Only 1-2% of victims are ever rescued & 1 in 100,00 traffickers are ever prosecuted.
These facts start this blog because I went away on a trip to Bulgaria, most people who are trafficked originate from here. A21 in the past year have set up offices in Bulgaria to achieve 4 main goals:
Prevention
Protection
Prosecution
Partnership
These goals are achieved through firstly education, A21 has started campaigns going into schools to educate teachers & students about trafficking & how they can avoid becoming a victim.
A21 have a shelter programme, which is in Greece. The shelter is in Greece because approx. 40% of the girls trafficked are in Greece.
The shelter provides medical care, dental, psychological help, etc. whatever the girl may need.
To help bring to justice the traffickers, A21 work closely with the local police. The have police investigators, so they are able to raid building that they are tipped of about that could be operating a trafficking ring. A hotline has been set up too, which keeps the police informed.
Transition programmes have been set up in Bulgaria to reintegrate the girls back into society. A21 support the girls by giving the work to do so they can earn & as their confidence/skills increase they will be able to find jobs & start living their real lives.
All this information can be found on the A21 website, so why did I just rehash it?
Well, just putting a link & then expressing my thoughts would not have done this organisation justice.
In Bulgaria, Sofia in particular, you can not avoid see the poor. As soon as I walked of the bus there was an elderly lady begging for money, walk a little further & there are more.
The desperation is obvious!
We live in a society with a minimum wage, benefits that can cover living expenses & many number of ways to stay safe. In Bulgaria the life is different.
Children walk the street begging for money or stealing from those around them, so selling ones body seems a small price to pay for death through starvation.
They have ghettos which are run like a mafia ring with a hierarchy system & this is how many get trafficked.
High-class escorts can fetch up to €10,000, which for most is money well needed. This isn't always the case though as more women are enticed into this life because of the promise of high prices & a luxury lifestyle.
Some women get away with huge emotional & psychological scars, as well as physical scars.
At present The A21 Campaign focuses on sex trafficking & the trafficking of women, but hopefully in the future they may focus on the 3 other types of trafficking... Labour, Babies & Organ.
Take the time to check out what you can do to help, it doesn't have to just be giving money. Also there are many charities not just A21 that are focused on trafficking so check those out too.
Stop the Traffik
Sophie Hayes Foundation
I have never really thought about how damaging the sex trade was & in recent years it gets glorified by the likes of programmes called "Diary of a Call Girl", which gives a glorification to selling your body.
I recommend reading Sophie Hayes' book about her own experience of being trafficked, bear in mine as you read what you think of when someone mentions a trafficked woman. This book opened my eyes to how easy it is to get trafficked & how hard it can be to get away.
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