In the week before October 18, eLiberare, together with the National Agency against Human Trafficking, the Parliamentary Group against Human Trafficking, with the help of a few embassies, organized a series of 4 events under the name of Forum Against Human trafficking.
1. Monday, October 12, at the Netherlands Embassy in Romania we had a discussion on prosecution of human trafficking cases.
How are victims identified, how are they protected to witness in court, what is the trafficker’s profile and what determines him to act were important talking points for the authority representatives and NGOs.
HEA Stella Ronner Grubacic was present at the meeting, along with representatives of Reaching Out, Usa Deschisa, Director for Combating Organized Crime, Superior Council of Magistrature.
2. Tuesday, October 13, at the United Kingdom Embassy in Romania we talked about partnerships in the fight against human trafficking.
Partnership between authorities and civil society was an important thing in both catching and prosecuting criminals and protecting and assisting victims.
The partnerships we had with NGOs helped us see things from another perspective and develop. They helped us discover new ways of collaboration. – Maximilian Nicolae, director of the National Agency against Human Trafficking
HEA Paul Brummell was present at the meeting, along with representatives of Missio Ling International, Save the Children, Terre des Hommes and the Ministry of Education.
3. Wednesday, October 14, in partnership with the USA Embassy in Romania we had a discussion on the protection of human trafficking victims at the American Corner (National Library).
Are the state departments prepared to handle the victims? Do they have the necessary training? How can we balance things when the victim is given a state attorney and the trafficker has a couple of well-paid lawyers?
HEA Hans Klemm was present at the meeting, along with representatives of Ratiu Democracy Center, Open Door, Reaching Out, People 2 People and the Ministry of Labor.
“To help these victims – three fourths of whom are women and over one third of whom are children – governments need to do their best on three fronts. They need to prevent trafficking from happening. They need to prosecute traffickers when it does happen. And they need to protect the victims after the crime has happened.“
(His Excellency, Ambassador Hans Klemm)
4. Thursday, October 15, in partnership with the Parliamentary Group against Human Trafficking, we hosted the international conference Human Trafficking: Protection and partnership in today’s context in the Romanian Parliament.
Some things that were emphasized in this meeting were the need of online prevention, the need of funds for assistance, and we also talked about the Superior Council of Magistrature’s initiative of making the data of minors involved in human trafficking cases anonymous.
NGOs showed their concern about the rising number of trafficked minors, the need of making the process of being accredited easier for shelters that offer multiple services of social work, and the need of volunteers and donations.
Among the participants at this conference there were Angel Tilvar, minister, Adrian Marius Dobre, State Secretary for the Ministry of Labor, representatives of the External Affairs Ministry and the Superior Council of Magistrature, Anke ter Hoeve, adjunct chief of mission for the Netherlands Embassy in Romania, representatives of DGASPC, NGOs and others.
The first 3 events were transmitted live, and the 3 embassies hosted local representatives of the fight against human trafficking from Cluj, that had the possibility to participate with questions for the speakers in Bucharest.
The main results:
- increased awareness due to press coverage
- communication between civil society, state representatives and international partners on steps that be made and specific points that will further the fight against human trafficking;
- resource mapping
- awareness and information for decision makers in state structures
- cohesiveness for NGOs
See more pictures from these events here:
Posted by eLiberare on Monday, October 19, 2015