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articles about Trafficking in Women
15
YEARS SRTV
Churches in Europe encourage closer cooperation
to combat trafficking in human beings
Estonia Approves National Action Plan Against
Human Trafficking
Fighting Sex Trade in the Czech Republic
Modern Slavery is Close to Home
Slavery Still Exists Campaign
SRTV on a visit to Amsterdam
The Cinderella Dream Destroyed
Meeting representatives of Caritas Europe
A Vatican Congress on pastoral care for prostitutes
Council of Europe Ratifies Human Trafficking
Treaty
“The Church must be converted”
An Exciting Conference in Romania
Letter from Riga
Lithuanian Bishops Join Caritas Against Prostitution
Make Poverty History: The White March Against Poverty
A new Volonteer found in Malawi
15
YEARS SRTV
On
Thursday April 6th the Foundation of Religious Against Trafficking in
Women (SRTV) celebrated its 15 years of existence with a symposium for
religious congregations, helpers, ex-helpers and invited guests. In the
chair for the day was Mrs. Wies Stael-Merkx. For the occasion two special
speakers had been invited from abroad, viz. Sister Florence Nwaonuma who
runs a home in Nigeria for victims of women traffic, and Sister Eugenia
Bonetti from Italy who befriends streetwalkers in Rome.
Sister
Florence
In 1999 the Nigerian Council of Women Religious took the initiative to
establish a committee to defend the dignity of women. ‘It was the
slavery, the sexual exploitation, forced labour and the inhumanity among
human beings experienced by women and children at the hands of their pimps
which impelled us to start a project that directly involved us with the
victims of the traffic in women and children and help to restore the sense
of personal dignity of these victims. Since its inception the committee
has held the frontlines in the battle against women traffic in Nigeria,
as well as the rehabilitation of victims who have gone through this modern
slavery.’
Sister
Florence told us the project has been entered upon in imitation of the
work begun by the religious in Holland. Her religious superiors have asked
her to undertake the project and that it is how it all began. The Dutch
warning-folder was the model on which their own Nigerian version was based.
A small group of three sisters and two lay-helpers now spreads information
in Nigeria among women, men and youths in the most divers places. Their
activities reach people in the markets, drivers of bicycle-taxis (in Nigeria
called ‘okada’) as well as national and foreign drivers. The
sisters visit exclusively male preserves as cafés as well as small
independents like hairdressers, tailors and farmers. It is necessary to
go into far-off villages because the traders and their agents go there
to recruit their unsuspecting victims.
The
sisters are also actively engaged with the integration of returning victims.
They meet the – very often young – girls at the airport or
bus station, offer them temporary lodgings in their own communities and
start the often lengthy process of restoring a girl’s contact with
her village and family. Nearly always the process is hampered by the fact
that the girls, before being trafficked, have been influenced by a voodoo
priest in such a way that, as a rule, psychological damage has been inflicted.
The
Sisters are now planning to set up a real centre that offers a safe place
where they, together with the girls, can start the long process of healing
of the physical and psychological wounds incurred during their stay in
Europe.
Sister
Eugenia
The second speaker of the day was Sr. Eugenia from Rome. This tiny, not
so young but very spirited sister appealed for more cooperation among
the societies that are engaged in the battle against traffic in humans.
“Today I like to speak to you of the dedication and commitment of
many religious women. How they try to find an answer to the hopeless situation
of girls and women traded as objects of convenience, imported and exported
worldwide for the sex market. Let us begin to admit that that form of
slavery still flourishes in the year 2006. And next realise that only
concerted effort can defeat and eradicate this plague.’
We live in a prosperous society in which everything is for sale, even
the body of a minor. Religious women were the first to recognise this
‘new sign of the time’. When girls managed to escape from
their pimp and ask for help, many different convents took an unknown yet
considerable risk in sheltering these girls. The Sisters had to face many
problems, e.g. of the language and culture, questions of ethics, public
opinion and law.
Having
listened to the startling stories, the Sisters soon understood that ‘work’
as a prostitute - still referred to as the world’s oldest profession’-
was not entered upon by free choice, but that they were victims of a modern
form of slavery. ‘This meant a challenge to our norms and values,
to our traditions as well as to our safety,’ she continued, ‘
at present some 250 sisters from 70 congregations work in 110 shelters
in Italy.’
The
Italian Sisters, however, do much more: they counsel, they speak with
streetwalkers and bring pressure to bear on members of parliament. Over
and above, they try to demonstrate to other religious that religious life
in the third millennium demands that this modern curse of international
traffic in women must be stopped. This is, says Sr. Eugenia, the charisma
of religious in our days. This has prompted them to take some initiatives.
One of them is to prepare a set of informative pamphlets for religious
communities, seminaries, schools, parishes and youth groups. The kit is
available in six languages: English, Italian, Spanish, French, Polis and
Rumanian; a Portuguese and German version are in preparation. In 2004/5
a training course for religious sisters on human traffic was held in Italy,
Nigeria, Albania, Rumania, Thailand and the Dominican Republic. A similar
course is planned for Brazil, the Philippines and Portugal.
