UK Storms Prediction (Oct 2013)

A key theme for the year 13 climatic hazards course is how people can manage hazards. In terms of climatic hazards, prediction is key in enabling people to mitigate the potential effects of storms. The BBC video of how last October's storms were predicted gives an excellent look at how this happened and shows the development in the technology over the last 30 years.

Modern Slavery

Y11 students Charlie, Phil, Sam, Arjun, James, Jack and Ollie have set up the research hub below about slavery linking to their study of migration in the GCSE population topic.

Important Facts

• Official figures on the scale of the problem come from the UK Human Trafficking Centre, part of the National Crime Agency.
• In 2012, it identified 2,255 potential victims of human trafficking - an increase of 178 (9%) on 2011, according to its report.
• Of these potential victims, 778 were either found to have been trafficked or were awaiting a conclusive decision on their status. Of the 778 potential victims, 402 people - or 52% - were found to have been trafficked.
• The top five nationalities of those identified were Romanian, Polish, Nigerian, Vietnamese and Hungarian.
• Some 71% of the potential victims were adults, while 24% were children. The age of 99 potential victims was unknown.
• The two most prevalent types of exploitation reported were sexual exploitation, which accounted for 35% of the potential victims, followed by labour exploitation (23%).
• Of the potential child victims, 28% reported being sexually exploited, and 24% reported criminal exploitation.
•   Estimates indicate that at least 27 million people, in places such as Nigeria, Indonesia and Brazil are part of some sort of slavery.
• The total number of people in debt bondage around the world was about 20 million in 1998.
• The number of children in bonded labour in India alone was at 15 million at the end of the 20th century.
• More than 1,000 women were trafficked into the UK for sexual purposes (mainly from Eastern and Central Europe).
•  There are at least 5,000 child sex workers in the UK, most trafficked into the country.
•  Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 12 million people may be working as slaves and of these; approximately 43 per cent are trafficked into sexual exploitation.
• The worldwide traffic in human beings is worth at least US$32 billion annually.
•   In 2004, 218 million children were trapped in child labour worldwide
• 100,000 – 800,000 people are trafficked into the EU each year
• There are at least 5,000 trafficking victims in the UK
•  About 8,000 women work in off-street prostitution in London alone, 80% of them are foreign nationals
• Over 1000 women trafficked into prostitution have been referred to the Poppy Project since March 2003
•  200-300 victims of trafficking for domestic labour register with the relevant NGO each year
•  It is estimated 330 child victims will be trafficked into the UK each year
• About 60% of suspected child victims in local authority care go missing and are not subsequently found
• There is long-term government funding for 35 places for victims in safe accommodation
• 92 people were convicted of sex trafficking and four for labour trafficking between 2004 and December 2008
• There are only 100-300 prosecutions for trafficking across the EU each year
•  Each sex trafficker earns on average £500-£1000 per woman per week

 Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25048307

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/slavery/modern/modern_1.shtml

http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/modern-slavery-united-kingdom

Useful Links:

The link below is to a useful website that includes a defintions of slavery and traffiking, explains what happens to the forced workers and includes a factual passage by previous slaves.

http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/trafficking.aspx

An article by the BBC from three days ago stating that offical numbers on the amount of slaves in Wales are just estimates. Also the increase in plans to raise awarness of slavery.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-26013283

This article from the BBC shows recent, shocking statistics for human trafficking and how it is growing at an alarming rate. It clearly illustrates the scale of human trafficking in the UK and how it is incredibly difficult to prevent it from happening

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19984615

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C9VwiCP2bQ

This video helps people realise what human trafficking is really about and the consequences if you don’t prevent it. It is very effective in keeping you alert about what actually happens in the UK and how you can prevent it from continuing. Not only does it raise awareness, it encourages you to get involved in prevention and to notice where trafficking occurs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25048307

The article sums up what human trafficking is and gives named examples of recent events that have occurred. Information provided also raises awareness of trafficking, including place specifics and stats.

There is evidence of thousands of children working in the sex trade. For example there is a young Romanian girl who had a very tough life at the start when was given the opportunity to find work in the UK in a restaurant but her story got worse as she arrived in the UK. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6224151.stm

It is estimated that 85% of brothel workers are from overseas forced into it.

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6459369.stm this is a link to a horrific story about sex slaves being held in the UK against there will.

Other Sources

(http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhaff/23/23i.pdf)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_the_United_Kingdom)

(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/97846/human-trafficking-legislation.pdf)

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