1. Educate people on how to spot the signs of child abuse
1.1. Encourage students to enter jobs such as psychology and counselling
1.1.1. A challenged and disturbing upbringing can increase the likelihood of children becoming victims of human trafficking. It makes you wonder whether enough is being done politically and socially to spot the signs of childhood abuse, both mental and physical, in order to help those children suffering so that the chances of further abuse later on in their lives is minimised. This is due to attacking the root of the problem in the early stages of their development. As a result the government should be looking into placing more money into this sector. More councillors are needed in schools in order to help children who have or are being abused.
1.1.1.1. In many schools there is a councillor on site, but that does not mean that you can pop in whenever you like. Sometimes there is a waiting list, or schedule that has to be kept to. This can mean that some children won't get to see the councillor for a couple of weeks after they have asked to be seen. This isn't good enough and the only solution is to have more councillors on each school site. They could also have an hour a day for people who just want to drop in and have a quick chat. This would enable children to know that there is always someone there that they can talk to if they need to. It would also enable students who feel as though they know someone who may be a victim of child abuse to talk to someone about it, so that they can get help for the person who needs it if they won't come forward on their own.
1.1.2. This may require the government to spend more money in the sector and create more spaces at universities for students, which will obviously have extra costs, but in the the long run by educating people hopefully the money saved from reducing human trafficking will equal the money used to fund spaces at universities, etc.
1.2. How the media can help
1.2.1. The fact that boys are more likely to be exploited in human trafficking than girls (5.7 times more likely) who have been sexually abused, suggests that the media may be to blame here, as it is always advertised that women are more commonly the victims of sexual abuse and it appears that in the case of children that is wrong. It questions whether enough is being done to help young boys and men feel comfortable in talking about their experience and encouraging them to reach out for help. This could be linked to the fact there are not many cases of men being victims of human trafficking online or on TV, and so therefore they don't think they can speak up and get the help they need. Because not many men are sharing their experiences, there aren't any cases of men being victims in the news and so therefore men don't feel comfortable speaking out. It's like a continuous vicious cycle.
1.2.1.1. For example in the news currently there are stories about Harvey Weinstein and his victims, who are female. There aren't many stories about men being the victim. There are a handful of male actors who are sharing their experiences and this is what we need more off. The more men talking about what happened to them, the better. It will hopefully give some people the confidence to speak out.
1.2.2. If we can get a balance of male and female cases in the news, this may help boys and men feel comfortable talking about their experience. If this isn't possible in the short term, you could look at creating documentaries about men who have been victims of human trafficking, to help increase awareness.
1.3. Run weekly sessions at local village halls to help educate the community
1.3.1. By educating the community in such a way will have many benefits. It will bring the community closer together and subsequently anything that may seem to be unusual will be easier to notice and therefore can be reported to the police. Making the area a safer place.
1.4. Educate children in school to help them spot the signs of child abuse
1.4.1. This should be taught from year seven onwards. Just teaching the pupils the signs to spot will help them to identify any peers that they feel may be falling victim to child abuse. They can then inform their teachers and as a result the child can get the help and support they need.
1.4.1.1. There are websites such as the NSPCC, that give information on their website about how to help children who you think are victims of abuse. However I can't find examples of where child abuse has been included as part of a school curriculum and I feel as though this should be tested and a few schools should pilot the topic. This is because if we can save one child from abuse and perhaps human trafficking then it was definitely worth putting a couple of lessons together on the topic.
2. Trying to reduce the number of people living in poverty
2.1. Donating to charity to help end poverty
2.1.1. The economic issue of poverty plays a part in human trafficking. People who are so desperate are selling their organs for a couple of hundred dollars just so that they can live, without realising that their buyer will go onto make a profit of sometimes over one hundred thousand dollars. This can lead to further implications, such as infections and disease if the wounds aren’t cared for properly, this could then result in more money needing to be spent in the healthcare sector. We need to make people aware of these implications and link them to charities that are helping to end poverty in these places. By donating money to these charities will help make living conditions better, provide clean water and food for these people living in poverty. Therefore will reduce the need for people living in poverty to sell their organs for basic amenities.
2.1.1.1. For example in Bangladesh, a man sold his kidney in order to pay off microcredit loans that were meant to bring him out of poverty.
2.2. Increasing peoples awareness of organ donation
2.2.1. In Britain we now have the 'opt out' scheme whereas before you had to 'opt in'. This means that when you die unless you have opted out, your organs can be removed and used to help somebody else live their life. You can choose which organs you want to remain and which ones you don't mind being removed, but the more people we can get to donate their organs the better. This is because it would reduce the high demand that we currently have for organs, as there are so many people awaiting organ transplants. Due to this high demand, organ harvesting is a very common part of human trafficking as they can make thousands of pounds for just one organ.