‘I
am happy to be present and celebrate the 15th birthday of the planting
of the small seed by some daring female religious. They were women concerned
at human rights and the dignity of so many women ‘created in the
image of God but treated as slaves’. That tiny seed has grown into
a big tree in the shadow of which many young women have found shelter
when in search of the joy of living.’
Prayer
in common
After those inspiring lectures the whole assembly went to the chapel to
be led in prayer by three women of the SRTV. Everyone was delighted to
see Joke den Dulk and Sr. Michel Keesen, both founding members of the
SRTV, present at the prayer.
The service centred on the stone as symbol. The reading was taken from
John 8,1-11, where the scribes and the Pharisees present Jesus with a
woman caught in adultery. They wanted to stone her as Law demands. They
wanted to put Him to the test in order to find reason to accuse Him. Jesus,
however, went down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they
kept on questioning Him He said: ‘Let anyone among you who is without
sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ When they withdrew, one
by one, Jesus said to the woman: ‘Has no one condemned you?’
She answered: ‘No one, Sir.’ Jesus then said: ‘Neither
do I condemn you. Go your way and from now on do not sin again.’
After
this Lideke in ‘t Veld of the SRTV led in reflecting. In her meditation
she observed that the women kept silent and that no one questioned her.
Just as we do in case of trafficked women. Jesus takes this woman serious
and told her to go her way and sin no more because her past behaviour
had been sinful. But He did not condemn her and never put her to shame.
It is hard to take an unbiased view of a strange situation. Each one should
consider if they are without sins themselves. Each one present is offered
a stone and asked: ‘Here is a stone. With the gospel scene in mind
consider if you are prepared to cast it.’
The
afternoon
After a first-class luncheon we took off to have a look at the photo exhibition:
’15 years Religious Against Women Traffic’.
Next, the group was broken up into 8 workshops to discuss how we, as Christians,
could follow Jesus’ example. In a plenary session some of the results
of the workshop were reviewed. One group, for example, came to the conclusion
that we ought to ‘count to ten’ before we form a judgement
as this was that Jesus did when He wrote on the ground. Another group
proposed to write a letter to the political parties asking to give a more
humane treatment to victims of woman traffic.
To
conclude the day the floor was given to Mrs. Korvinus, National Reporter
on Traffic in Humans, who opened with a moving personal experience. After
this she acquainted us with the scope of her office and which research
data they publish, adding that her organisation is the only one in Europe
that collects actual statistics as data base for further research.
After
her address Mrs. Korvinus received a stamp of the campaign Show human
trafficking the Red Card, more of which is to be found elsewhere in this
publication.
Ivonne van de Kar and Elma van den Nouland
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Churches
in Europe encourage closer cooperation to combat trafficking in human
beings
Representatives of some of the most experienced international networks
combating trafficking in human beings have met for an international conference
in Utrecht/NL 28-31 May 2006 in order to identify possible areas of future
cooperation. Invited by the Churches´ Commission for Migrants in
Europe (CCME), the workshop “networking the network” brought
together participants from networks such as La Strada International, Anti-Slavery
International and the Global Alliance against Trafficking in Women(GAATW).
The Dutch Protestant Church and the Foundation of Religious against Trafficking
in Women(SRTV) hosted the event as part of the project “Christian
Action and Networking against Trafficking in Women” (CAT).
During
the three-day conference, participants discussed new challenges in the
fight against trafficking in human beings and exchanged experiences of
their ongoing work. Broad space was devoted to identifying the strengths
and specific competence of the different networks and to see how these
could be combined in the interest of preventing and combating trafficking
in human beings.
Common strategies for advocacy for the rights of trafficked persons on
European and international level were highlighted as an area where better
cooperation was of particular importance. The different organisations
shared the view that advocacy for better possibilities for legal migration
and the protection of the rights and working conditions of all migrant
workers were essential part of such joint efforts. Participants exchanged
experiences on recent challenges to a rights-based approach, which puts
the interest and self-determination of (potential) victims of trafficking
at the centre of policies.
Networking
The meeting also was an occasion for extensive encounters between international
networks and Dutch NGOs, churches, governmental representatives and police.
Various Dutch NGOs underlined the problem connected with restrictive migration
policies in the Netherlands. Representatives of the Dutch Refugee Council
explained how the current deterioration of standards of treating asylum
claims of unaccompanied minors in the asylum procedure resulted in high
numbers of accompanied minors being trafficked. Representatives of the
independent National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings also underlined
how a repressive climate around migration and the practice of immediate
removal of undocumented migrants made it very difficult to identify trafficked
persons in different areas of exploitation.
“Different European and International networks against human trafficking
with different strengths and profiles have developed over the last decade,
” explained Torsten Moritz, coordinator of the CAT project. “While
we all can profit from cooperation, lack of mutual knowledge and sometimes
even a sense of competition has on occasions characterised relations between
these networks. We hope that our conference will help to overcome that
situation among networks with shared perspectives and will encourage closer
and more regular cooperation,” he added.
For more information please contact:
CCME- Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, Website: www.cec-kek.org/CCMEeng/ccmeindx.htm
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Estonia
Approves National Action Plan Against Human Trafficking
A national plan to prevent human trafficking between 2006 and 2009 was
approved on January 26, 2006 in Estonia, a significant source country
of women and girls traded for trafficking.
