Angel Coalition Receives Grant to Rescue Trafficked Children in Moscow
|
Children in Moscow Shelter |
In May 2006, The Angel Coalition received funding from the World Childhood Foundation, founded by Queen Silvia of Sweden, to work in partnership with MiraMed Institute and Russian NGO “Women and Children First” to work with all of the agencies involved in the care of a thousands of trafficked children in Moscow – starting with the police on the street who pick up the child, the hospital where the child is held (but not treated or assisted in any way) until shelter placement, the shelter where the child again receives no treatment or attempts at rehabilitation and ultimately back to the city/country of origin or a Russian orphanage.
The Angel Coalition will focus on police training and the development of a standardized “Protocol on the Rescue, Rehabilitation and Dispensation of Trafficked Children in the City of Moscow ” which will prescribe a “best practices” system of child centered care as the child progress from the street to final dispensation by city authorities.
Simultaneously, “Women and Children First” will be working within the child shelters training staff on working with severely traumatized children.
Angel Coalition Visited by Famous Dissident Natan Sharansky
As a prelude to opening an Israel-to-Moscow helpline for Russian speaking trafficking victims in Israel, the TVAC was visited by leading human rights activist and former Russian refusenik Natan Sharansky and fellow member of the Israeli Knesset Roman Polonski.
The TVAC has identified Israel as a prime destination country for Russian women – many of whom are trafficked by Bedouins across the Sinai Dessert from Egypt .
The technology for opening a toll-free helpline has just been made available and the Angel Coalition has begun the process of setting up the necessary technology.
|
R. Polonski – S. Yakimenko – J. Engel
N. Sharansky – O. Kouzbit |
Sharansky has published his memoirs, Fear No Evil, and The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror and currently serves in the Knesset as minister-without-portfolio in charge of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs.
The TVAC anticipates opening the helpline and starting international police training in the fall of 2006.
Angel Coalition Speaks out to US Congress
On May 4, 2005, Dr. Juliette Engel, Director of International Relations for the Angel Coalition, was invited to address the US House of Representatives Committee on International Relations during the subcommittee hearing entitled, “Germany's World Cup Brothels: Women and Children at Risk of Exploitation through Trafficking.”
In her testimony, Dr. Engel drew directly on the experience of the Angel Coalition Trafficking Victim Assistance Center in Moscow which operates a toll-free helpline from Germany to Moscow and assists Russian speaking victims of trafficking in Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium . Dr. Engel sited the increase in job recruitment activity by traffickers in Russia for jobs related to the games which are clearly not what they seem.
|
At the 'World Cup' hearing |
The Angel Coalition has identified Germany as the prime route of entry for trafficking victims from the CIS by means of the “fast track” visa and tourist visas which are very easy to obtain. From Germany, women are trafficked throughout all of the Schengen countries across the open borders of the European Union.
Dr. Engel was quoted extensively in the global press as saying: "The German government has made the highly controversial decision ... to act as an official 'pimp' for the 2006 World Cup," The sex businesses anticipate millions of dollars in revenues "from the exploitation of women's bodies and souls by tens of thousands of male football fans notorious for their drunkenness and violence."
As the hearings continue into June, two young Russian survivors who were trafficked to Germany and forced into prostitution in the illegal brothels that Germany denies exist will be testifying as well.
A New Era of Cooperation with City Authorities:
Moscow Police Training
As part of its program to end violence against children, the TVAC has begun its breakthrough training project for Moscow law enforcement personnel, including psychologists, who work with abused and homeless children.
The trainings are aimed to address trafficking in persons and the sexual exploitation of children and encourage police officers to view street children as victims of adult cruelty as opposed to juvenile delinquents.
We see these first steps as very positive and inspiring. The schedule for the summer trainings has already been set. In the future, this project will include all of the new regions in Moscow.
The Angel Coalition and Coalition Against Trafficking
in Women Meet in Moscow
A meeting between Angel Coalition staff, representatives from our partner “Project Kesher,” an international organization of Jewish Women, and University of Massachusetts Professor Janice Raymond, one of the leading figures in the fight against human trafficking, took place at the TVAC on May 30, 2006. The meeting was part of a project to inform the public about the problem of human trafficking in the cities of Tver, Kineshma, and Kostroma.
Representatives from “Project Kesher” presented on their progress and discussed the problems they have come across with Prof. Raymond. Of particular concern was the difficulty of working with men on the “demand” side of sexual services.
The following day consisted of a visit by Prof. Raymond and representatives from the Angel Coalition and “Project Kesher” to the Tver Assembly of Women and the Social-Pedagogical State University Crisis Center. The purpose of the visit was to exchange strategies for anti-trafficking activities and informational campaigns. As a result, the Women’s Assembly and the Crisis Center reached an agreement to work together on future measures.
Safe Return and Recovery
|
AC delegates include the Deputy Minister of Justice of Tajikistan, Azizmat Imomov |
Under the Safe Return and Recovery project masterminded by Russia 's Angel Coalition and Sweden 's Kvinnoforum and funded by SIDA, safe house staff from four regions of Russia and Tajikistan participated on April 24- 28 in the second in a series of Stockholm training sessions.
The main focus of the training was sharing experience, the discussion and planning of future training sessions in the regions involved, and sharing experience in interaction between law enforcement officers in destination and sending countries.
|
| AC delegates from Chelyabsink |
The event took the form of a workshop, group sessions and site visits. Getting to know the work of relevant Swedish organizations, including shelters and crisis centers for female victims, was an important and very useful part of the program. The joint Russian-Tajik delegation representing key staff from our two countries' most efficient safe-house programs also described major aspects of rehabilitation and prosecution efforts they had made in their respective regions. This activity was mutually beneficial, as each of the countries represented has its own distinctiveness regarding domestic law, customs and conditions. The interactive form of communicating breakthroughs and problems to one another helped the participants establish solid points of contact for future cooperation.
In addition to NGO interaction there were interesting meetings with Sweden 's key government agencies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the police. They were very worthwhile, especially with the participation of Deputy Minister of Justice of Tajikistan Mr. Imomov. Both Swedish and Russian delegates could ask direct questions to this high-level government official. It was particularly useful for the Swedish side given their plans to expand the project on more Central Asian countries.
_________________
The Angel Coalition NewsServ Team
tel (495)783-5865
Click here to email us for subscription or feedback
|
