Daphne-project_2000-060

ESPACE P… asbl

116 rue des Plantes

1030 Brussels

Belgium

Tel.: 00 32 2 219 98 74

Fax: 00 32 2 217 02 15

ACTIONS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK

OF THE DAPHNE PROGRAMME

1/01/2001 - 31/12/2001

Prostitutes - Information

for Russian, Moldavian, Bulgarian and Albanian prostitutes

FINAL REPORT

00/060/W

Person responsible: Cécile CHERONT

Coordinator

00 32 71 30 98 10

Title:Improving aid for victims of trafficking in human beings from Albania, Russia, Bulgaria and Moldavia in the world of prostitution in Brussels, Liège, Namur, Charleroi, Antwerp, Gent, Amsterdam, Paris, Lyon, Luxembourg and Milan.

Duration:from 1/01/2001 to 31/12/2001

Name of the coordinating organisation: Espace P… asbl

116 rue des Plantes

1030 Brussels

Belgium

Tel.: 00 32 2 219 98 74

Fax: 00 32 2 217 02 15

e-mail:

Contact person: Cécile Cheront

Partner organisations: Espace P…, Payoke, Pasop (Belgium)

Les Amis du Bus des Femmes, Cabiria (France)

De Rode Draad, Stichting TAMPEP (TAMPEP Foundation

- Netherlands)

Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes (Italy)

Drop’In (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)

I. Brief presentation of the project promoter

The non-profit association Espace P… meets prostitutes who have been working in the French-speaking Community of Belgium for 12 years, either in their places of work or at psycho-medical-social contact points in the red-light districts of Brussels, Namur, Charleroi and Liège.

We’re developing three main types of action:

An emancipation programme focusing on the supply of information to prostitutes concerning their rights and obligations, the fight against violence and exploitation, the need to improve working conditions, etc.

A socio-professional integration programme that offers a listening ear, social assistance and guidance.

A health promotion programme that includes information on sexually transmissible diseases, contraception, drugs, the offer of free and anonymous screening for AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis, free and anonymous vaccination against hepatitis B, the distribution or sale of different means of prevention, access to treatment for drug addicts, etc.

II. Basic objectives of the project

In the last few years we’ve seen an increase in the number of foreign prostitutes in our country, and in particular in the number of young girls from Eastern Europe. Many of them can be considered as victims of trafficking in human beings. They’ve undergone and are perhaps still undergoing violence. They’re exploited by one or more men. They’re unaware of the forms of protection they can receive or are unwilling to ask for protection for fear of reprisals against their family or for fear of being plunged back into misery.

Our objectives within the framework of the DAPHNE Programme were the following:

-to improve the information given to Russian, Moldavian, Bulgarian and Albanian prostitutes thanks to the support of cultural mediators and special brochures on key issues;

-possibilities for care and protection for victims of trafficking in the project partner countries;

-information on sexually transmissible diseases;

-information on contraception;

-dissemination of the experience acquired and of the materials produced among the partner associations.

III. Description of the work carried out, methodology and results

A. Recruitment, training and supervision of cultural mediators

We distributed several flyers to the association Bruxelles-accueil, which has contact with interpreters. We were looking for Russian, Albanian, Bulgarian and Moldavian cultural mediators. We made a selection from among eight candidates. Two persons who already offered their services as interpreters to the police or the Immigration Office (Office des Etrangers) were refused, together with an 18-year-old girl, who it was thought was too young. A Moldavian lady who was selected did not contact us again. Finally, four cultural mediators were recruited, i.e. four women from Albania, Russia, Bulgaria and Armenia (Russian-speaking).

A certain amount of information was given to our cultural mediators:

-training on sexually transmissible diseases, mainly AIDS and hepatitis B;

-a meeting with the centre specialising in the care of victims of trafficking (PAG-ASA);

-a meeting with a member of the Federal Police unit dealing with trafficking in human beings;

-meeting days with the partners of the DAPHNE project furnished an opportunity for fruitful exchanges with three other cultural mediators working in Lyon, Amsterdam and Pordenone (Italy).

Once a week, our four cultural mediators worked on the streets in the evening and at night (until one o’clock in the morning). They were always accompanied by a doctor or a social worker. They visited bars in rue d’Aerschot and went along the pavement on avenue Louise, rue Van Gaver, rue des Commerçants and rue de Laeken, and they spoke with over 100 women.

There were several encounters in the cafes in this district.

Forty women from Eastern Europe were referred to our free medical service in 2001: 17 Albanians, 10 Bulgarians, 4 Russians, 2 Ukrainians, 2 Latvians, 2 Chechens, a Yugoslavian, a Macedonian, a Moldavian, a Lithuanian, a Kosovar, a Pole, 8 Greeks (?) and 12 Italians (?). A dozen of them were referred to a family planning service for abortions. Two women were referred to the emergency service of a hospital: one had received a knife wound, and the other had a gynaecological problem. Most of the women were informed of the existence of a centre specialising in care for victims of trafficking. Only one woman was accompanied to an accommodation centre then to the Russian embassy and subsequently to a social service for voluntary repatriation. This woman was also accompanied in her formalities with the Federal Police (the unit dealing with trafficking in human beings). Another woman was referred to the same service. Several clients phoned us about prostitutes from Eastern Europe who wanted to leave their pimp.