Under
the plan, Estonia will monitor and document problems related to human
trafficking in order to have comprehensive and reliable information about
the scope and forms of human trafficking. They will also work to educate
the public about the problem.
Government
leaders fear trafficking will increase if the East European member states
of the European Union (EU) join the Schengen open-borders agreement in
2007, whereby travellers arriving at one of the EU's outer borders are
checked only once, and thereafter have freedom to cross all the other
national borders in the Schengen states.
Justice
Minister Rein Lang said human trafficking may become a major problem for
Estonia if it is not tackled immediately. "With human trafficking
it's just like it used to be with narcotics abuse and HIV. At the beginning
of the 1990s it was said about narcotics abuse that it is not a problem
for Estonia and concerns only people from the bottom layer of the society.
Five years later narcotics abuse had become a problem," the minister
said.
For more information on human trafficking in Estonia: http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Estonia.htm
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Fighting Sex Trade in
the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is situated squarely between East and West, where the
promise of freedom and prosperity remains in tension with the trials of
a post-Communist state. Women from the former Soviet republics –
Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Belarus – and from eastern European states
such as Bulgaria and Romania, and from further east, mostly Vietnam and
China, are trafficked to the Czech Republic and either sold there or sent
further west to other European countries, including Germany, France and
the United Kingdom. Czech women are trafficked abroad or internally; the
Czech Republic has an unregulated, thriving sex industry – a great
tourist draw – concentrated in the capital, Prague, on notorious
highways and in towns bordering Austria and Germany. It is here that Caritas
“street workers” seek out and befriend prostitutes.
The
Magdala Project
Jindriska Krpalkova is coordinator of the Czech Caritas’ anti-trafficking
Magdala Project, set up in 1998. “Our street workers go to places
where prostitutes are found, like erotic clubs, to talk to them and offer
health information and medical care. The women only have contact with
pimps, barmen, club owners and clients, so usually they are happy to meet
a ‘normal’ person to have an ordinary conversation. If trust
is built over time, a woman may decide to leave.” This is easier
said than done. “Often we must send for the police,” said
Jindriska, “otherwise the women would never be able to leave.”
If they do escape, destitute and traumatised, the women’s battles
are far from over.
When
Czech victims are shunned by their families because they were prostitutes,
Magdala workers seek to mend ties. “The rejection is hard because
they badly need their families,” said Jindriska. One client, Hannah,
a 21-year-old single mother, was lured into prostitution in Spain by a
man who promised to marry her. She escaped and sought her parents’
help, but they refused to talk to her. Hannah managed to return to the
Czech Republic when a Spanish charity contacted Magdala. Eventually, she
was reconciled with her parents and now has a home and a job as a cook.
Hannah’s story shows that despite the formidable odds, trafficked
women can recover. The Magdala Project aims to enable Czech and foreign
women to win back their self-respect and freedom. Project workers are
well aware of what is at stake: “At first, it’s really difficult;
it takes one or two years for the women to resume ordinary life and to
regain confidence.” Drawing on the Caritas network of social and
health services and in partnership with the Government and another non-governmental
organisations, Magdala offers legal aid, psychotherapeutic counselling,
retraining, language classes and, crucially, accommodation in Caritas
shelters and material help. Collaboration with overseas NGOs (non-governmental
organisations) ensures support across borders.
International
Network
“It’s good to know each other,” said Jindriska about
membership in Coatnet, an international network of Christian organisations
against trafficking.
Magdala workers share the women’s stories with others, to illustrate
how they were victims of a serious crime widespread in the Czech Republic:
“People often think women do it voluntarily and that the problem
is not so bad. We visit congregations, parishes and schools to describe
the reality.”
Speaking out is crucial to warn at-risk groups against traffickers, who
exploit vulnerability and lack of information, as their typical choice
of victim reveals. And traffickers prey on poverty: most Czech women sold
internally come from the deprived ethnic Roma community.
Caritas workers go to schools to put teenagers on their guard. They also
visit detention centres for illegal immigrants, armed with multilingual
leaflets, and warn against the traps used by traffickers to gain victims’
consent, like promises that they will become models, dancers, waitresses
or maids.
Global
Strategy needed
Given the global nature of inequality, which paves the way for trafficking,
decisive international measures are urgently needed to reduce dependency
on traffickers, especially more open migration and labour policies. This
point was underscored by Caritas Internationalis in a document issued
late last year, Created in the Image of God, Treated Like Slaves, which
urged member organisations to lobby for change and to recognise trafficked
people as needing assistance and protection. The network’s commitment
to be “on the front lines in the fight against human trafficking”
was welcomed by Jindriska. “You’d think the Church may have
problems with this kind of work, so the statement is very important for
us.”
The misery fuelled by traffickers is so overwhelming that the relatively
modest efforts of field NGOs could seem insignificant. But just as trafficking
mafias are devastatingly resourceful because of their effective trans-national
systems, spanning Europe’s poorest villages and wealthiest cities,
global networks like Caritas can have an impact too.
Their potential lies in uniting and enhancing the unstinting efforts of
their members, like the Magdala team, who leave no stone unturned to free
each and every captive they come across.