2.2.2. If we can show people the good that their organs can do once they have gone, this might make more people less likely to opt out.
2.2.2.1. Organisations go around schools spreading awareness about the good that donating your organs can do. There are also websites set up, such as organdonor.org that provide information about organ donation, including the benefits and case studies of peoples experiences. Websites such as the NHS provide information and support for after you have had the operation, or to what good your organs do once you have passed. By providing people with the information they need to make an informed and educated decision that is right for them, the better the chances that people are willing to donate.
2.2.3. By increasing organ donation awareness this will help to reduce the demand for organs and thus reduce the number of people living in poverty selling their organs for a couple of hundred pounds. This will also decrease the number of people catching lethal infections and diseases after their operation.
3. Checking how the products you buy are produced
3.1. How does buying Fair trade produce help?
3.1.1. Fair trade basically means that the products that you buy have been produced ethically. Therefore the farmer that say grew the bananas you bought will get a fair percentage of money you payed for them. It also ensures that the working conditions that the bananas were produced in are safe and ethical. If we can increase the number of fair trade products being sold in supermarkets, this will slowly begin to rule out food that is produced by forced labour and terrible working conditions.
3.2. Can recycling help?
3.2.1. By recycling our clothes and plastic we can make them into new clothes. As a result this saves on the quantity of raw materials we use. As a result this puts less demand on producers and factories to produce the materials needed.
3.2.1.1. For example Marks and Spencer have set up an initiative called 'Schwopping' which recycles clothes and makes them into new ones. There's also Nike that uses recycled bottles to make high performance sportswear. This has proven to have environmental and economic benefits, with hopes for even greater potential in the future.
3.3. In the long run
3.3.1. This would therefore mean that if we buy produce that is ethically produced and recycle our clothes, plastic and food, we would slowly but surely reduce the number of factories that aren't fair trade because in order for them to sell their produce to an ethnically conscious consumer, they will have to provide proof of ethical working conditions, etc.
4. Educate people of the signs of human trafficking
4.1. Run weekly sessions at local village halls to help educate the community
4.1.1. By educating the community in such a way will have many benefits. It will bring the community closer together and subsequently anything that may seem to be unusual will be easier to notice and therefore can be reported to the police. Making the area a safer place.
4.2. Make human trafficking part of the school curriculum
4.2.1. It should be compulsory to teach children about the ways in which people end up being drawn into human trafficking from the age of 11/12. This is because the first signs can be something as simple as someone you don't know being friendly and buying you unnecessary gifts.
4.2.2. The signs to look for in victims of human trafficking and the effects that human trafficking has along with some case studies should be taught around the age of 15-16 (year 10 and 11) this is because at the age of 16 some students will be going into the world of work and this is something they should be aware of.
4.2.2.1. In Jamaica human trafficking has been introduced to more than 500 primary and secondary schools, after it proved successful after being piloted in 49 schools in September 2015. As a result this educated students and helps them to spot the signs and help their friends and community if they notice anything suspicious.
4.2.3. Due to technology being such a huge part of children's life's nowadays it becomes more important with each advancement to educate them on internet safety. It is really hard to monitor what goes on online due to private messengers, and so as a result it is becoming increasingly crucial that we teach them the signs of human trafficking.
4.2.3.1. A lot of schools in the UK have police officers coming into their school and giving talks to their students about using the internet safely. This includes not talking to people they don't know, never meeting anyone they have been talking to without telling a responsible adult and reporting anything that they believe should not be online. This helps to keep children safe and removes any potential danger offline.
4.2.4. They could also have police officers coming into school to talk about the issue to get the messages across through an authoritative person.
4.3. Start promoting careers in psychology and areas of work such as counselling. This will result in an increase of individuals who will be highly educated in the area and will be able to spot even the smallest signs of human trafficking and related issues.
4.3.1. We need to start focusing on the benefits of careers in health care. Whether this is mental health care or physical. We are in need of counsellors in schools and in the work place. If we have more individuals in these types of professions, we stand a better chance of strengthening communities and spotting the early signs of human trafficking before they happen. This could also lead to careers in the police, for people who do not wan't to be a councillor, etc.
4.3.2. This may require the government to spend more money in the sector and create more spaces at universities for students, which will obviously have extra costs, but in the the long run by educating people hopefully the money saved from reducing human trafficking will equal the money used to fund spaces at universities, etc.
4.4. You could encourage people to create things like podcasts for people to listen to. Could create chat rooms for people to help and support each other.
4.4.1. Radio 4 have a number of podcasts ranging on all types of human trafficking, form slavery, to sex trafficking to organ harvesting. This means that people can listen to these at anytime and get help on if they have been a victim. It also allows them to know that they are not the only one who has gone through this atrocity.
