Local workers in Edinburgh queue up to stop child trafficking

On the 15th July at Fort Kinnaird Shopping Centre, Edinburgh staff and supporters from The Body Shop queued up to stop the sex trafficking of children and young people and protect victims found in the UK.

They all gave their handprints to the Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People petition, a national petition spearheaded by The Body Shop and charity ECPAT UK, calling for the UK Government to put the safety and wellbeing of young victims of trafficking at the heart of their plans.

The petition is specifically calling on the Government to offer greater care and protection to child victims of trafficking by ensuring every child is provided with a guardian to look after them.

· A system of guardianship would mean that every child victim of trafficking would have someone with parental responsibility to care and support them.

· A guardian would protect each child and prevent them from facing further exploitation and harm from their traffickers.

· A guardian would ensure that every child victim of trafficking would receive the educational, medical, practical and legal support they need to help rebuild their lives.

Kim Anderson, The Body Shop Store Manager said, “Children from over 50 countries are trafficked into the UK on a regular basis primarily for sexual exploitation, so it is happening on our very own doorstep!  Even if they’re lucky enough to escape their torment, identified trafficked children are often left without support and previous research has shown over half of these children go missing from local authority care and are never found.  Every identified child needs to be given a guardian and protector, someone to take parental responsibility for them and who is dedicated to making decisions on their behalf.  

“We need your help to stop these vulnerable children from suffering any more.  We are asking for the community of EDINBURGH to raise their hands to stop this injustice and sign our petition in their local store or by visiting our website www.thebodyshop.com/stop.”

The campaign has already secured a raft of high level support from the UK and beyond with stars such as Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Rob Lowe, Matt LeBlanc, Joanna Lumley, Yoko Ono, Sir Ben Kingsley, Claudia Winkleman, Jo Wood, Martin McCutcheon, Craig David and Gordon Banks all submitting their handprints to the campaign.  Please be part of this global effort to put an end to this terrible violation of children’s rights.

How You Can Help  

1. Sign the petition calling on the UK Government to put in place a system of guardianship to ensure these vulnerable children have someone dedicated to looking after their best interests, keeping them safe and ensuring no further harm comes to them by their traffickers so that they can start to rebuild their lives.  Visit any The Body Shop store or go online to www.thebodyshop.com/stop

2. Spread the word – join the Facebook group (www.facebook.com/thebodyshopuk), follow ECPATUK and TheBodyShopUK on Twitter and change your profile picture/ Twibbon to your handprint/hand in the ‘stop’ position to show you’ve signed the petition and supported the campaign

3. Buy the hand cream – all proceeds* from the sales of The Body Shop ‘Soft Hands, Kind Hearts’ hand cream (50ml/ RRP: £3.50) goes to ECPAT to support their projects in this country

The petition is part of a three year global campaign between The Body Shop and ECPAT to put an end to the trafficking of children and young people, guarantee their rights to be protected from exploitation and inspire long-term change to strengthen the protection offered to these children and young people.  The Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People Petition will be activated in some 66 countries around the world.  The UK section will be delivered to the Prime Minister in 2011.  

Did you know?

· Every year an estimated 1.2 million children and young people are trafficked, becoming victims of sexual exploitation and abuse.

· Human trafficking is the third largest international crime (after illegal drugs and arms trafficking) believed to be worth billions of dollars a year and according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, it is one of the fastest growing criminal activities in the world. It exists in every continent, region and country the world over from the richest to the poorest.

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