Summary from The Tablet 18/03/06 by Danielle Vella
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Modern Slavery
is Close to Home
The Dutch campaign to raise the awareness of trafficking in human beings
It
is estimated that 30 million people per year fall victim to human traffickers.
Since the fall of the Berlin wall, human trafficking in Europe has greatly
increased. This trade will continue to increase due to the entry of the
10 new EU member states, says Unicef. According to the Organization for
Safety and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE), the victims of human trafficking
in Europe are getting younger and their number is increasing. Since there
has been a sharp decline in requests for asylum, the amount of human trafficking
in our country has significantly gone down.
About
3500 women are traded in the Netherlands every year, and many of them
are forced into prostitution. Minor asylum seekers in our country aren’t
even safe from traffickers in the relief centers. In 2004, 716 disappeared
from these centers. The OSCE recently detailed 230 cases of child trafficking,
most likely only a tenth of the actual number. Three quarters of these
victims were working as prostitutes. The others were used as house slaves
or forced to work as food service workers, cleaners or drug runners.
Expansion
of the human trafficking law
Since 1 January 2005, the human trafficking law in the Netherlands has
been expanded, due to the urgings of Ms. Korvinus, National Rapporteur
Trafficking in Human Beings, to cover social economic exploitation. Before
then, groups fighting human trafficking directed all their actions toward
the sex industry. Ms. Korvinus sees the human trade seriously damaging
the human rights and personal integrity of the trafficked individuals.
The core element, for her, is the exploitation; the abuse of people purely
for profit, hand in hand with the use and misuse of authority, threats,
violence, deception and abuse of the fragile position of the victim. She
sees it as a form of modern slavery.
National
Rapporteur Trafficking in Human Beings
Ms. Korvinus, as national rapporteur in human beings, has one of the most
unique positions in the world. It is particularly unusual that her position
is independent of the government. Her office functions mainly as a trait-d’union
between the government
and society, where bottlenecks form and government policy is criticized.
In order to give the government more insight into how best to tackle human
trafficking, Ms. Korvinus collects as much trustworthy information in
the Netherlands and elsewhere about human trafficking as she can. Managing
the aid organizations is not her job.
The
human trade is not always about crossing borders, according to Ms. Korvinus.
Some legal residents in the Netherlands experience such atrocious working
conditions, that they fall under the definition of the human trade. She
believes that the attention for this side of the human trade shouldn’t
be taken away from the attention given to the trade in women. The government
should allocate more money for these issues.
Awareness
Campaign
Aid organizations have very little information at this time about other
forms of human trafficking and continue therefore to direct their efforts
towards the sex industry, says Ms. Korvinus. This must change. “Thankfully,”
she says “an awareness campaign is coming to the Netherlands. Perhaps
this will lead to more people blowing the whistle when they come across
these abuses.”
Summary of an article by Cees Veltman in Volzin, January 2006
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Slavery
Still Exists Campaign
The Slavery Still Exists Campaign is a public awareness program designed
to allow grassroots activists, community members, and celebrities across
cultures to send a united message against modern-day slavery. One way
that traffickers gain power over their victims is by saying, “No
one cares about you, and no one will help you.” The Slavery Still
Exists Campaign tears down this deception and sends a powerful message
to trafficked persons everywhere that we do care, we will not remain silent,
and we will always stand with them. It is also a forceful reminder to
the traffickers that people have the power to end trafficking in their
own communities and will fight for a world without slavery.
Read more on: www.slaverystillexists.org/
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SRTV on a visit
to Amsterdam
On Thursday the 8th of December 2005 all the workers from SRTV gathered
for a very pleasant meeting with coffee near Elma’s house in the
heart of Amsterdam.
Afterwards the group was split into three and went to the Red Light district.
Plan was to visit organisations in Amsterdam that are in some way dealing
with trafficked women. Organisations that the SRTV never met before.
The
first group went to visit the Red Thread. This organisation was formed
about twenty years ago with the aim of encouraging the emancipation of
prostitutes. The organisation also offers assistance to women who want
to step out of prostitution and begin a new life. They also highlight
the problems surrounding trafficking in women and try to monitor any new
trends. The latest trend are Chinese massage saloons that act as a cover
for illegal prostitution.
The people from the Red Thread do a lot of field work. They visit brothels
to try and improve the working conditions for the women. They talk to
the prostitutes and have information available in different languages.
They present themselves as a lobby group for the prostitutes. For that
reason they are not really welcome in the brothels. They do come across
many injustices. Prostitutes from Eastern Europe are especially vulnerable
to exploitation, abuse and coercion.
Workers from the Red Thread do their best to make contact with the women,
sometimes in a playful way. For example, by giving them a box of peppermints
with an enclosed message, or a personal care set with a list of helpful
addresses in various languages.
After
an extensive walk through the Red Light district, the second group went
to visit the Scarlet Cord. This organisation is part of a large Protestant
relieve organisation that was founded 150 years ago by a famous Dutch
Reverend. The Scarlet Cord is situated in the middle of the red light
area. It functions as a sort of ‘living room’ for Spanish
speaking prostitutes.
This living room is also used for meetings of prostitutes who want to
quit working in prostitution. The women receive help from various other
organisations. Resistance training is also arranged for the women.
