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Luton Borough Council

16/07/2021 - Azalea saved my life

 

Image of young woman sitting on the ground.

Bedfordshire Emergency Coronavirus Fund case study - Azalea

A sad and unfortunate reality is that every year a number of very vulnerable young Luton women (and even children) get targeted, exploited and sex-trafficked.

Sex traffickers who prey on their vulnerabilities commonly target these women and children who get trapped in a very dark, violent and drug-filled lifestyle in the on-street sex trade.

Most of these women are unable to leave – often due to low self-esteem – meaning they don’t think they deserve better, sometimes because of limited mental capacity due to traumas in their lives and almost always because of the lack of any genuine loving support network around them. They are living in very dangerous and life-threatening situations.

Thankfully, a local organisation called Azalea exists to give these women dignity and help them leave the trade.

It has a drop-in centre where it provides food, advice and support for those who need it. It also does outreach to help people find housing, work with other local organisations, and access to vital services.

Azalea has a simple aim of ensuring that everyone can walk free from commercial sexual exploitation.

In essence, Azalea is there to help anyone who is caught in commercial sexual exploitation leave – and know they have a choice to leave. This includes those who buy sex as well as those women or children who are trapped within the sex industry.

Every year Azalea works with and helps between 120 and 130 women.

The organisation has been supported by funding from Luton Council’s airport company London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL) for many years, during which time it has helped hundreds of women leave the sex trade.

Most recently in March 2020, Azalea was awarded a further £7,500 emergency funding during the Covid-19 crisis which Chief Executive, Ruth Robb called a “life-saver”.

Ruth said: “A number of the women we work with are homeless, so when Covid-19 hit we knew they were in even more danger. The spread of the deadly virus was a major risk to women in this situation and we were able to use this funding to find safe and secure housing, which they so desperately needed.

“Due to the crisis funding we were able to stay open during the pandemic and support 13 women off the streets and into secure housing so they could self-isolate.

“As a result, none of these women were diagnosed with Covid-19 and we were also able to provide them with food, medical support and put a strategic plan in place for permanent housing and a life away from the sex trade. We could help them get their dignity back.

“Without LLAL funding we could not have helped these women. They would have been at very high risk of getting Covid-19 due to their lifestyle and many of them had conditions which put them in the ‘extremely vulnerable’ shielded list.

“Put simply, we would not have existed over the last few years if it wasn’t for LLAL funding and hundreds of women would not have got the help and support they needed to leave.”

The story of ‘Elle’ perfectly sums up how vital Azalea’s support is for these women in need.

Elle was being exploited and violently assaulted on a daily basis by drug pushers. Her self-esteem was so low that she felt she didn’t deserve to leave the industry or have a better life. Before Covid-19 she used to be in contact with Azalea, but only to get food to keep her alive.

With the emergency funding provided, Azalea was able to help Elle off the streets and into secure accommodation. Staff could spend more time with her and were able to give her the ability to believe that she deserved better.

She has now left the industry and put the dangerous lifestyle behind her. Elle is in permanent accommodation where she is rebuilding her life.

In her own words, “Azalea saved my life.”

© 2024 Luton Council, Town Hall, Luton LU1 2BQ