COALITION PROGRAMS: International Toll-Free Helpline Development

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Accessible national and international toll-free helplines - the lifeline for victims to the Trafficking Victims Assistance Center (TVAC).

Oleg Kouzbit, Angel Coalition/TVAC Director.

The TVAC is designed as a global response center for Russian speaking trafficking victims. As an emergency response facility, free, rapid, secure access to its services by those who need them urgently is a necessity. The most accessible system for initiating contact with the TVAC is by telephone. Toll-free numbers have only been available for Russia since 2003 and international toll-free numbers from a limited number of countries since 2004. In November 2004, MiraMed Institute and the Angel Coalition Trafficking Victim Assistance Center opened Russia 's first and only 24-hour national and international toll-free help-lines to:

•  Provide immediate international toll-free, Russian-language rescue and repatriation assistance to trafficking victims in the U.S.A. and three European countries ( Belgium , Netherlands and Germany ) by the Angel Coalition Trafficking Victim Assistance Center in Moscow .

•  Provide a direct toll-free national help-line for trafficking victims in Russia so that families and friends of trafficking victims can report trafficking cases and receive assistance and advice from TVAC experts.

•  Provide trafficking prevention education to at-risk women throughout Russia through live, toll-free consultations with experts.

The first three countries to go “on line” with international toll-free numbers were Netherlands , Belgium and Germany followed by the US in March, 2005. In order to start promoting the help-lines, the TVAC contacted NGOs, law enforcement and other agencies in these target countries to ask for their input and support. After analyzing their input, it was decided that the most direct mechanism to reach trapped women would be through the distribution of a wallet-sized card with the help-line phone number and other essential information. A trial run of 10,000 wallet sized cards were printed up for distribution to NGOs, embassies, border points, etc.

As a result of feedback from this initial distribution, three different card designs were eventually developed:

(1) a card directly targeted to suspected trafficking victims distributed by police and NGO outreach projects that is carefully designed to conceal its true purpose by making it look like astrological “advice”;

(2) a second card which is used specifically by embassies, at border entry points and by Russian NGOs that contains information that “every woman should know before going abroad”;

(3) a third card with national as well as international information about the threat of trafficking for distribution within the Russian Federation through police, employment agencies, NGOs, schools, institutes, orphanages, etc.

In the first quarter of 2005, TVAC staff made site visits to Netherlands, Germany and Belgium to meet with NGOs, law enforcement, embassy officials and others to talk about the help-line, gather information, discuss distribution and build cooperative rescue/repatriation international networks. In Germany , TVAC staff met with a national consortium of NGOs, IOM and police officials in Berlin , Essen, Westphalia and Frankfurt. In Belgium , TVAC staff met with members of the European Women's Lobby and IOM and signed cooperative agreements with police officials in Antwerp and Brussels . In Netherlands , TVAC staff addressed a nationwide conference of police from trafficking task forces across the country and arranged to distribute cards through IOM, the police and NGOs. In the US, MiraMed staff met with NGOs, and government agencies tasked with assisting trafficking victims and it was agreed that TVAC helpline information will be included in websites, publications and as part a government funded project to reach trafficking victims in all US cities.

In addition to the national and international help-lines, Angel Coalition partners maintain regional hotlines throughout Russia and the CIS.