Three times a week workers from the Scarlet Cord visit prostitutes. They
have developed a programme aimed at helping prostitutes to begin a new
life. They give talks in schools about the dangers of ‘lover boys’.
They perform this work as part of their Christian duty.
The
third group of SRTV members went to visit the Community ‘Oudezijds
100’. This is a living and prayer community, their name is also
their address. It is a ‘cheerful and open monastery’ with
an ecumenical living community consisting of men and women. Many different
activities are organised there. In the common living room general social
work is offered. In the guesthouse some 50 people in crisis situations
are provided with shelter. They also provide medical and psychological
for people who are uninsured.
After
making their visits to the various groups the SRTV met again in the heart
of Amsterdam for an enjoyable meal. It was a very informative and inspiring
day for all.
Ivonne van de Kar
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The Cinderella
Dream Destroyed
"Too many young girls dream of marrying a rich man and being happy--their
very own Cinderella story--so when they see or hear of chance to get out
of the country, they rarely ask too many questions in case the answers
destroy their dream," says Maria Tchomarova, director of La Strada-Bulgaria,
the local chapter of a European-wide organization offering recovery services
to trafficking victims.
In a country where women constitute 65 percent of the long-term unemployed,
young females desperate for work and a higher standard of living are easy
prey for traffickers. Some are lured by job advertisements promising them
work in a foreign country; some through unscrupulous "mail order
bride" services; and some through acquaintances and friends already
broken by traffickers temporarily sent home to recruit others.
"We're
talking about exploitation and slavery without mercy," says Tchomarova.
"A very small percentage of the women have any idea what they're
getting themselves into."
For most victims of trafficking rings the outcome is pure terror. Once
reaching their destination country the women commonly have their passports
taken from them and learn they must prostitute themselves to pay off their
travel-related costs. They are often sold and resold to different owners.
Those who resist are often raped or beaten for days, weeks, even months
until they agree to cooperate.
"While the physical abuse is horrific, it is the mental torture--the
breaking of the spirit--that causes the most severe damage, is the hardest
to recover from," says Tchomarova, who has personally worked with
dozens of trafficking survivors.
"The pimps employ all sorts of mental strategies to convince the
women they are worthless--telling them no one would marry a former prostitute,
that no one will believe the woman was unaware, or that she came willingly
so she deserves the treatment," she explained. "In the end,
less than 10 percent of these women are able to stand up to the mental
anguish."
source: Women's e-news www.womensenews.org
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Meeting
representatives of Caritas Europe
On May 20th Caritas Europe organised in Brussels a meeting of all associated
countries. There were some 50 participants form a.o. Belgium, Germany,
Italy, Switzerland, Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Ukraine
and many others. Yos Appelhof from the SRTV had been invited to be one
of the speakers. Caritas Europe was established in 1971. It is a network
of 48 member organizations that are active in 44 European Countries.
Caritas Europe is one of the seven regions of Caritas Internationalis,
a world-wide organization consisting of 162 Christian social and developmental
groups active in 200 countries.
The mission of Caritas is to fight poverty and social exploitation. Over
and above, it wants to promote human development and social justice both
in Europe and world-wide. This they try to accomplish by working together.
Caritas Europe considers this pastoral and social task the gist of its
Christian witness as found in the Gospel. Caritas aims at being a voice
for those who are not heard and does so by bringing together human, technical
and financial means contributed by the member associations.
One of the operational priorities chosen by Caritas for the next five
years is the position of women and their human rights, violated whenever
a woman is traded like a commodity.
Yos had been invited to represent Holland and present the SRTV as one
organization active in this field. Also, the SRTV has a missionary angle
and he was invited to illustrate that aspect.
Yos told the assembly how the SRTV started, its mainly preventative activities
and what inspires out co-workers to do this work.
She also mentioned the critical evaluation made by the co-workers of the
causes underlying women-trafficking, such as poverty and structures in
Church and society, points which met with response from the audience.
In the discussion which followed after and later over lunch, prevention
was explicitly mentioned as one of the most important activities in the
countries where the victims come from. Again the assembly was of the same
opinion so that I felt in good company.
There was another organization which presented itself, viz. Coatnet, an
ecumenical network of Christian Organizations Against Trafficking in women.
Coatnet is a joint initiative of Caritas and CCME (Churches’ Commission
for Migration in Europe). Coatnet brings together various Christian organizations
in Europe that are engaged in the fight against women traffic. SRTV became
part of the network in 2004.
Yos Appelhof
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A Vatican
Congress on pastoral care for prostitutes
At the invitation of the Dutch Episcopal Conference Yos Appelhof and Sister
Elma van den Nouland participated in the first International Meeting of
people pastorally involved in the Liberation of “women of the street”.
The Meeting was held in Rome on the 20th and 21st of June 2005. It was
organized by the Pontifical Council for the care of migrants and itinerants.
More than 50 representatives of 24 countries were present, all speaking
on behalf of Episcopal Conferences, religious Institutes and church organisations.
The input of the SRTV was well received, as well as our new promotion
film ‘Anna’.
