2005 – Inception
STOP THE TRAFFIK was founded in 2005 as a coalition campaigning to bring an end to human trafficking worldwide.
2008 – 1.5 million signatures
Support snowballed, and after overwhelming grassroots backing, we presented 1.5 million signatures to the UN in February 2008, taking a transformational approach that began to shift the public debate and said, ‘We have to supplement rescue with prevention.’
STOP THE TRAFFIK subsequently became the UN special advisor on community action against trafficking and later, provided expertise informing part of the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015).
2017 – Traffik Analysis Hub
2017 saw the development of the Traffik Analysis Hub in partnership with IBM, translating the largest collection of survivor stories into a comprehensive and interactive database. We know that there is a power in numbers and it’s this strength that enables our database of survivor stories to stand strong against MSHT.
We believe that MSHT thrives so long as its profits move unimpeded through financial institutions, businesses overlook exploitation in their supply chain and vulnerable communities remain unaware of how and where traffickers operate.
While trafficking remains hidden, it will continue to thrive. Continuing to enrich our database is crucial to strengthening the hand of those who advocate against these three pillars that prop up trafficking.
So, how do we do it?
- We hold partnerships with leading financial institutions, supporting them to find and squash laundered MSHT profits through their systems.
- We provide bespoke business consultancy that holds million-pound corporations to account, giving them the tools to spot and eradicate MSHT in their supply chains.
- We launch geo-targeted social media campaigns informing at-risk groups how to spot the signs of trafficking, where to report it and offering legitimate alternative recruitment pathways to vulnerable, hard-to-reach communities. In the last two years, we have reached almost two million people in the UK that our data identified as being at risk of trafficking.
All three facets depend on the data that shines a light on these human rights abuses and helps us work, intelligently, to prevent them.