Debriefings were conducted after the street work or during meetings in Espace P… to give the cultural mediators an opportunity to share their experience and ideas.

B. Organisation of two days of meetings with the partners in Brussels on 16 and 17 March 2001

These two days of meetings included:

-the choice of a date that suited the majority of the partners

-reservation of a room in the Maison des Associations Internationales (International Association Centre)

-sending-out of invitations

-numerous telephone contacts in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium to confirm the arrival of 30 guests

-reservation of interpreters

-booking of hotel rooms

-reservation of two buffet dinners for Friday and Saturday

-reservation of a restaurant for supper on Friday

-gathering of receipts for the restaurant and travelling costs of the partners

-follow-up of the two days (telephone contacts, mail, typing of the minutes, etc.) under the responsibility of Evangéli Vamvas (secretary) and Cécile Cheront (coordinator of the project).

List of participants

Belgium:

Cécile Cheront, project coordinator

Isabelle Jaramillo, Espace P…, social worker

Fabian Drianne, Espace P…

Claude Allas, Espace P…

Dominique Bietherès, Espace P…

Adrien Pierantonio, Espace P…

Lorena Rotella, Espace P…

Margareta Stroof, Espace P…

Anne-Françoise Raedemaeker, President of Espace P…

Tamara Sousarova, cultural mediator, Espace P…

Carine Bznouni, cultural mediator, Espace P…

Kostadinka Moldovanova, cultural mediator, Espace P…

Anila Troshani, cultural mediator, Espace P…

Milena Toban, cultural mediator, Espace P…

Kadija, Social Service for Aliens, Brussels

Mrs Amato, Collectif contraception, Brussels

Mrs Quevrin, Collectif contraception, Brussels

Mr Weber Seutin, Federal Police, central unit dealing with trafficking in human beings

Jeanine Van Nuffel, Payoke

Julie, Payoke

Luxembourg

Carmen Kronshagen, Drop’In

Marco Gaganèse, Drop’In

Dr Claudine Mardaga, Drop’In / Planning familial Luxembourg (family planning)

France

France Arnould, Les Amis du Bus des Femmes

Mimi Heumisi, Les Amis du Bus des Femmes

Juljana Vullnetari, cultural mediator, Cabiria

Corine, Cabiria

Italy

Carla Corso, cultural mediator, Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes

Pia Covre, Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes

Netherlands

Sietske Altink, De Rode Draad

Anka, Stichting TAMPEP (TAMPEP Foundation)

Minutes of the discussions

Welcome to participants and introduction to the two days of meetings.

I would first and foremost like to thank you for being here with us. There will be plenty of opportunity for contact between the different associations. I would first like to suggest that we go round the table and give you an opportunity to introduce yourselves and talk about your experience on the ground with women from Eastern Europe.

This afternoon we will explain the Belgian legislation set up to protect victims of trafficking in human beings, and we will listen to Mr Weber Seutin from the unit dealing with trafficking in human beings from the New Federal Police. Anka will then present a talk about the experience of TAMPEP with migrant women (another European network with much greater reach in the field of the promotion of health among prostitutes). The objective of the second day will be to design a brochure for women from Albania, Moldavia, Russia and Bulgaria.

We’re aware that not all prostitution involves exploitation and trafficking in human beings. We chose to focus on these issues because they affect women who are much more often the victims of violence. In addition, they’re much younger, and, even though they’re not yet in the majority, they must be given priority in our work.

I now invite you to give your attention first of all to Sietske Altink from De Rode Draad.

De Rode Draad is an organisation that defends all sex workers in the Netherlands. As you know, prostitution and the recruitment of prostitutes were legalised last year in the Netherlands. It is now legal to run a brothel. Sex workers have the same rights as other workers. De Rode Draad liaises with an official trade union. However, that hasn’t solved all the problems. There are often checks. Many women have opted for self-employed status but they remain under the control of a madam. They still have difficulty when it comes to opening an account or obtaining a loan or insurance. Prices are very low, there are few clients and the rental costs are high. Many women stop working legally and prefer to operate clandestinely. The brothel-keepers are not satisfied with the situation either. They say they’ll have to close their brothels if they have to comply with all the rules.

In the 1980s, when prostitution was still illegal, many of the women who were exploited were from Asia or Latin America. Nowadays many of these women are working legally. They defend their rights just like their Dutch counterparts. The girls from Eastern Europe who have arrived in recent years also accepted everything at the start. However, over time they’ve become more astute in defending themselves. Last year, 50% to 70% of the 25,000 sex workers in the Netherlands were non-natives. The associations found that 90% of the girls from Eastern Europe were working in abnormal conditions (trafficking or exploitation).

