trafficked victims are sexually exploited • This is a worldwide criminal activity with annual profits estimated to be $32 billion • Women are sold for £500 - £8,000 Source: UNODC/Home Office

To achieve our campaign aim of seeing an end to pop-up advertising of sexual services and pornography online we sadly realise that this is something that people of all ages can be faced with, as pop-up advertising in this way appears on sites that have nothing to do with the sex industry. Therefore, we hope that everyone will get involved in emailing the relevant websites that sell their advertising space to these companies and will do this by using the letter template that we will be providing.

This is also the element of the campaign that will provide a good opportunity for discussing pornography with your young people.

• The single largest group of internet pornography consumers is children aged 12-17 (Psychologies Magazine).

The facts show that pornography is very much an issue with young people and we should not shy away from addressing this. We need to be open enough to discuss why this is a damaging thing to engage in and how it can play a part in the bigger issues with regards to how we objectify people, how pornography can normalise abuse and violence towards women and how it can, at times, create a desire for anonymous sex.

We also want to raise the issue that a key ingredient to commercial sex is the belief that people (women especially) are sexual commodities and pornography is the ideal vehicle to teach and train this belief.

Further advice and recommended resources with regards to addressing pornography can be found later on in this resource.

• 1 in 3 10-year-olds has seen pornography online (Psychologies Magazine 2010).

• 8 1% of young people aged 14-16 regularly access explicit photographs and footage on their home computers (Psychologies Magazine 2010).

How does The Salvation Army as an organisation respond to the issue of human trafficking?

The Salvation Army has a long history of working with people who are vulnerable and marginalised across the world, including people who find themselves the victims of trafficking, and offers unconditional assistance and support regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual choices, respecting the identity and choices of those referred to them.

To achieve our campaign aim of creating an ongoing positive legacy in our local communities we would recommend that it is the slightly older end of our age remit that get involved in joining or starting ACT groups.

ACT groups are a Stop the Traffik initiative that equips people to: • k now the signs of trafficking and how to report it • b ecome advocates for those who are hidden or vulnerable • raise awareness • c ampaign and lobby for local, national and international change • network people in their town For those who are younger Stop the Traffick offers something called Start Freedom, which is a global campaign that will help people to:

For lots more information on both of these initiatives visit www.stopthetraffik.org.

Please familiarise yourself with this and share the information with your young people.

We hope that the ‘Cut It Out’ campaign will help people to look at the whole picture and to realise that human trafficking isn’t as distant from our lives as we might think and that, as a result, they will want to take action. We also hope that the campaign will help us all think about the sex industry as a whole and the fact that we need to be standing up against this.

We’re not expecting you to get your young people involved in everything, as we realise that could be a huge task! However, we do hope that people will see something in our campaign action ideas that they will want to engage with and that this will be a way for you to bring up some really important issues with your young people.

• learn what human trafficking is • find out how it affects their life • find out what they can do to combat it

In England For the past five years, The Salvation Army has had practical, direct experience in supporting women who have been trafficked into the UK for sexual purposes, providing accommodation, care and support in a confidential client-based service which addresses the needs of a very vulnerable group.

Anti human trafficking is a global issue – The Salvation Army is deeply committed to fighting human trafficking however it may be manifested and seeks to exercise care in restoring the freedom and dignity of those affected.

Resources and material Please visit the ALOVE website to:

Further teaching and training materials

• Download our human trafficking specific prayer guide

If discussing pornography with your young people raises issues with regards to what they look at online and they would like to talk further about this subject in a confidential manner then please make them aware of the counselling services below.

• View our campaign video

Recommended Helplines for Young People:

• Order campaign materials

Youth2Youth (Y2Y)

• Download the campaign letter templates • Download cell material

• Find out how to send in your video petition clip • Find out how you can run a workshop • Download the ‘Cut It Out’ app • Access Stop the Traffik information • Read our articles and awareness-raising materials Please also ‘like’ ALOVE UK on Facebook so that you and your young people can share exactly what you are up to in your campaigning efforts.

020 8896 3675 Y2Y is a unique helpline service. The reason it is unique is that the helpline is run by young people for young people.

Premier Lifeline

0845 345 0707 (BT Local Rate) / 020 7316 0808 A confidential telephone helpline offering a listening ear along with emotional and spiritual support from a Christian perspective and prayer.

ChildLine

0800 1111 Calls are free and confidential

How is the issue of human trafficking for sexual exploitation being addressed around the world?

Sweden has moved in a unique direction. In 1999 the Swedish Government became the first in the world to prosecute the buyer of sex, the john, while legally treating the woman as a victim. The Swedish Government also established a comprehensive outreach programme that encourages sex workers to change their livelihood.

The maximum sentence in Sweden for a convicted john is six months in prison. In the first five years following passage of the law, about 750 men were charged and two-thirds were sentenced. As a result, street prostitution in Sweden has dropped dramatically, as has the influx of trafficked women.

‘What differentiates us from the Netherlands and Germany… is that we link the “slave trade” with prostitution and pornography,’ explains Marianne Eriksson, a Swedish member of the European Parliament and a strong proponent of her country’s legal strategy on sex trafficking. ‘Everyone in the European Union is against human trafficking, of course,’ she clarifies, ‘but we know that 90 per cent of this commerce has to do with sexual exploitation.’

Source: Not for Sale Campaign: www.notforsalecampaign.org/about/slavery/#rs_3

Get Connected

0808 808 4994 Get Connected provides a free, confidential helpline that gives young people under 25 the support and information they need to decide what they want to do next, whatever the problem or concern. This includes a free referral to more than 13,000 different services.

Careline Crisis Line

020 8514 1177 Confidential counselling service for young people.

Brook

0808 802 1234 Free & confidential information for under 25s

Recommended Resources Living Free A recommended resource for you to use if mentoring someone through a pornography addiction. Published by Care (2008)

For more information and to register your support for the campaign: Email: alove@salvationarmy.org.uk, Phone: 0207 367 4555 Web: www.salvationarmy.org.uk/alove ‘Like’ ALOVE UK on Facebook

Why does human trafficking exist?

People trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are enslaved, the fastest growing international crime and one of the largest sources of income for organised crime The UN Office on Drugs and Crime

Although most trafficking originates with local operators, they deftly connect to an international sex industry looking to fill slots in brothels, massage parlours, strip joints and lap dance bars.

Source: Not for Sale Campaign: www.notforsalecampaign.org/about/slavery/

We must not forget demand. You can only sell what can be bought.

Stop the Traffik

You may think that sex trafficking is something confined to big cities or red-light districts, af¬fecting other people somewhere else.

This is not true. There could be cause for concern in every small town, village and city where there is a sex industry.

Stop the Traffik

How is the issue of human trafficking being addressed at a local level?

Kit Malthouse, London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing, said: ‘Advertising of sex services in newspapers is just the visible tip of an organised crime iceberg that involves the full suite of organised criminal activity.

‘We know a lot a sex traffickers get access to their markets through local newspapers.

We don’t allow drug dealers to advertise in newspapers so why should we allow traffickers to advertise prostitution?’

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