NSS criticises council link with charity which preaches to trafficked women

The National Secular Society has expressed concerns that a council is partnered with a charity which uses cake to give 'gospel messages' to trafficked women while they "can't talk".

The NSS asked Luton Borough Council to "reconsider" its relationship with Azalea, which says it helps women "caught up in sex trafficking", after videos emerged of the charity's CEO explaining the charity's method of engaging with prostituted women.

The original videos have been removed from public view since the NSS contacted the council.

The NSS has also contacted other organisations listed on Azalea's website as partners, including the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire and UK Border Force.

Azalea: "Really important" for women to get cake because "she can't talk back"

In one video, livestreamed in 2023 on Stanton Road Baptist Church's YouTube account, Ruth Robb (pictured) held a 'role play' of how Azalea workers approach women on the street.

She said it is "really important" for the woman to get a cake because "she can't talk back" when she has cake in her mouth. This enables the Azalea worker to deliver "a 90 second gospel message".

This "gospel message" includes statements like: "God has an incredible plan and he'd love you to come with us to the drop-in".

Robb explained the cakes are "really, really important" to trafficked women because they are all "involved in drug abuse", which means they "physically crave sugar".

The NSS said many would "consider it unethical to exploit the sugar cravings of vulnerable women battling drug addictions in order to engage with them and then inhibit their ability to talk back".

In its letter, the NSS highlighted 2020 research by the universities of Sheffield and Leeds which concluded that all organisations in contact with potential survivors of modern slavery should implement the 'non-proselytisation clause' of the Human Trafficking Foundation Slavery and Trafficking Survivor Care Standards.

But in one video, Robb said she was "sick and fed up of Christian organisations starting Christian, and ended up being a lot more secularised". She said it was "so important" that Azalea is "loud and proud about the gospel and we keep that in the forefront".

"We don't want her beaten up any more than she possibly has to"

In one video, published on the St Mary's Luton Parish Church's YouTube account in 2022, Robb suggested in a similar role play that approaching prostituted women on the street may put the women in danger.

She said Azalea workers must be "very sensitive" to the fact that pimps may be watching. She said she always thanks the woman for listening, because "we don't want her beaten up any more than she possibly has to" because she has chosen to speak to Azalea workers.

Robb added everyone involved in Azalea "has to be in a church, has to have their own soul nourished by Jesus".

Concerns about Azalea were raised in November by National Ugly Mugs, a charity which provides victim support to those in the sex industry, after comments in a book co-written by Robb in 2002 came to light. The book said most prostituted women have had exposure to "the occult", citing yoga and playing Dungeons & Dragons as example. It also said there "may be a high degree of lesbian promiscuity" among women in the sex industry. A more recent book, co-authored by Robb in 2021, includes a guide to exorcising "demonic possession".

Concerns have also been raised about Azalea's work with men who pay for sex. Last year Glasgow City Council rejected a suggestion from the Scottish Government to partner with Azalea to challenge sex buyers as "dangerous" and "at odds with [our] entire approach to tackling prostitution".

Azalea has also received grants from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and The National Lottery Community Fund.

Luton Borough Council did not respond to the NSS but it did tell Luton Today: "We remain committed to working alongside Azalea, recognising the profound impact of its grassroots efforts in transforming lives and strengthening our wider community."

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner told the NSS it would "only work with organisations that have the interests of women at the forefront of their services and align with our values", but it did not confirm whether it would review its relationship with Azalea.

Azalea's methods are "outrageous" and "dangerous", says advisor on violence against women

Ali Morris, specialist independent social worker of Inspire Consultancy & Training, which advises on violence against women, said: "Azalea's methods are not only outrageous but dangerous. These are tactics I would never use, never advise and have never seen before."

NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "We recognise that Azalea's work is well intentioned, and the sad necessity for charities which can help women trafficked in the sex industry.

"But the needs of the vulnerable women must always be the priority – not the desire to spread Christian doctrine.

"Public authorities should only partner with charities which abide by a strict code of ethics to protect beneficiaries. They should certainly not support religious charities which have an agenda to proselytise and attempt to convert vulnerable, desperate and often brutalized young women seeking help."