100 suspected sex slaves stopped & turned back
at Scottish airport
at Scottish airport
© Channel Ten / Getty Images
Almost 100 potential victims of human trafficking have been blocked by Border Force officers at Glasgow Airport and returned to their countries of origin since last November, figures show.
More than 300 men and women were interviewed by Safeguarding and Trafficking (SAT) officers on suspicion of being targets of modern slavery.
Over 80 percent of those interviewed were Romanian and fewer than 50 were men.
The Border Force, which conducted the interviews as part of a crackdown on gangs selling victims into brothels, said many victims had no clue they were destined to be sold into prostitution.
One case was that of an 18-year-old girl who had just left school, had no money on her and was convinced she would be employed at a hotel in Edinburgh.
Gordon Summers, assistant director at Border Force North, said: “This is about safeguarding vulnerable young women, and men, who are being trafficked and exploited as well as protecting the communities people are living in.
“Border Force is working with partners to identify the traffickers and organizers, and looking to flush out those behind the brothels and who sell girls on,” Summer said, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Those who encourage prostitution should also be held to account, he said.
“Those attending brothels are encouraging criminality and exploitation of young women.
“Often these women have been forced into this lifestyle against their will and they are exposed to violence and intimidation by the gangs who brought them here. They are powerless.”
It comes after the National Crime Agency (NCA) recently reported modern slavery is “far more prevalent than previously thought,” as it affects “every large town and city in the country.”
The agency said previous estimates of between 10,000 and 13,000 slaves in the UK are merely the “tip of the iceberg,” as the number of cases is believed to be far higher.
Prime Minister Theresa May pledged in July to give Britain’s battle against modern slavery a £33 million (US$42 million) boost.
Ex-vicar wrote a child sex abuse fantasy
starring himself
starring himself
Former reverend Paul Battersby collected and catalogued sex abuse images and had shoebox full of children’s clothes
BY NEIL DOCKING
A paedophile ex-vicar who wrote a twisted child sex abuse fantasy featuring himself was today jailed for 20 months.
Former Church of England reverend Paul Battersby downloaded 1,730 indecent images between November 2014 and January 2017. (6th story on link)
Police also seized a shoebox full of children’s clothes when they raided the 68-year-old’s flat in Old Hall Street, Liverpool city centre.
Liverpool Crown Court heard they then discovered disturbing fantasy literature on the persistent sex offender’s computer equipment. Iain Criddle, prosecuting, said: “Perhaps equally worrying, other items were recovered.
“From the defendant’s computer was recovered a fantasy story, which appears to have been penned by him, regarding child abuse. Also recovered from the computer was a document, in which he appears to have recorded the successful search terms that he has used to obtain indecent images. A box full of children’s clothes was also recovered."
“The images, unusually perhaps in a case such as this, have actually been categorised and saved, rather than simply viewed and deleted. It was a collection.”
The dad-of-two and grandfather-of-three, who served in the ministry for 31 years, admitted possessing the child sex abuse pictures. He admitted downloading 121 Category A – the most serious category – plus 132 Category B and 1,474 Category C photographs.
The former Church of England national youth officer also admitted possessing 183 prohibited images of children, plus extreme animal porn.
Battersby was first caught with a horrifying movie of a girl being raped while working as a vicar in April 2007. He was turned in by his wife after his 17-year-old stepson spotted shocking images and videos on the family’s computer.
The pervert, who was then vicar of St Ambrose Church in Leyland, was spared prison at Preston Crown Court in March 2008.
He was handed a 34-week suspended sentence, 200 hours of unpaid work and told to attend a sex offenders’ programme.
Battersby, who taught chemistry in Liverpool before training for the church, then moved into his sister’s home in Bebington, Wirral. But in April that year he bought a laptop and within months was using it to access 160 obscene images using the pseudonym ‘Tanker’.
Officers raided his sister’s home in College Drive in February 2009 and he was jailed for eight months in 2010.
Peter Turner, defending, today said his client had voluntarily sought help for his problems from Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
He said Battersby developed epilepsy after his first convictions and now suffers from serious fits around once a month.
Battersby worked with Amnesty International in Argentina in the 1970s and 1980s, before spells at churches across Lancashire.
Mr Turner said he had a 10-year-old son who died from leukaemia, divorced his first wife in 1995 and split from his second in 2007. Neither of Battersby’s ex-wives or his two other children “have anything to do with him” and he has never met his three grandchildren.
Mr Turner said only his sister, a retired missionary, still supported him, adding: “He has in his own words sinned significantly since then.” He said he was trying to become a member of the Anglican Franciscans and would be “taking vows of chastity and obedience”.
Mr Turner said Battersby - who had destroyed some of his computers with a screwdriver - “relapsed and relapsed” and wanted help.
