Jo Coles's Page

My friend Greg often talks about interruptions to our lives, those moments when our preconceptions and our mindset are interrupted and often we are left changed. 



This happened to me this week at the sentencing of a 31 year old man for child sex trafficking. I'll admit, straight up, that I walked into the courtroom desperate to see this guy go down and to go down hard. Such a despicable crime deserves the harshest, hardest penalty possible and I wanted a long, long sentence. It…

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US authorities have rescued nearly 50 child prostitutes - some as young as 13 - in a nationwide operation against the trafficking of children for sex.

More than 570 suspects were arrested during the action, which took place over three nights.

FBI agents and local police forces were involved in the operations which spanned some 29 cities.

Officials say a 16-year-old girl who recruits children as prostitutes is being sought as a priority.

Special Agent Melissa Morrow, of… Continue

The world must do more to confront the largely unstudied and neglected phenomenon of people-trafficking, the United Nations has said in a report.



So little is known about the problem, says the report, that no estimate can be given of the number affected.



The report also points to a more basic problem: the lack of a common understanding of what human trafficking is, and whom it affects.



But it is "a crime that shames us all", said the UN's Antonio Maria… Continue

Eight people suspected of human trafficking have been arrested in what is thought to be one of the largest operations of its kind in the UK.

Two hundred staff from nine agencies took part in Operation Ruby across Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire.

Police said 60 workers from Eastern Europe were being interviewed as victims of an operation run by a gang.

The workers were picking leeks in a field near Holbeach, Lincolnshire, when officers carried out the first raid.

A police… Continue