In the opening address Msgr. Agostino, secretary of the organising Pontifical
Council, stated that the present time poses a challenge to believers,
both men and women, to involve themselves with the poor and those who
are exploited and rejected. ‘Prostitution, both in its traditional
and its contemporary forms, together with the increase of international
traffic and sex tourism, is largely due to an unjust system which lies
at the roots of our society and which leads in various ways to different
forms of oppressing women.’
Trafficking
in humans is not new
Mrs. Mariette Grange, representing the International Catholic Migration
Committee (ICMC) stressed in her lecture that information campaigns in
the 90s have raised the international awareness that traffic in women
must be ended. The World Women Conference in Beijing (1995) played a significant
role in raising awareness, just as the World Conference against Racism
in Durban (2001) did. Important, too, is that the European Council decided
in 2005 that trafficking in humans violates human rights!
Just like SRTV they use the term “women traffic” instead of
the juridical more correct “human traffic” because 98 % of
its victims are women and their rights are violated when they are forced
to work as prostitutes. “we must listen to them, stand by them and
meet them without prejudice.”
Sr. Eugenia Bonetti, a good friend of the SRTV, has for many years devoted
herself to the interests of victims of women traffic. She does this through
the Italian Union of Superiors General (USMI). She pointed out that the
Gospel asks us to care for our neighbour and that many answer that call.
Especially religious women have felt the “mission” to care
for the weaker ones in society. To accept this challenge is both an ancient
and an ever so modern charism.
Domestic
Violence
Sr. Michelle Lopez, a Good Shepherd sister working in Thailand, approached
this problem from a different angle. She sees domestic violence as one
of the causes that drive women into prostitution. “Domestic violence
occurs within the man – woman relationship, but also between men
mutually as well as between women.” Women who wish to escape this
form of violence and dependence sometimes try to emigrate. For them it
is a matter of surviving but it frequently results in becoming a victim
again, viz. of women traffic.
Inspiring
meeting
At the end of the two days a number of recommendations were made to the
organizing Pontifical Council, asking a.o. for a follow-up meeting to
further develop directions for pastoral care to the various distinct groups
of women.
The meeting was a very inspiring experience. We hope that this congress
will take the battle against women traffic a step further and that the
SRTV will find ways to enter into closer cooperation with organizations
within the Church, both on national as well as on international level.
Yos Appelhof and Elma van den Nouland
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Council of
Europe Ratifies Human Trafficking Treaty
The Council of Europe* approved the treaty about the action against human
trafficking on 3 May. It was ratified during the Warsaw meeting on 16-17
May 2005.
The
treaty states:
that human trafficking is a violation of human rights;
that human trafficking can occur across borders, but also within the confines
of a country;
a package guaranteeing the protection of victims (including a 30 day consideration
period);
a number of rules for the prevention of and the punishment for human trafficking.
The
treaty will also establish an independent council of experts (GRETA) which
will oversee the re-reading of the treaty in the undersigned countries.
At this moment the following 14 countries have signed on to the treaty:
Armenia, Cyprus, Iceland, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldavia, Norway,
Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Sweden.
Diverse European organizations against human trafficking call out to all
European countries to sign on to this treaty.
*Note from the editor :Council of Europe
This political organization is not a part of the European Union and must
not be confused with the Council of the European Union (main decision-making
body of the European Union, 25 member states) or the European Council.
The Council of Europe has many more (46) member states, namely all European
countries excepting Belarus and Vatican City. The most important goal
of the Council is the protection of human rights. To achieve this goal,
the European Chair for Human Right was installed in Strasbourg.
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“The
Church must be converted”
Bishop Kevin Dowling of South Africa was one of the speakers at the Cordaid
“Three Queens” debate in January 2005.The theme was sexual
violence. Here are some excerpts from his speech.
AIDS
and Unequal Power Relationships
“I work in the town of Rustenburg, home to the biggest platinum
mines in the world. On the outskirts, there are slums full of desperate
people looking for a way out of poverty. They are often single mothers
with small children. They are illegal, they cannot get identity papers
or claim benefits or any other financial support. They can only keep their
heads above water by selling sex. I have sat down and talked with many
of these women in their ramshackle abodes. Each one looks at me and says,
‘I have given up hope because as soon as my partner discovers that
I am HIV positive, he packs up and leaves, looking for the next victim’.
Sex, even between partners, is mostly based on a completely unequal power
relationship.”
Condoms
can save Lives
“What do we, the Catholic Church, say to these women who have no
opportunities in life? No sex before marriage and remain faithful to a
stable partner within that marriage. That is all we can say to them, and
that is unfair in itself, because we do not offer them a single word of
hope. I have publicly criticised these so-called official Church positions
over the years, making it clear that women have the right to control their
own lives. If there is no other way out for them, then they must protect
themselves with a condom. And in the not too distant future, by using
microbicides, medicines that can kill pathogens like the HIV virus. These
are now being developed and will put these women in a better position
to make their own choices. I defend this point of view, because I take
the side of these vulnerable women. They have no other choice. They inspire
me, and in their strength, I find God.”
Conversion
“Even church leaders must be ‘converted’, and they must
be converted to the suffering of these women. Only then are they able
to question Church policy. So I also call for meetings between church
officials and victims, to make this conversion possible.”