The judge, Recorder Andrew Long, said support in the community had repeatedly been offered to Battersby, but all efforts had “failed”.
He said: “The references you provided tell of a man with many gifts and accomplishments. Those gifts and accomplishments have been betrayed and undermined by your own sexual appetites."
“There may come a time when those appetites are regarded as some form of illness or addiction. But at the moment they are regarded as a dangerous perversion of normal sexual desire."
“It’s perfectly clear you are unwilling or unable to control the sexual attraction you feel towards children.”
Recorder Long told him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and to comply with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
After-school care worker who confessed to
molesting children attempts suicide
molesting children attempts suicide
By Janene Pieters
A 27-year-old man suspected of sexually abusing at least two girls at childcare institution Patrou in De Bilt, Netherlands, tried to commit suicide in custody, the Public Prosecutor announced. Bart C. is now in the hospital, NOS reports.
The Prosecutor did not say how he tried to kill himself. The investigation against him continues.
Bart C. was arrested last week after two girls from the same family told their parents that he made them commit sexual acts with him. He confessed to doing so. This happened at the Patrou establishment in Weltevreden in De Bilt, where C. worked as a pedagogical assistant in the after-school department for five years.
More parents with girls attending the same establishment pressed charges against C. after being informed of his arrest. How many is unclear, but a spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor said it was less than five.
He should know that suicide is not going to end his guilt and shame; it will just be the beginning of his real suffering.
'That little girl lives inside all of us': Survivor says there's life after sexual abuse
Both Planned Parenthood and Eastern Health Services accepted that a 12 y/o girl consented to sex and made no attempt to verify her 'boyfriend'. She also received a 2nd abortion in Manitoba before confessing to being raped by her step-father, who is now in jail.
Bev Moore-Davis reacts to horrific case of sexual abuse missed by authorities in Newfoundland and Labrador
By Mark Quinn, CBC News
Bev Moore-Davis founded the group
Miles for Smiles to help other abuse survivors.
(Mark Quinn/ CBC)
Bev Moore-Davis was disgusted when she heard the story of a 12-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by her stepfather, given an abortion and then released back into the hands of her abuser. (4th story on link)
But she isn't surprised that abuse like this happens. She's survived it herself.
"As a survivor, I remember being 12. And that little girl lives inside all of us survivors," she says.
'The specifics of this case are different but the story isn't … History is repeating itself over and over.'
- Bev Moore-Davis, abuse survivor
"The specifics of this case are different but the story isn't. I facilitate a group for adult survivors of child abuse and I hear these stories all the time. History is repeating itself over and over."
Moore-Davis is reacting to an investigative report by the office of the provincial Child and Youth Advocate Jacqueline Lake Kavanagh.
The report outlines how a 12-year-old girl was failed by the social services and health care systems in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Jacqueline Lake Kavanagh, the province's child and youth advocate, speaks to reporters following the release of her investigative report. (John Pike/CBC)
The girl was impregnated by her stepfather and then brought to an Eastern Health facility for an abortion, where she gave a fictitious story about her teenage boyfriend fathering the child. Authorities accepted the tale, gave her an abortion, and sent her home with her abuser.
Later, the stepfather moved the girl and her siblings to Manitoba where the abuse continued and she received a second abortion.
"The system failed this little girl," said Moore-Davis.
We don't know where this victim is now, but Moore-Davis said it is possible to survive — and even thrive — after suffering sexual abuse as a child.
'It's a toxic poison inside that's going to erupt.'
- Bev Moore-Davis
"Set up a support system so you can talk," she said. "That inner victim lives in you and it's a struggle when there are triggers and flashbacks, but at least if there is a support system in place, people around you know when you need help. And therapy is a huge component."
"But for anyone who thinks that they can bury it and it will go away — that's not how it works. It's a toxic poison inside that's going to erupt."
Moore-Davis believes the Child Advocate's latest recommendations are good and that they'll help improve the system, but she's also calling for prevention.
A report released by the province's Child and Youth Advocate revealed details of a 12-year-old girl suffering horrific sexual abuse from her stepfather. (John Pike/CBC)
"Children also need to be trained," she said. "They need to know what constitutes sexual abuse. They need to know that it's wrong and they also need to know that there is a system in place to help them and protect them and support them."
'They have a moral responsibility to speak out. Better to have been wrong then to allow the abuse to continue
- Bev Moore-Davis
Moore-Davis also emphasizes that people in the day-to-day lives of children must protect them.
"These are the people that spend the most time with victims and have the most potential to pick up on the red flags. All too often, we hear of people coming forward after the damage has been done. If an adult suspects a child is being abused, they have a moral responsibility to speak out. Better to have been wrong than to allow the abuse to continue."
She said people told her later in life they suspected something was wrong when she was a child. It's part of what motivated her to found Miles for Smiles, a group that supports abuse survivors.
