Paul Calvert spoke with Jane Overnell about trafficking

Paul: So these are basically vulnerable people that have been taken advantage of?

Jane: Yeah and I wouldn't just say 'just vulnerable' cases. One of the people, you can get her book too, is Sophie Hayes. She was actually an English woman, 24, had gone through university and actually she was dating what she thought her boyfriend for three years. He then invited her out to Italy and trafficked her; so some of these people will groom you for years, because a person can earn someone £500 to £1000 a week. They're willing to come into a state, give mobile phones, date a girl for two-three years. So really, that young girl at 15-16 in this state suddenly thinks they've found love. They all make them drug dependant and they'll take them away from the family. It really is coercion, lies, fear that they're based on. So it's not just the vulnerable, I think we can sometimes think that, but actually any one of us really could be trafficked. Sophie Hayes was a slight extreme, but some of these younger, vulnerable girls that don't have good family lives are very vulnerable, but it isn't just to those vulnerable, it could actually happen to anyone.

Paul: And how are these charities helping these young people out of this?

Jane: It can take a really long time because some of the ministries go in and the girls don't want to even admit they're trafficked because they think they may be killed, or their family may be killed. Building up trust takes a lot of time.

Sometimes people think its prostitution. They do a lot of awareness to guys that use a brothel and ask them have you ever asked that girl, "Are you choosing to do this, or", so I think the awareness of that helps.

The girls do have care homes and they have to work very hard with the police, because the police don't always understand trauma. A girl that has been trafficked, when they're interviewed often will tell a hundred different stories and they won't be coherent. The Salvation Army have done an amazing job working with the police saying, actually a girl that's gone under massive trauma is completely mixed up and a girl can take anything from a few weeks to maybe a few years to walk through that process because sometimes they have to service 30, or 40 men a day. They just feel worthless. They start to believe it was their fault because they're told that. Some of these girls are sold by their family from India and things like that. There are estimations around the world there's 27 million people enslaved. A21, one of the organisations we work with, have a home in Greece. Their first girl now is running a beauty salon, so she's come through the care and actually her aim is: I want to make people beautiful. We try not to look at statistics; we look at the life of the one, because statistics are numbing. When you've met someone that's gone through that and Sophie Hayes I personally know; when you hear some of the stuff, it does make a difference.

Paul: So you're actually a business, selling product, which is actually going to help towards these women. Why do you do what you do?

Jane: Because I worked for the charity sector for quite a long time and the buzzword is social enterprise. Actually the other thing for us: we would love to grow big enough that we could actually create employment for some of the girls; because you can pull them out but actually they have a very low skill set. They can be trafficked from the age of 11, 12 and have very low self esteem and with employment the way it is at the moment, for someone like that to get a job is really quite hard. So our aim as a business is to grow and then to create employment. To me that is real compassion. We can pull someone out, but when you're willing to give up your life and help someone, that's what makes the difference.

Paul: So what's your prayer for these girls?

Jane: For me it has to be for restoration. I think on the Christian emphasis, yes we can pull somebody out of even that mess in this life, but salvation brings us eternity and I think someone that's had so much violation and so little value, only really Jesus can heal that heart at that level. That God turns their life around and they start to value themselves as He values them.

Paul: You have some great products here. If anyone would like to see them, what's your website?

Jane: It's heavensattic.co.uk.