Dr Carrie Pemberton Ford

Director of the CCARHT and developing the research programmes and projects which the CCARHT pursues is Dr Pemberton Ford who established the Centre in 2008, and has been building its affiliate network over the last 10 years.

A popular speaker, (Ted X University of Cambridge 2018),  and prolific author, with numerous policy evaluation and strategic direction papers submitted to a range of enforcement, International, Governmental and non-governmental Organisations,  Dr Ford lectures widely in the UK and internationally.

The Academic years 2017 – 2019, have been particularly busy with new work evolving in the Balkans alongside her long term specialism in Central and West Africa.  Dr Ford has been a panellist and platform speaker on events addressing counter trafficking in Switzerland, Cote d’Ivoire, Romania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium,  developing papers on issues pertaining to effective protection, children’s rights, resilience to organ trafficking and prevention of a range of human trafficking abuses across these territories.

UNITAR Fellow

Carrie held a UNITAR fellowship, (2017-2018) advising the UN Institute for Training and Research in issues pertaining to Human Trafficking and Gender Equality particularly in relation to the Peace Keeping and Sustainable Development Goals being supported by UNITAR into UN member states. Her presentation into NATO’s high level symposia on the impact of heightened migratory flows into the Balkans, is currently being developed into a paper on the subject – and can be accessed from our Library resources soon.

Faith Communities

Dr Ford  has worked extensively in the field of raising the profile of the contribution in civil society responses in Protection and Resistance to Trafficking vulnerability of Faith Based Organisations.

Work is presently underway to develop sustainable initiatives working with regional leaders and congregations who are part of faith systems with global reach.  An interdenominational project CCARHT’s Chapter 17 seeks to address Human Trafficking through connecting with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, with the core social justice themes embedded in the faith communities being engaged.  This project welcomes PhDs, Policy Advisers, Philanthropists and Faith Leaders to come to a common table to work out relevant, achievable socio-economic and cultural changes, which could deliver a real difference to communities under threat of comprehensive criminalisation and prolonged trafficking abuse. The project will be launched in Cambridge in July 2019 during the fourth CCARHT Summer Symposium.

Dr Ford is a founding Trustee of Hope, Seraph Churches working for Social Justice,  following her work on exposing the challenges faced by African communities in diaspora, particularly focusing on Nigerian and West Africans in Britain and Europe. Under the lens in her most recent published study of this sector, Behind Closed Doors, was sexual exploitation in European markets,  domestic servitude,  domestic abuse and coercive sex.

The role of African victims of trafficking in the UK was highlighted originally in The NOT FOR SALE campaign 2004 – 2006 run through the UK NGO CHASTE, which Dr Ford was the founding CEO.  For more on this work see Counter Trafficking UK Phase One.

NGO Capacity building 

The story of the inter-denominational network and capacity building work Carrie realised with a small committed team in the inter-denominational initiative CHASTE at the turn of the twentieth century, and the partners who came alongside to build a movement of resistance, awareness raising and change,  can be read in Not for Sale: Raising Awareness, Ending Exploitation and in the phase one background document of Carrie’s work here.