Man Charitable Trust: changing futures for victims of trafficking

Man Charitable Trust has been supporting Eaves’ Poppy Project over the last two years through funding a specialist Prisons and Detention Centres Outreach Worker in addition to supporting other aspects of Poppy’s work. They have kindly agreed to support us again this year.

The specialist role funded by Man Charitable Trust is dedicated to helping female victims of trafficking who are being unfairly incarcerated in prison or detention centres and is the only role is its kind in England. This is an absolutely vital service. Victims of trafficking are often treated like criminals rather than victims of crime. All victims of trafficking should be afforded certain rights and be able to access support, not be held in prison.

Funding from Man Charitable is vital in enabling Eaves to challenge these wrongful imprisonments and advocate for women’s release, but it also goes further- we have been able to stop victims of trafficking being unlawfully deported back to their home countries where they could face further exploitation or re-trafficking

This funding allowed Eaves’ Prisons and Detention Centres worker to:

• Assess and identify trafficked women as victims of trafficking;
• Advocate for the release of more than 30 women;
• Prevent wrongful deportations.

Stacy Ziebel, Eaves’ Prisons and Detention Centres Outreach Worker says:

“It is almost impossible to say how many female victims of trafficking are being wrongly held in prisons and detention centres across England and Wales. But given that I am the only specialist advocate for this group of women, and that the service is in great demand, I worry that there are many women who never receive the support to which they are entitled. The UK needs to do more to ensure that women in these hard to reach circumstances are identified so they can receive this support. Not only should this mean more training across the criminal justice system and ground staff, but that organisations like Eaves receive funding to ensure that no woman is being wrongly detained and to prohibit any unlawful deportations.”

Hanna’s Story

Hanna was only 17 years old when she was referred to Eaves’ Poppy Project by her solicitor. A couple of days later Stacy Ziebel, Eaves’ Prisons and Detention Centres Worker went to visit Hanna at Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre where she was being held for entering the UK with false documentation.

Hanna was trafficked from East Africa by her stepfather to a Saudi Sheik for domestic servitude when she was just nine years old. She returned home years later at the age of 16 and was forced into marriage with an elderly man. After fleeing this forced marriage, she fell back in with her traffickers who brought her to Europe. Her traffickers sexually abused Hanna and forced her to do domestic work too. Hanna managed to escape from her traffickers with the help of someone who worked in the household and she fled to the UK for safety. She was arrested upon her arrival in the UK and despite only being 17 years old and a victim of trafficking; she was detained in a centre for adults.

Stacy went to assess Hanna and concluded that there were clear indicators that she was a victim of trafficking. It was immediately evident that not only was Hanna a very young and fragile looking 17 year old, she was also pregnant as a result of being raped by her traffickers. Hanna was facing almost immediate deportation and was so traumatised that she found it almost impossible to talk about her experiences of trafficking. Despite this, through fierce advocating to UK Borders Agency by Stacy, 48 hours later the deportation order was cancelled and Eaves obtained Hanna’s release to safe accommodation. Eaves also successfully fought to have her recognised as a minor.

Hanna gave birth in November 2012 and although she still has much to overcome, she is doing so in a supportive environment where she is safe and her needs are being met. Both the Young Women’s Worker and the Family Reunification Workers at the Poppy Project work closely with Hanna to ensure her and her baby’s needs are being met. She has also engaged in counselling and is studying English.

Eaves’ Poppy Project