Atlantic challengers take on the traffickers

An all-women team will try to row the Atlantic in a world record bid to highlight human trafficking.

Julia Immonen and her Row For Freedom crew are competing in the Woodvale Challenge, covering 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Barbados in December.

They will follow the route used to transport slaves between Britain and the US in the 1800s and will row 24 hours a day, two hours on and two hours off for about 40 days.

The six, aged 22 to 45, from the UK, Finland, south-east Asia and the US, met in London for the first time this week to start training on the Thames.

Ms Immonen and Debbie Beadle, both of London, Katie Pattison-Hart, Kate Richardson, Andrea Quigley and Helen Leigh aim to raise £1million for anti-trafficking charities A21 and ECPAT UK, and want the Government to provide safe houses and guardianship for child victims.

They are sponsored by ManPower group. The women will pass Parliament as they row through London on October 18, Anti-Slavery Day.

Ms Immonen, 31, fears women could be trafficked to London before the Olympics to work as prostitutes. She said: "Last year more than 700 victims were identified in the UK."

She added: "The record for women rowing the Atlantic is 52 days. We want to do it in under 40."