GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Olympics will be magnet for sex trafficking gangs, warns Yvette Cooper

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: London Evening Standard

10February2011 2:08pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: THE OLYMPICS will make London a "magnet" for human trafficking unless ministers launch an urgent crackdown, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper warned today.

Criminal gangs will use next year's Games to force women and girls into the sex trade and push men into forced labour, Ms Cooper said.

She called on the Government to learn the lessons of the Athens Games in 2004, saying the number of human trafficking victims doubled due to poor prevention efforts.

In a speech to the Stopping Traffick conference, she said: "There are fears that the London 2012 Olympics could increase the trafficking of vulnerable people into the UK.

"Studies worldwide show that international sporting events, where people move across borders, are used by criminals under the cover of tourism to exploit women and children. The Government must wake up to the risk that traffickers will seek to profit from the 2012 Games and take action to make sure this event does not make the situation worse." (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Top UN officials call for abolishing female genital mutilation

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: UN News Centre

08February2011 9:42amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Stressing that all girls deserve to grow up free from harmful practices that endanger their well-being, United Nations officials on Sunday called for abolishing the practice of female genital mutilation to help millions lead healthier lives.

Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is the partial or total removal of the external genitalia – undertaken for cultural or other non-medical reasons – often causing severe pain and sometimes resulting in prolonged bleeding, infection, infertility and even death.

Genital cutting can produce complications during child birth, increasing the chances of death or disability for both mother and child.

Despite these risks, three million girls face FGM/C every year in Africa, and up to 140 million women and girls worldwide have already undergone the practice, which has serious immediate and long-term health effects and is a clear violation of fundamental human rights, according to the heads of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

In a joint statement to mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM/C, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake renewed their commitment to put an end to the harmful practice. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.