Cordaid Annual Report 2004 Abbreviated Version
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An Exciting
Conference in Romania
Aidrom, a partner organization in the Christian network of European organizations
against female trafficking, organized a 2 day conference about female
trafficking on 18 and 19 March. Ivonne van de Kar traveled to Bucharest
to participate in this conference.
Romania
will most likely join the European Union in the coming years, but before
then it must meet some basic requirements. One of these requirements is
to improve their policies regarding human trafficking to meet European
standards.
Romania
is now seriously working on this and many organizations against human
trafficking have been established in the last few years. About twenty-some
Romanian organizations came together to participate in this conference.
These organizations range from special police units to UNICEF to religious
organizations. Organizations such as SRTV, Caritas, CEC*, CCME** and the
Scottish office of the Ecumenical Forum of European Christian Women, have
been working for years against human trafficking. They shared their experiences
with the newer Romanian organizations. And the Romanians shared their
information with us. The SRTV’s information leaflets found their
way to the many Romanian organizations. We shared experiences about the
work we all do to fight and prevent human trafficking. Very captivating
were the group of young Orthodox priests who work on prevention in the
parishes.
The
Orthodox Church Against Human Trafficking
The Romanian Orthodox Church decided a few years ago that human trafficking
was a very serious attack on human dignity. It was agreed that the church
would take action by providing information and raising consciousness at
schools, churches and parishes.
To emphasize this point of view, the conference was held in the Palace
of the Patriarch. All participants were greeted by the chairman of the
day, His Eminency Ciprian Camineanul, responsible for mobilizing the Romanian
Church against trafficking in women.
After
the chairman of the day’s speech, there was a commotion in the hall:
the Patriarch himself entered, was introduced to all the participants
and gave his blessing to our collective work and especially to the conference.
This incredible gesture made it explicitly clear to all present, but especially
to the Romanian organizations, that the Romanian Orthodox Church is prepared
to take action against human trafficking. This visit was later broadcast
on news of the First Romanian television network.
The
Dialogue Slowly Started
The second day of the conference was more oriented toward developing a
much needed dialogue between the many different organizations. They didn’t
know each other yet, and mistrust was rampant between government organizations
and ngo’s. That afternoon we, the foreigners, visited two shelters
in Bucharest.
Information
from Students
At the end of the afternoon we watched an informative play by Romanian
students. They had written and directed the piece themselves. In this
piece it was made very clear how a young girl becomes seduced by a nice
boy and is convinced to move to Europe with him to make more money and
to be together. She is brought to a bordello and sold to the highest bidder.
This impressive production will be shown to students throughout Romania.
Ivonne van de Kar
*
CEC=Conference of European Churches
** CCME= Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe
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Letter
from Riga
SRTV regularly receives a long, very interesting letter form a Dutch sister,
Marjolein Bruinen, about her life in Lavia. Below part of a letter in
which she describes the often tragic conditions of life in this new member
state of the European Union.
Dear
friends in the Netherlands. Riga, May the 30th 2005
I am writing this letter on the terrace of our ‘dacha’(our
summer house) where I enjoy the sunny days. Unfortunately, I must confess
that the European Union has not brought Latvia the economic benefits which
one had expected – at least not to the people that are not well
off. Commodities easily imported from abroad oust the domestic products
from the market. This is a disaster for those whose livelihood depends
on them. The inflation is enormous. As a result, initiatives enthusiastically
begun in the nineties of the previous century now come to nothing due
to lack of financial means. The support received from the E.U. for some
projects before Latvia became a member has now been dropped. People who
had been saving for years to improve their houses often began quickly
because costs are soaring sky high. But, time and again work comes to
a stand-still and is never completed. Schools and training-courses, set
up some 10 years ago, can no longer pay their personnel. Unemployment
is so high that nearly everywhere workers can be exploited. A friend told
me that she had had to wait for months for her contract (and her salary)
as a teacher. When she was offered the contract, she read the stipulation
that she had to agree to work at all times the directors found it necessary
(which includes the weekends, because they also offer evening and week-end
courses). She could have refused to sign it, but then she would have lost
her job. At least ten others could be found willing to sign and take the
position just to have a job.
The priest who every Sunday celebrates H. Mass for us was prevented last
week. He asked a colleague to take his place. The young priest answered
that he would like to oblige provided we would pay the petrol for the
trip of a few kilometers.
In and round the house we are helped by some friends who get a warm meal
for the trouble and sometimes also a little money. We had asked one of
them to buy us a bottle of sewing-machine oil which we would reimburse.
She could not do it for the oil would cost € 4, and all she possessed
was € 3!
Small wonder that women want to become “rich” in western Europe,
or even sell their children.
It
is a change to the good that the subject “Women and Human Trafficking”
becomes a matter of public interest. Yet, one is often powerless. What
can one do if the boss of a gang of traffickers turns out to be a police
boss? Just now there is a congress going on of teachers and medical personnel
in schools. It was stated there that the condition of schoolchildren is
getting worse year by year. Children display depressive and aggressive
behaviour at an increasingly younger age. The warm meal they receive at
school is often the only one they get during the day. But inflation has
forced the schools to raise the school fees and many parents can no longer
afford them. Ever more children begin to collect cigarette ends or take
to sniffing glue. Frequently parents have hardly any time for their children
because they hold down more than one job or have to work overtime (unpaid!)
to make ends meet. Coming home they are exhausted and have no energy left
for the children.
