Global support for Parliamentary efforts in Germany to adopt the Equality Model

September 23, 2020 by admin
Tagged brothel, CATW, enomw, equality model, germany, human rights, human trafficking, Ingeborg Kraus, Liliam Altuntas, lockdown, nordic model, prostitution, Rachel Moran, sex industry, sex trafficking, sex work, sexual exploitation, survivors, trauma, violence, women

The Gloria Steinem Equality Fund to End Sex Trafficking, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), SPACE International and The Sisterhood is Global Institute have written this letter to express the global support for Parliamentary efforts in Germany to adopt the Equality Model. Associazione IROKO has signed the letter and we give our full support to efforts in Germany and around the world to recognise that “prostitution is not work but rather a very harmful and dehumanising system, which fuels the sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of women and girls”.

Liliam Altuntas, survivor of trafficking and prostitution, told IROKO “reading this letter has really made me happy, especially because Germany is a country that’s very close to my heart. Because when I was trafficked, I was sold and brought to Germany. Hearing that there are people who support and make way for this kind of legal change is really important to me. It would represent a real response to the suffering that we have endured, so I’m very happy to join this fight and I’m sure that we will win.”

We encourage our friends and supporters to read and sign the letter.

Click here to watch an interview with Dr. Ingeborg Kraus, conducted by ENoMW‘s Anna Zobnina, in May 2020 just after the publication of a letter signed by various German MPs calling for brothels to remain permanently closed after the coronavirus lockdown.

Sexual Offences Bill adopted in Somalia

September 13, 2018 by admin
Tagged children, law, sexual crimes, sexual offences bill, Somalia, survivors, women rights

The 30th May 2018 the Council of Ministers in Somalia unanimously adopted the Sexual Offences Bill, “the most comprehensive Bill on sexual crimes, seen anywhere”, as Judge Vagn Joensen (President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) said.
If successfully implemented, this bill will effectively criminalise a wide range of sexual offences, provide vital support to survivors, and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of those investigating and prosecuting sexual violence.

The bill has been drafted thanks to the support of LAW (Legal Action Worldwide), a unique non-profit network of human rights lawyers who provide creative legal assistance to individuals and communities who have suffered from human rights violations and abuses in fragile and conflict-affected areas. LAW worked from the start in close collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development.

You can find more information about it here.

62nd UN Commision on the Status of Women – the #MeToo Side Event

July 1, 2018 by admin
Tagged CSW62, gender equality, MeToo, Mira Sorvino, nordic model, OSCE, prostitution, SDG, sex trade, survivors, VAW

At the 62nd UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) organised a side event entitled #MeToo Say Survivors: Human Rights, Gender and Trafficking in Human Beings. After a year in which sexual misconduct and the abuse and exploitation of women, particularly in the film industry, has been under the spotlight, this event served as an opportunity to discuss the plight of trafficked women both in the context of the #MeToo movement and through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 5.2 on eliminating violence against women.

Survivor leaders Autumn Burris, Mickey Meji and Shandra Woworuntu were at the center of the conversation, alongside representatives from the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) International, UN Women, UNODC and Equality Now. They were also joined by Mira Sorvino, who is not only the UNODC Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Trafficking in Persons but has been instrumental in the inception and development of #MeToo and #TimesUp.