Hope for Justice

Hope for Justice is a global non-profit organisation which aims to end human trafficking and modern slavery. It is active in the United Kingdom, United States, Cambodia, Norway, Australia, Ethiopia and Uganda and has its headquarters in Manchester, England.

Hope for Justice
Formation2008 (2008)
TypeNon-profit organisation
PurposeEnd human trafficking and modern-day slavery
HeadquartersManchester, England, U.K.
Region served
Cambodia, United Kingdom, United States, Norway, Australia, Ethiopia, Uganda[1]
CEO
Tim Nelson
Staff
420
Websitehopeforjustice.org
Remarks"Hope for Justice, registered charity no. 1126097". Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Hope for Justice seeks to investigate and rescue trafficking victims, assist in aftercare, hold traffickers accountable, and campaign on a wider level to improve awareness and legislation.[2] According to press releases, Hope for Justice has assisted in the rescue of 142 victims of human trafficking as of January 2014.[3] In the financial year 2019-20, Hope for Justice says it reached 102,803 children over 12 months through its outreach and aftercare projects.[4]

Hope for Justice worked with West Midlands Police on the largest modern slavery prosecution in UK history, in which a gang thought to be responsible for trafficking up to 400 victims was jailed.[5] Hope for Justice identified the first victims, leading to the whole network being uncovered, and eventually supported scores more.[6]

In 2020, Hope for Justice contributed to a multinational police operation co-ordinated by Eurojust, an agency of the European Union, in which 10 human trafficking suspects were arrested and female victims of sex trafficking were safeguarded in multiple countries.[7]

Hope for Justice is described as a "major anti-trafficking organization" by Chris Smith (R, Hamilton Township), who represents New Jersey's 4th congressional district for the 117th United States Congress and who authored the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 and several follow-on laws.[8] Hope for Justice contributed to and endorsed H.R.6552, or the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022, introduced to Congress by Smith.[9]

History

Hope for Justice was co-founded in 2008 by Rob and Marion White, Ben and Debbie Cooley, Tony and Viv Jackson, Rob Allen, Chris Dacre, Martin Warner and Tim Nelson at an event called "The Stand" at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham.[10]

In 2014, it merged with Abolition International and Transitions Global to become a worldwide organization to fight human trafficking.[11] In 2018, the street children charity Retrak, active primarily in African countries, became part of Hope for Justice.[12] Four other organizations have merged with Hope for Justice: Break The Cycle 200;[13] aftercare housing and services provider Lily Pad Haven[14] in Charlotte, North Carolina; For Freedom[15] in Bergen, Norway; and No More Traffik[16] in Northern Ireland.

Creation of Slave-Free Alliance

In 2018, Hope for Justice created a subsidiary called Slave-Free Alliance Ltd, a "not-for-profit social enterprise" offering services including site assessments, online resources, and technical consultations to help organisations protect their operations and supply chains against modern slavery.[17] MAG, the owner of Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports, credited the expertise of Slave-Free Alliance in enabling it to “independently review, benchmark and develop processes to help combat modern slavery”.[18] Other Slave-Free Alliance members include Aviva, Experian, Dixons Carphone, Biffa, Morrisons, AstraZeneca and Arriva, and industries represented among the wider membership include professional services, engineering, data analysis, IT, utilities, energy, environmental services, manufacturing, agriculture, insurance, legal, pharmaceutical, property, recruitment, retail, transport and waste management.[19][20]

In 2020, Slave-Free Alliance also launched in Australia, with its first member being the supermarket chain ALDI Australia.[21] As of 2022, Slave-Free Alliance was reported to have 95 members, including 10 FTSE 100 companies.[22]

Dismissal of former CEO

Ben Cooley, co-founder and former CEO

On 28 May 2021 Hope for Justice announced that co-founder and CEO Ben Cooley's employment had been terminated following an investigation and disciplinary hearing.[23] The charity revealed that although "the allegations were not of a criminal nature and no other members of the leadership team were implicated, they were determined to be serious and the Charity Commission was duly informed."[24] On 3 June 2021 Civil Society News reported a UK Charity Commission spokesperson as saying "The charity has kept us informed throughout the independent investigation. We recently received an update to the serious incident report and are currently assessing this information. We cannot comment further at this time."[25]

Ben Cooley publicly criticised the investigation and disciplinary hearing processes in the charity sector press saying, "I fundamentally disagree with the outcome" and "I wish that the process had been handled better and more consideration had been given to the fact that there was limited evidence available due to the historical nature of the allegation."[26] Cooley also publicly posted on social media "I cannot agree with the decisions recently being made around my leaving Hope for Justice," and also said that it "is time for me to move on."

