Joyce speaks out against the trafficking of children into Wales

Joyce Watson AM has spoken out against the trafficking of children into Wales, and warned that it is an issue we should all be aware of, wherever we live.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales she warned: “A lot of people think it’s not here, it’s not now, and it’s not in my street. Well, it is happening here, it is now, and it is happening very near to you.”

Mrs Watson was responding to the new joint ECPAT UK/ The Body Shop three-year campaign to stop the trafficking of children and young people by raising awareness of the issue and empowering people to make a difference.

Joyce Watson is the founder and chair of the cross party Assembly group on the Trafficking of Women and Children. The group has been taking evidence which will be published in a report, Lived Experiences, this Autumn. She has also raised the issue in Dublin at the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly, on which she sits.

As Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales and as Labour’s Rural Affairs Spokesperson she is particularly concerned about this issue’s impact on Mid and West Wales, particularly the ports and coastline.

She added: “This is not just an issue for big cities but for many of our communities. The serious organised crime division were due to give evidence to our trafficking committee recently but had to reschedule because they had to make arrests in West Wales.”

Joyce compared awareness levels on trafficking now with awareness of child abuse at the time when Childline was set up.

While approximately 80% of trafficking is related to the sex industry, children are also exploited in agriculture, drug factories and the manufacture and distribution of pirate DVDs.

Mrs Watson said: “This is big business run by criminals, and the industry is demand led. If more people are aware of this and refuse to fund it, we can all play our part in conquering this modern slavery, this evil trade in human misery.”

Research commissioned by The Body Shop UK to uncover the extent to which Britons are aware of the issue of child trafficking found that over a third of the public are completely unaware of the extent of trafficking in the UK. The findings suggest that a large proportion of the UK population believe that child trafficking does not happen in their local area. One in 10 Britons do not believe it is happening in this country and a frightening 34% believe that child victims of trafficking end up in foreign countries, not in Great Britain.

For further information on this and other campaigns by Joyce Watson go to www.joycewatson.co.uk or call 029 2089 8614