Penryn firm's web work to help combat human trafficking (From Falmouth Packet)

Penryn firm's web work to help combat human trafficking

3:42pm Friday 13th July 2012 in Business

A PENRYN-based company has launched a new website designed to combat the global crime of human trafficking, on behalf of respected international charity STOP THE TRAFFIK (STT).

Developed by social change design company Sea Communications, the new website - www.stopthetraffik.org - enables people to share knowledge, collate data and pinpoint human trafficking incidents on an interactive map.

The innovative mapping technology used in this tailor-made social network will allow campaigners and crime agencies to discover patterns of reported incidents and expose trafficking hotspots, ultimately leading them to take action to combat the crime.

People trafficking is the world’s second largest crime and is increasing at an alarming rate. Between two and four million men, women and children are trafficked across borders and within their own countries every year.

The criminals involved often deceive potential victims into thinking they are being taken to a new job, an education or a better life elsewhere. But the lives of the victims are devastated.

This underground crime thrives on secrecy and can only be tackled with the aid of information gathered by people in the communities where human trafficking occurs.

Ruth Dearnley, CEO of STOP THE TRAFFIK, said: “With the help of Sea Communications we have created an innovative way to collect and deliver effective preventative information to anybody, anywhere.

“This fantastic new platform delivers a unique anti-trafficking web presence that encourages action at street level but also builds a big picture of this global supply chain where the product is a person.”

As well as working worldwide with activists of all ages and backgrounds in hundreds of countries, STOP THE TRAFFIK works with the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Traffficking (UN.GIFT) and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

Using bespoke social networking tools to ‘crowdsource’ information globally, the STOP THE TRAFFIK website makes collaboration on a local, national and international scale as simple and effective as possible.

The website also gives volunteers in these Active Communities Against Trafficking (ACT) groups the resources and the ability to fundraise to support their own activities to make it harder for traffickers and their victims to remain hidden in their communities.

Robert Woolf, Director of Sea Communications, commented: “We’ve all witnessed how the internet and social media can connect communities and drive social change. For this project we’ve harnessed available technologies to create a tool that can be used as a force for good and help combat one of the world’s darkest crimes.”

For more information on the project and the new anti-trafficking platform, visit www.stopthetraffik.org