On 22 June 2021, however, Hope for Justice confirmed that an Appeal Panel had been convened but that they "upheld findings of gross misconduct against Hope for Justice co-founder Ben Cooley after an investigation into his behaviour while in the post of CEO".[27] The charity stated that "In light of its detailed review, the Appeal Panel found no valid or credible challenge had been submitted to any part of the outcome of a Disciplinary Panel hearing held at the end of May 2021. Hope for Justice is therefore able to confirm Mr Cooley’s dismissal."[28]

Commenting on the work of the investigation into Ben Cooley's conduct the charity stated that "The Disciplinary Panel found Mr Cooley’s actions to have amounted to gross misconduct in his behaviour towards several employees over a period of time, as well as irreparable breach of trust and confidence with the organisation. Sensitive personal details are being kept confidential to protect the identities and interests of the complainants and their families." Peter Elson, chair of the trustees at Hope for Justice, said "We are grateful that those affected ultimately felt able to come forward, for the courage they have shown, and that our whistleblowing policy has allowed them to do so discreetly and in confidence. We are committed to learn and grow from this experience and will do all we can to prevent misconduct and to promote a positive, respectful and inclusive environment and culture."[29]

References
  1. Kay, Liam (11 January 2018). "Retrak becomes part of Hope for Justice". Third Sector. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  2. "What We Do | Hope For Justice". Hope for Justice. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  3. "BBC News - Charity Hope For Justice helps trafficking victims". BBC News. 2014-01-06. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  4. ""Hope For Justice: Teams Run In Gasparilla Classic"". Osprey Observer. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  5. ""Charity and police break up UK's largest modern slavery ring"". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  6. ""Operation Fort: Safeguarding and Multi-Agency Working Debriefing Report"" (PDF). Modern Slavery Police Transformation Unit. October 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  7. "Rapid action via Eurojust leads to arrest of 10 human traffickers". Eurojust. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  8. ""Smith highlights critical need to advance his new legislation to help end human trafficking in hotels"". Rep. Chris Smith. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  9. ""Hope for Justice Endorses New Anti-Trafficking Legislation"". Cision PR Newswire. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  10. ""We now have offices all over the world... we have rescued hundreds of people from modern slavery"". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  11. "Natalie Grant's Anti-Trafficking Organization, Abolition International, Announces Global Merger Forming Hope for Justice | Hope for Justice". hopeforjustice.org. 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  12. "Anti-slavery charities plan merger for 'bigger impact'". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  13. ""Faith and Life Today – Break the Cycle"". Northwestern Media (Life 107.1). Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  14. ""Lily Pad Haven is now part of Hope for Justice"". Lily Pad Haven. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  15. ""For Freedom Has Merged With Hope For Justice Norway"". For Freedom (cached). Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  16. "Anti-trafficking charities set to merge". ThirdSector.co.uk. 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  17. "Morrisons becomes first supermarket to join Slave-Free Alliance". The Grocer magazine. 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  18. "MAG is first UK airport operator to sign up to Slave-Free Alliance". UK Aviation News. 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  19. "Morrisons becomes first supermarket to join Slave-Free Alliance". The Grocer magazine. 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  20. "Asda joins fight against human trafficking by becoming member of Slave-Free Alliance". Retail Times. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  21. "How Australia's Slave-Free Alliance hopes to change the face of Aussie retail". Pro Bono Australia. 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  22. "Plea for football clubs to tackle modern slavery". Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  23. "Hope for Justice announces new CEO | Hope for Justice". hopeforjustice.org. 2021-05-28. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  24. "Hope for Justice announces new CEO | Hope for Justice". hopeforjustice.org. 2021-05-28. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  25. "CEO leaves charity following complaints about his behaviour from former staff". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  26. "CEO leaves charity following complaints about his behaviour from former staff". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  27. "Hope for Justice dismisses co-founder and CEO Ben Cooley in misconduct investigation | Hope for Justice". hopeforjustice.org. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  28. "Hope for Justice dismisses co-founder and CEO Ben Cooley in misconduct investigation | Hope for Justice". hopeforjustice.org. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  29. "Hope for Justice dismisses co-founder and CEO Ben Cooley in misconduct investigation | Hope for Justice". hopeforjustice.org. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
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