EWPN and RedCompass call on financial services industry to combat human trafficking

The European Women in Payments Network (EWPN) and specialist consultancy RedCompass have issued a call to arms to the financial services industry to help tackle the global issue of modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT).

Launching today, their joint whitepaper “Spot the Funds, Stop the Trafficking” is part of a campaign to lobby businesses across the financial services ecosystem to sign up and play a proactive part in fighting MSHT through a number of means, including offering free staff training, sharing intelligence and collaborating with charitable organisations.

Nadja van der Veer, Co-founder of EWPN and co-author of the paper commented: “MSHT is everywhere and it profoundly affects some of the most vulnerable individuals and communities. Much more needs to be done by the financial services sector to combat this enormous social problem. At the EWPN 2019 conference, we expressed our desire to mobilise the industry to combat modern day slavery and human trafficking and we’re following up on that objective. We believe that as a not-for-profit organization with a strong community, EWPN should be at the forefront of driving change to help create an ethical and responsible industry.”

Tom Hewson, Senior Partner at RedCompass and co-author added: “The financial sector is better positioned than any other industry to disrupt modern slavery and human trafficking. We want to raise awareness of the issue and help give organisations the insight and tools to really make a difference. Collaboration and shared intelligence can make a significant difference in shutting down the funds that come from these criminal activities – and that’s what we want to call on financial services firms to do.”