Young people commit suicide because they see no future for themselves
or for a family eventually. It is therefore important that they are helped
to discover that life is worth living and worth the effort. It may sound
time-worn, but I’ll gladly repeat myself offering you my sincere
thanks for all the help received from you.
Sr
. Marjolein Bruinen, Dominican Sisters of Bethany in Latvia.
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Lithuanian
Bishops Join Caritas Against Prostitution
Lithuanian bishops are joining Caritas to fight prostitution and sex trafficking
in their country. In a joint press conference, the two organizations announced
the bishops' involvement in "Help for the Victims of Prostitution
and Trafficking in Human Beings," a project begun by Caritas in 2002,
and financed in part by the state and foreign charitable foundations.
The bishops stressed the need to educate the faithful on prostitution,
and to warn, especially young women, of the danger of being deceived when
accepting offers to work abroad.
Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevicius, president of the Lithuanian Episcopal
conference, said Wednesday that the project's activities "will probably
reduce the cases of fraud, especially in the smaller cities and villages,"
reported the news service of the Italian bishops' conference.
According to Robert Grigas, director of Caritas-Lithuania, "the initiative
is encouraged by British institutions, concerned about the high percentage
of Lithuanian women locked in the country's illegal prostitution houses."
The project's coordinator, Kristina Misiniene, said that some 280 women
have been able to leave prostitution as a result of the project. "The
long-term efficacy of the project," she said, "is estimated
at around 40%."
Vatican E-mail Newsletter Zenit, December 9, 2005
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Make Poverty History:
The White March Against Poverty
Make it Happen! Eradicate World Poverty.
On
2 July 2005, an enormous demonstration took place in Edinburgh, Scotland
to bring attention to world poverty. Elma participated in the demonstration
on behalf of the SRTV. She was in the UK for a conference about trafficking
in women. During the conference it was emphasized that poverty was the
main reason behind human trafficking. Elma participated in this very special
demonstration on behalf of all the invisible woman who are trafficked.
Here is her story.
Thousands
of people dressed in white assembled at the Meadows, an enormous grass
field in Edinburgh, the starting point of the march. There were a variety
of stages with non-stop music.
The
march officially started from 12 noon. I say ‘from’ since
the waiting time to start the march was a couple of hours. An estimated
250,000 people, dressed in white, armed with balloons, banners and whistles
formed a white ring around the city, a white ring standing for the white
armbands worn by those against poverty. The goal of the march was to be
heard by the world leaders of the G8 and to make it clear that they must
do something about world poverty. Eight men in one room could actually
make a difference.
All
ages were represented, from babies in buggies to a 94 year old woman who
took the night bus to make it on time, and was planning on taking the
night bus back home again. All religions, groups, races and social circumstances
were in attendance. It was impressive to see so many different people
together on one day, with the same goal. The atmosphere was fantastic
and the sun shined the whole day.
At 3 pm, the entire march stood still and held a minute of silence. Immediately
afterwards all the balloons were released to the most tremendous cacophony
of cheers, drums, whistles etc. And the march started again.
Simultaneous
to the march in Edinburgh, Live8 concerts were taking place in London
and many other cities. Concerts in solidarity with the poor, organized
by Bob Geldorf. The theme of the concert was: “The long walk to
justice”. The concerts also featured speakers such as Nelson Mandela
and Cardinal O’Brien.
What has stuck with me the most from this day is the feeling of solidarity
with those who have been made poor and the feeling of “People’s
Power.”
There is something special about getting people in action and this action
seems unstoppable. No one expects world poverty to disappear overnight,
but there is hope and faith that a start was made today.
Elma van den Nouland
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A new Volonteer found
in Malawi
Sister Raymunda in Malawi is well-known to the readers of Transactions.
She enthusiastically raises awareness in schools. She will return definitely
to Holland in the course of this year. In the meantime she has found somebody
who is willing to take over from her.
Dear
Friends,
Please find an update to my previous letter as I think it a good idea
to keep you informed about my activities. I contacted a Malawian religious
sister here. She is quite willing to do something against trafficking
in women. Trafficking in women has become a great problem in the country
on account of poverty. We discussed the problem together. I explained
to her the methods used and the reasons for it and my way of dealing with
it ( which may be different). She is willing and full of enthusiasm to
give information on trafficking in women in the places where she works.
She works in seven different places in the middle of the country and thus
has the opportunity to reach many girls and young women. I have given
her a package to start with consisting of - 100 flyers in the native language,
- 100 flyers in English
- 5 painted panels of the material you sent us and
- 2 files, one for correspondence and one to keep Transactions.
We agreed to come together after two months to make an assessment of our
work. In the meantime I carry on my work of raising awareness as I did
before. It is too early to make a budget for our work. Contact with the
North is not easy. However we won’t give up.
This is all for this time. A report about the other activities will follow.
I just want to let you know this piece of good news. Kind regards and
success with your work.
Sister Raymunda van Velzen
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