The Netherlands have devised a procedure to help victims of trafficking in human beings. This is a good initiative, because the victims are no longer put out of the country, but I would criticise on many points the way in which the Dutch are handling this problem. In actual fact, potential victims have three months to decide whether they wish to lodge a complaint against the traffickers, which gives them entitlement to the status of victims of trafficking (‘B 17’ status). During these three months, they’re given accommodation at a secret address and they receive a minimum income, but they cannot engage in prostitution or even look for another job. They’re very isolated. They have nothing to do except to complete the administrative procedures to obtain victim status, but it must be said that this status is stigmatising.

Another criticism is that once the ruling has been handed down, even if the trafficker is convicted, the victim sometimes has to return to her country. Only 10 women have obtained a definitive residence permit.

A total of around 150 women have used this procedure, while 2,000 sex workers from Eastern Europe work in the Netherlands every year. Most of the victims refuse to go through the procedure.

In the court, a distinction is made between women who came to the Netherlands without knowing that they would be forced into prostitution and those who knew but refused to accept the conditions imposed on them. We believe they’re all victims in equal measure! When a person who works in a bank is a victim of a hold-up, she is not considered to be any less a victim because she knew that that could happen!

Another problem is that if the exploitation starts in the Netherlands, this is not regarded as trafficking in human beings. The exploitation has to start in the country of origin.

Women from Eastern Europe cannot obtain a work permit to come to the Netherlands to work as prostitutes whereas they can receive a permit for any other self-employed activity. We’re against this discrimination.

Finally, we want more information on the girls from Eastern Europe not only in the Netherlands, but also in the countries of origin. Associations for prostitutes in those countries must be given support. You can adopt lots of measures to combat trafficking in human beings, but if you don’t support associations that work with prostitutes in the countries of Eastern Europe, it’s like putting deckchairs on the Titanic!

I would like to invite you to give your attention to Cabiria (Lyon).

Cabiria is a community health association that works on the basis of parity with prostitutes. We focus mainly on the prevention of HIV, STDs and drug addiction, and we have a project centring on access to rights and to care in general and the fight against stigma. We have now been working for about two years with people from Eastern Europe. At the start, it was quite difficult because of the language barrier and the pressure exerted on them. We had to create a climate of confidence. We very quickly started working with Julie, who is a cultural mediator. We achieved a lot in terms of individual support, especially medical and legal support. This was all fairly positive. Initially, there were many problems involving conflicts of territories with the other prostitutes in Lyon. However, we managed to improve the situation by holding meetings on the premises of Cabiria. In fact, the big problem that we have with people from Eastern Europe is the police. Over 8 pimps have been arrested, and a woman was also arrested whereas she was a victim. With regard to these women, the police and the judiciary are now conducting a policy of total repression. In the last two months, many have started leaving because they receive too much harassment from the police. Our main problem is this, and not at all with the pimps.

My name is Julie. I have been working with Cabiria for almost two years. I’m responsible for cultural mediation between prostitutes from Eastern Europe and the associations to facilitate their formalities. Normally, the women who come to Lyon from the countries of Eastern Europe are asylum-seekers. They therefore have a temporary residence permit. The women who have been here for over two years have reached the end of their asylum procedure or have just reached the stage where they’re illegal. Their situation is more precarious. We try to obtain for them entitlement to social security (health insurance). This is based on a new law in France which was passed in January 2000 and which protects persons with no income.

The main problem with these women is that they’re under pressure from the authorities, from the men who are behind them, from the media, etc.

They’re scapegoats for all the problems affecting society in Lyon. We’ve also been working to give them a different place in society. They’re not all social cases, drug addicts, HIV-positive, etc.

We’re endeavouring to forge ties with other associations to meet their needs more effectively. Cabiria is a community health association, but we also help them in other fields (help with housing, etc.). It’s important to have someone who is very close to the community so that their needs can be represented as well as possible. We’ve seen how much trust they put in Cabiria. They come to our offices, but the most essential work is done on the ground. Even when they can’t come, Cabiria is there to identify the problems.

Comparing the situation at the start and the situation now, I would say that several women have been freed from trafficking, that is, they’ve become independent of the people they had to pay money to. This is achieved through a long process of autonomy-building and awareness-building. The work of an association like ours is also to raise the awareness of the possibilities open to women in the host country to gain freedom and to be self-sufficient and independent. There are now several women who are working for themselves. They no longer have any contact with the people who were previously exploiting them. It’s very important to give them support to achieve this independence. We’ve seen in Lyon that women can obtain freedom from trafficking by themselves, so to speak. Support must be given to the programmes that help them to do this themselves. We also supported the Fondation des Femmes de l’Est (Foundation for Women from Eastern Europe), an organisation set up by several women to defend and testify for victims. This has had considerable influence on the group. Women who are now working for themselves meet and share their experience with other women. This is very important.