5. Border Control
5.1. Look at improving and expanding training
5.1.1. Just like trying to recruit people in careers such as counselling, we should also be trying to educate people about careers in the police and specifically in border control when it comes to human trafficking. I think that each person within the police who works in border control should have to go on a course every year for a refresh on the rules and regulations and update them on any new advancements in the field.
5.1.1.1. I believe that many schools now have people coming into their schools to talk about many different career options, not just doctors, accountants and scientists. Many schools often hold career fairs, to allow their students to make informed decisions and explore all the possible avenues they could go down, including jobs in psychology and counselling.
5.1.2. They could look at building new training camps as this would create more places for people to enrol in the training. This would take the pressure off current universities and training programmes already in place and therefore would reduce the strain on their resources. The only downfall with this is that it would cost a lot of money and there are other things that need money invested in by the government. This may create conflict within a community as people will have different opinions as to what the money should be spent on. You would also face the problem of where you put these training camps. You need them to be in a position that makes access easy for supplies and necessities but also for the students studying there. But this has the potential to create more tension in the community as to where you're going to build the camp and the accommodation for the students to live in. People will not want this in their 'backyard'. Also getting planning permission could prove to be difficult due to environmental factors such as a protected species being present at the proposed site.
5.1.3. To reduce the conflict and frustration towards the people who will be working on the site of the new training camp, a facility could be made that benefits the whole community. For example it could include a public gym, pool and cafe. If there are benefits to the community the people of the village are going to be more happy to cooperate.
5.1.3.1. This is similar to the London 2012 Olympic Park. It cost a lot of money to build and was built somewhere that wasn't ideal for some people, e.g ruining their views and congesting the roads. But once the olympics was over, the community was allowed to use the facilities and make the most of the site.
5.2. Encourage private-sector investment in border infrastructure
5.2.1. If we could get privately owned companies big and small to invest into the infrastructure this would reduce the amount of money that the government would have to use on the project. This would hopefully reduce some of the tension within the community.
5.2.2. In return for their investment, they could advertise at the docks and airports. This would be a good offer due to the amount of time people spend waiting for their plane and ferry.
6. Reevaluating the Law
6.1. Stricter laws
6.1.1. By having stricter laws and therefore stricter punishments, we could hopefully reduce the number of people attempting to go through with illegal actions such as human trafficking. If we can educate the youth on the topic, we could hopefully 'scare' them into not being part of any such crime.
6.1.1.1. Some countries are known to kill criminals involved in human and trafficking and in the UK we may only give them two years in prison. In a modern country such as the UK the laws need to be stricter, life in prison should be more common than it is. This may decrease the number of people committing such crimes due to the fear of spending the rest of their life in jail.
6.1.2. If someone is caught and is involved in human trafficking, whether they are the main leader or an accessory they should be detained immediately. Regarding their sentence, someone like the main coordinator or someone who has a leading role within the 'organisation' should be given life in prison. Someone who is an accessory to the crime such as the transporter, should be given no less than ten years. This would mean that even the smallest involvement in human trafficking who result in a minimum of ten years in prison. This as a result may make people think twice before committing such a crime, especially if they have a family.
6.1.3. With increasing number on convictions, more prisons would be needed. This would face the same implications as building new training camps for border control students. There could be even greater conflict within a community on where the prison should be built as no one wants a prison outside their house (see above). It would also require funding by the government.
6.1.3.1. In Port Talbot they are currently building a new prison due to an increase in the number of convictions. This shows that it can be done if budgeted correctly.
6.1.4. Areas which have a high number of human trafficking convictions, should have community police in the area 24/7. This would put the community at rest as they would know there would always be someone watching out for any suspicious activity. It would make any sort of illegal activity more difficult to undertake and so as a result may also help to combat other illegal activity such as drug dealing. This however would cost the government money and resources they may not have, such as police officers with the required training.
6.1.4.1. In big cities like Cardiff, London and Edinburgh police officers are quite common to see, but we need this to be the case in smaller towns and villages. Policing in these big cities help to reduce crime and keep the streets safe. We need this in areas of high reports of human trafficking to create a sense of authority in the area and to hopefully put the criminals working in the area. If we can get good surveillance in many villages etc, eventually there won't be many places left where the criminals can work.
6.2. Revising the law
6.2.1. Some laws may be outdated due to the increasing number of people coming forward and telling authorities about their experiences. Not to mention how quickly advancements in the field are being made.
6.2.2. New laws may need to be introduced due to new advancements in technology, such as social media.
6.2.3. With increasing numbers of immigrants entering the country, this may alter the law. For example how to we go about punishing a criminal involved in human trafficking, if the victim has come into our country illegally? Who deals with the crime, their country of origin? The country where the crime took place? Or the new country they have entered?