Greenbelt 2006
What a weekend! The Greenbelt festival was a new venture for CHASTE, and certainly proved to be a valuable experience. Greenbelt is a Christian arts festival run out every year over bank holiday weekend at Cheltenham racecourse. The theme for the festival this year was 'redemption songs', and thus issues of freedom and social justice were key factors in the talks and other activities available. CHASTE hosted a network space in 'The Pulse' at the festival with a consortium of NGOs working in areas of prositution. These included NCAP (National Christian Alliance on Prostitution), CROP (Coalition for the Removal of Pimping) and the Josephine Butler Society. Over 20,000 people attended the festival, so it was a wonderful opportunity for networking and for raising awareness of the issues surrounding sex trafficking. Our thanks go out to our fantastic team of volunteers who came to help man the stand for all their hard work, this was very much appreciated.
Next year we would like to be able to host a stand at Greenbelt again. If you are interested in volunteering to help at next year's festival, please be in touch with admin@chaste.org.uk.
Accompanying Trafficked Women
On the 24th July CHASTE held a training day entitled 'Accompanying Trafficked Women' at County Hall in London. This was a very successful day, and we hope beneficial to those attending. The day offered practical advice and information on the issues surrounding working with women who may have been trafficked. speakers included:
- DC Karen Kinger - Metropolitan Police
- DS Sallie McArdell - Project Sapphire, Metropolitan Police
- Glynn Rankin - UK Human Trafficking Centre, CPS
- Dr Noreen Tehrani - chartered occupational, counselling and health psychologist
- Sr Eugenia Bonetti - USMI (Union of Major Superiors of Italy)
Round Table - Safe Housing
On 20th June, a highly successful Round Table meeting was held in London to discuss issues surrounding Safe Housing for victims of Sex Trafficking. Our thanks go out to All Saints Church for the use of their hall for this. The meeting was a very productive one, and involved input from representatives of many different denominations of the church, as well as the police. We were delighted to welcome Chief Superintendant Nick Kinsella, of the new UK Human Trafficking Centre, who gave a very informative talk on the current work of the police in the area of trafficking, and the development and continuation of the work which was begun in Operation Pentameter. A lively discussion followed, which resulted in many new ideas and suggestions for progress in this area, which will be followed up over the coming months. We continue to pray for those involved in the running of Safe Houses at the moment, such as the Salvation Army, and the new house to be opened shortly by the Medaille Trust.
Previous CHASTE Conferences
Challenging Demand
This conference was held on 18th May in Glasgow, to look at the key issue of demand, which gives rise to Trafficking, and how we can respond to and tackle this issue. The conference was arranged by the Women's Support Project, and also incorporated an exhibition by Myrna Balk, entitled 'The Demand Factor: Buying Despair.' Although CHASTE was unable to send a delegate in person, we are informed that the conference was a great success. You can view the presentation given by Jan Macleod of the Women's Support Project, on 'Causes of Prostitution' (pdf 75kb), and keep watching this space for more papers from the event.
Tackling the Trafficking of Women and Children
This conference, which took place on 27th April in London, was a very successful event, with speakers from different areas such as the Police, the Home Office and the Health Policy unit bringing up issues from all of these different sectors. CHASTE CEO Revd Dr Carrie Pemberton was Chair for this event, and speakers included Jim Gamble of the National Crime Squad, Steve Titterton of South Yorkshire Police, Cathy Zimmerman of the Health Policy Unit, Pam Bowen of CPS, David Mcdonald from the Home Office, and Anne Hamilton, from Glasgow City Council. The day produced an informative and lively discussion, with many ideas being brought to the table on how to raise awareness of, and tackle this major issue.
Not for Sale
130 delegates attended CHASTE's highly successful "Not for Sale" consultation on Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation, which took place on Friday 10th March in Methodist Central; Hall London.
Meg Munn MP, Minister for Women gave the opening speech and highlighted the need for the Government to tackle demand, as well as looking at the wide range of ways in which women can be trafficked. Delegates also heard from Stephen Webb, Head of the Home Office's Organised and Financial Crime Unit, Chief Constable Dr. Tim Brain, Head of ACPO Vice, Dr Noreen Tehrani, Psychologist, Rev Dr Carrie Pemberton, CHASTE CEO and from several NGO's working with Trafficked Women.
The event provided delegates with an opportunity to reflect on and respond to the Government's "Tackling Trafficking" consultation. Copies of the consultation document which CHASTE subsequently sent to the Government can be downloaded here.