"Nobody said anything, and we need to break that taboo. We need to be able to talk about it. If the education about abuse had been in school, I would have been better equipped to protect myself. I think it might have made a difference."
‘Michka’ App Fights Child Sex Abuse in Iran
Aida Akl
A screenshot from the video game shows Michka trying to catch bubble chocolates to go home. (United4Iran)
California nonprofit United4Iran is on a mission to build technologies to help Iranian society tackle sexual violence, women’s rights, and other challenges. Its latest app – Michka – takes on child sexual abuse.
Michka is an insect. Her little wings are her private parts. And when someone touches them, Michka becomes confused and needs help understanding what just happened.
The app, part e-book and part video game, is intended to help children and their parents tackle topics that usually are not talked about inside Iran, said United4Iran’s Executive Director Firuzeh Mahmoudi, an Iranian-American.
A screenshot from the game shows Michka talking to its flower, remembering the time when it was happy. (United4Iran)
Michka was created by women’s rights activist Sahar Shams, who experienced sexual abuse as a child and wanted to help children understand and discuss the subject.
Parents often avoid talking about topics that are taboo in Iranian society, such as sexual abuse, said Mahmoudi. Michka helps them begin the conversation.
There are no data available on sexual abuse in Iran, and international organizations are not allowed to study domestic violence in the country, according to the U.S. State Department. In the absence of reliable numbers, United4Iran, founded in 2009 and based in the San Francisco Bay Area, works directly with communities within Iran to survey needs and identify priorities. Then, it runs a contest for developers. Through its IranCubator program, the organization and its partners, which include Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, connect app developers outside Iran with Iranian communities to address those needs.
“We don’t build the apps ourselves,” said Mahmoudi. “We support community leaders and activists in building the apps.
Participating developers and advocates like Shams, the human rights activist, receive financial support and help with design, development, and dissemination. Their apps address human rights, sexual harassment, women’s marriage rights, domestic abuse, and drug addiction.
“The owners of the apps are the community leaders,” said Mahmoudi.
Other apps out of United4Iran include Toranj, which focuses on domestic violence.
“Oftentimes, women think they’re not victims of domestic violence,” she said. So Toranj includes a survey to help women establish a healthier relationship, and find resources for psychological and legal support.
With the Haami app, which takes on drug addiction in Iran, United4Iran provides recovering drug addicts with support to stay on the course to recovery. The app includes resources translated into Persian from Narcotics Anonymous, information about help centers, and motivational sections.
Michka and most of the other apps are available only in Persian on Google Play. The exception is RadiTo, an audio network available in five languages spoken in Iran – Arabic, Azari, Turkish, Balouchi, and Kurdish. The open-source app gives artists, journalists and commentators a secure, censorship-free platform to download and share audio files.
RadiTo has seen somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 installs on the Google Play Store since it launched in April. According to Mahmoudi, Haami was downloaded more than 15,000 times in recent weeks. Michka has seen more than 2,200 installs within a week.
Mahmoudi said United4Iran might expand to Iranian diaspora communities in other countries, such as Egypt or Vietnam. But for now, she said the organization has “traction” in the country and is focused on “improving the lives of those inside Iran.”
“We know our audience,” she said. “And we know the communities. And we help them advocate for what’s important to them.”
British woman gets 10 years in prison for
multiple false rape accusations
By Ray Downs UPI -- A British woman who made several false rape allegations was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday.
But investigators found that the allegations were false and she was found guilty of four counts of perjury and four counts of perverting the course of justice.
"This trial has revealed, what was then not obvious, that you are a very, very convincing liar and you enjoy being seen as a victim," Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith told Beale. "The prosecution described your life as a 'construct of bogus victimhood.'"
Beale's false rape allegations led to serious consequences for her victims.
In 2010, Beale accused Mahad Cassim of rape and he was sentenced to seven years in prison while she received £11,000, or about $14,000, in criminal injuries compensation, reported The Telegraph. In all, Beale's allegations took up 6,400 hours of police time and cost more than £250,000, or about $320,000.
Cassim was released from prison after two years and nine months when he appealed his conviction in 2013 after police found evidence that Beale was lying about her allegations.
Other accusations led to several arrests and one man fled the country while on bail.
Judge Lorraine-Smith chastised Beale for the false allegations and potential negative impact her case could have on real rape victims.
"These false allegations of rape, false allegations which will inevitably be widely publicized, are likely to have the perverse impact of increasing the likelihood of guilty men going free," he said. "Cases such as this bring a real risk that a woman who has been raped or sexually assaulted may not complain to the police for fear of not being believed."
Meanwhile, Beale maintains her innocence.
"Ms. Beale stands by the claims she made in this matter and if she had her time again she would again plead not guilty to these matters and contest the trial," said her attorney, Lawrence Henderson.
Southwark, London
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