FIZ, Switzerland

FIZ - Women' s Information Center for women from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, together with 24 women' s and men' s organisations, Human Rights organisations, gender equality offices, counselling centres, faith organisations and trade unions launched the «Euro 08 Campaign against Trafficking in Women». The Campaign started on 8th March with symbolical street action in different cities and a petition for a better protection for the victims of trafficking. The Campaign aims not only to raise awareness on the trafficking of women in Switzerland but also to mobilise its population on this very serious form of Human Rights violation. The Campaign will continue for the duration of the Euro 08 and end in the autumn of 2008. More information on the Campaign schedule, please visit website http://www.stop-trafficking.ch

Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart , Australia

Australian Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart have completed a consultation on the social needs of trafficked persons, with a special focus on the ways of strengthening the self-esteem of trafficked persons and practical needs. The consultation will help Australian anti-trafficking actors to strengthen their response to meet related social needs and to assist them in their planning. The results of the survey can be accessed by COATNET users at the extranet.

Caritas Internationalis

For the occasion of the Vienna Forum, organised within the framework of the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in February 2008, Caritas Internationalis prepared a statement, in which it calls for migration and economic policies that reduce vulnerability to trafficking, but also that reaffirm tackling the root causes of trafficking by sustained action towards the Millennium Development Goals. The Forum brought together more than 1,000 participants from international and non-governmental organizations, governments, academia, the private and public sectors and civil society. COATNET was represented there by Martina Liebsch (Caritas Germany), Karin Keil (Caritas Austria), Nickolay Iltchev (CRS EME), Maya Ziadeh (Caritas Lebanon), and Carrie Pemberton (CHASTE).
Download the statement of Caritas Internationalis here or visit http://www.caritas.org.

CHASTE

Churches Alert to Sex Trafficking Across Europe organised a conference “TACKLING DEMAND FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING”. The conference aimed at examining the impact of the Swedish Law on Prostitution, building strong alliances in Britain and internationally and identifying steps to change the cultural tide. The UK minister of state for crime reduction was present at the conference, which was attended by more than 140 participants. The minister declared that he has been on a fact finding mission to study the Swedish systemand notes the importance of measures offering alternatives for women who want to quit prostitution and initiatives to address the demand side of prostitution. The UK government is now in a six month process of looking at how demand for paid sexual services can be more effectively limited in the country. Among the conference’s participants were COATNET users - Ivonne van de Kar (SRTV, the Netherlands ), Maura O ’Donohue (Medical Missionary of Mary , Ireland ), Imelda Poole ( Caritas Albania ) and George Joseph (Caritas Sweden ) who spoke about the Swedish model of tackling the demand side. At the conference the most recent English speaking resource for churches concerned with addressing trafficking for sexual exploitation was launched – the Real scandal of Sex Trafficking has been commended by both London based Archbishops – the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminister and the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury.

Caritas India

On 14^th and 15^h of March 2008 in New Delhi, Caritas India under the leadership of National Commission for women (www.ncw.nic.in) organized consultation on Domestic Workers Bill, which was participated by 112 representatives of law enforcement agencies, members of state Women' s Commission, NGOs working on domestic workers and the related issues, those working on migration and combating human trafficking from different parts of the country. The purpose of the consultation was to review the Draft Bill formulated by the National Commission for women in order to present it to the decision making bodies. The ultimate objective of the Bill is to end exploitation of domestic workers and to ensure the recognition of their contribution to the improvement of the quality of life and living standards of others. It also aimed at ensuring security and well being of domestic workers through exercising their rights. The Bill when passed will become an important instrument to address human trafficking in general and trafficking for domestic work in particular.

Caritas of Bishops Conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Caritas BH)

Caritas BH has produced a video clip "Job abroad, good opportunity or fraud?" alerting people to the dangers of human trafficking. Recreating the technique of traffickers, Caritas BH’s video shows false and deceiving job ads that are often seen in the local newspapers. The goal is to make people recognise this kind of ads and warn potential victims against tempting job offers, particularly those abroad.

The clip was aired during this year's 14th Sarajevo Film Festival's programme dedicated to teenagers. Running from the 16 until the 23 August 2008, the video was expecting to be watched by some 2,500 young people. Scripts of the clip have been included in the Festival brochure distributed to all spectators, media representatives, and sponsors. The video spot has been displayed in towns bordering other countries, and the brochure has also been disseminated on Austrian Airlines flights between Sarajevo and Vienna. In a broader national media campaign started in June, Caritas BH worked with different media outlets in the country to air the advert on television and radio and to print it in newspapers.

The clip can be found at youtube

Commission for Justice Peace Human Development Human Rights Secretariat (SETIK), Sri Lanka

On 16th June 2008, SETIK organized a press conference on the occasion of release of a docu-drama "The House of the Arabian Child " based on real stories of migrants, and a book "The Travails of Sri Lankan Migrants " - a study report prepared by Rev. Fr. George Sigamoney (on the photo) with the Migrants unit of SETIK Caritas Kandy. This book depicts the reality of the very painful journey of Sri Lankan women who face the battle of life. Both the book and docu-drama are dedicated to COATNET.

The Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe

 Some 80 representatives of churches, governments, trade unions, police and NGOs from 15 European countries met for an international conference and workshop on trafficking in human beings in Bucharest from 27th to 30th March 2008. The three day workshop "Christian action against trafficking - going beyond", which was co-organised by the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe and the Romanian ecumenical association of churches AIDRom, looked at the particular challenges of trafficking for forced labour. The workshop is the first of a series of CCME activities aimed at mapping and sharing best practice against trafficking for forced labour. Click here to read CCME press release of 31st March.