|TOP|The Methodist Church is calling for its members to take action against the “modern-day slavery” that is sex-trafficking. The Women’s Network of the Methodist Church has emphasised that sex-trafficking is one of the most tragic and alarming products of today’s society.

It was revealed that hundreds of thousands of women as well as children are being forced and coerced into prostitution across Europe each year, and through its Social Action Project, the Methodist Church’s Women’s Network hopes to raise awareness to combat the issue.

A major resource pack has been designed to support the project, which brings together a variety of different resources from contributing organisations such as Amnesty International and the Conference of European Churches.

In addition, three practical action guides have been published by the Women’s Network to allow people to see a direct and viable way forward in how they can help to fight against sex-trafficking.

|AD|The Methodist Church explain, “The aim of the pack is to support individuals and groups as they campaign through letter writing, to urge the government to sign up to two international conventions, the Palermo Treaty and the European Convention on Human Trafficking which will encourage the government to do more for victims of trafficking.”

The practical action guides list further resources, as well as highlighting concerns about the creation of temporary brothels for the 2006 Football World Cup set to take place in Germany this summer.

Regarding the World Cup event, the Methodist Church reveals a side to the tournament that most do not realise: “During this tournament, more brothels than usual will be operating near each stadium. Many foreign sex workers are expected to arrive for the tournament, as victims of forced prostitution and people trafficking. Therefore a key objective of this pack is to discourage those attending the World Cup from visiting brothels.”

The Secretary of the Woman’s Network, Margaret Sawyer said, “Trafficking is such a huge issue that we can feel powerless in the face of it, but this resource pack gives real, practical solutions showing how anyone can make a difference. We are campaigning on this at a national level, but there is so much that can be done locally. We cannot let this despicable practice continue unchallenged.”