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About Saalaa

In May 1991, a letter of request was sentvia fax from Thailand to a foreignersûsupport group in Kanagawa, Japan. Therequest was for the rescue of andassistance to a Thai woman who had beensold for prostitution and was being heldagainst her will. It turned out that theThai woman had been sold to a bar inthe north Kanto area. With help from alocal group, she was successfully rescuedand given assistance to return to her homecountry safely.

Following this incident, four foreignersûsupport groups in Kanagawa pooled theirknowledge and resources to establish acrisis shelter for foreign women,particularly those who have been victimsof violence either from their own familiesor from the society at large as in thecase of victims of human trafficking.

With the generous support from variousindividuals and groups, the House ForWomen Saalaa, a crisis shelter for foreignwomen, was finally established in 1992.After more than 10 years, House For

by Carina Morita

Women Saalaa became a full-fledged non-profit foundation.

ùSaalaaû is a Thai word meaning ça placeto resté. Such places are found in manyThai Buddhist temples where people onlong journeys can take a short rest fromtheir travels, and then move on againwith renewed spirits for the rest of theirjourney.

Saalaa aims to assist and support foreignwomen in crisis by providing a temporaryshelter, particularly for those who fallprey to human trafficking or are victimsof domestic violence and may not beguaranteed their full basic human rightsin Japanese society. The organisation alsoaims to find ways of articulating theproblems faced by residents which maydirectly or indirectly result from inherentproblems in Japanese society. In thisregard, Saalaa aims to raise publicconsciousness and awareness on issuesand problems faced by these women.

Whatever reasons these foreign womenin crisis may have for requiring atemporary place to stay, Saalaa ensurestheir safety and provides both a placewhere they are able to rest and recuperatetheir spirits, and assistance as they

Carina Morita hasbeen with Saalaasince 1994 as acounsellor andTagalog staffmember both forthe shelter and forthe hotline.Carinaûs backgroundis in Psychology(CounsellingPsychology). Shehas been doingcounselling workwith Filipinomigrants in Japansince 1994, with afocus on domesticviolence, culturaladjustmentproblems, familyand womenûs issues.

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prepare for another start in their lives.Aside from taking care of basic needs,counselling and consultations are alsogiven to assist our residents map out theirshort, medium, and long-term plans forlife after the shelter. These plans differfor each person. Some women focus moreon legal matters, others on health orreturning to their home country. Formost, their general well-being is of utmostconcern. During these consultations,practical advice on various topics andconcerns is also provided.

Counselling and consultations areconducted in the womenûs nativelanguages: Thai, Tagalog, Cebuano,Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese,English and Japanese. If the need arises,Saalaa will provide an interpreter forother languages.

In 2003, Saalaa established its hotline arm,the Counselling Center for ForeignWomen (CCW). This is open Monday toSaturday from 10:00 to 17:00. Telephonecounselling and consultations are alsoconducted in the callerûs native language.In 2004, Saalaa formally establishedCCW-ATP, an anti-trafficking hotline.The hotlines (CCW and CCW-ATP) area service for women victims/concernedcitizens/other agencies to call forassistance, consultation and generaluseful information.

Saalaa is also part of and plays a majorrole in a larger network of groups andindividuals who are involved in anti-trafficking activities - The Japan NetworkAgainst Trafficking in Persons (JNATIP).

On Being a Workerat Saalaa

It is said that a çcounsellorûs/helperûstool is herselfé. Whether we like it ornot, issues presented to us by ourclients will be seen to a certain degreethrough a personal lens. It is helpful forcounsellors/helpers to be aware of theirown personal lenses, and the things thataffect them. These may include our ownpersonal beliefs and convictions, ourvalues and our worldview. Present lifecircumstances may also affect the waywe help. Our own physical, mental andemotional conditions also influence ourinteraction with those we seek to help.

Particularly for those involved indirect assistance, being our owntools means we vicariouslyexperience the çproblems andpersonal issuesé of our clients. Itis important therefore that we setaside time and make an effortto take care of ourselves. Onecannot overstate this fact. A goodassistance programme would alsoinclude provisions for the care ofits helpers.

Saalaa is an organisation run by a coregroup and a number of volunteers.Particularly for small organisations,having a sound organizational structure

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helps in easy facilitation of tasks andavoids confusion about who does what,which may add to the stress of theworkers.

We run the shelter on modest resourcesand this requires multi-tasking for ourworkers. At the shelter we are trainedto be good counsellors/helpers, goodmanagers, excellent baby-sitters and greatcooks. These rotations can actually serveas a breather from our usual work asopposed to doing the same thingseveryday. One may think that hermanagement skills are adequate but maybe wanting in the area of folding bedsheets. Doing simple tasks as part of thehelping work can serve as a break, ahumbling moment and a check for oneûsgroundedness.

At Saalaa we do not have formal peercounselling activities but we do have ourùtea timeû every day when we gather totalk about our work, our concerns,ourselves, and just about anything. Thesegatherings are never structured, but theyserve the staff and volunteers well byproviding a venue for bonding, forexpressing personal concerns and forkeeping in touch with each otherûs lives.This proves very useful especially if youare working as a team. Being aware ofwhere your team member is provides fora better working relationship. A cultureof comfortable openness is encouragedin our organisation. This applies not onlyto our personal views but also to theinformation that we acquire; we areconstantly sharing and exchanginginformation.

After a difficult telephone consultationor a particularly challenging caseintervention, the staff manager/co-workerwill make herself available to thecounsellor/helper for an informaldiscussion of the case. This providesfor clarification of issues about thecase for the counsellor/helper. It alsodemonstrates Saalaaûs policy of sharingresponsibilities. Working on a particularcase requires a multidisciplinaryapproach. Some workers will havea better orientation in specific areas,such as legal or social welfare issues.Discussing the case after an especiallydifficult intervention with a staffmanager/co-worker will give thecounsellor/helper a better and moreobjective view of the issues in the caseas well as a venue for exploring otherentry points for intervention. It will alsoidentify and clarify what can and whatcannot be done. This also enriches self-knowledge for the counsellor/helper,identifying strong and weak areas in herinterventions.

To further facilitate the sharing ofresponsibility and a team approach forthe cases, we maintain a written log ofthe details of developments in the casesthat we handle. This case log is regularlyupdated and serves as the basis forintervention by other workers when thecaseworker is unavailable. This systemmoves the burden and responsibility fora case from the individual caseworkerto the team as a whole. This is helpful inparticular when running a shelter, wherethere is a physical rotation of staffand volunteers to cope with a 24 hourworking day.

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Working as a team requires that we lookafter each other. We know that we candepend on support from each teammember and vice versa. We work for aconstant awareness of our presentcondition, our own limitations and whatwe can do at the moment. A schedule isworked out taking those factors intoconsideration.

Saalaa organises educational andawareness-raising activities twice a yearfor the general public and also for thestaff and volunteers. In 2004, weorganised a small discussion group andinvited a counsellor who worked in adifferent setting. The choice for theresource person was deliberate. Listeningto a counsellor/helper coming from adifferent applied field was both a

refreshing and enriching experience.Sometimes counsellors, helpers andothers involved in direct assistanceexperience a narrowing of their lenseswhen they become too focused for theirown good on what they do. Taking careof ourselves may also mean periodicallystepping out of our own shoes and seeingthings from a different perspective.

We also hold conceptual clarityworkshops/seminars on topics such astrafficking which have a bearing on ourwork. This provides for a widening ofknowledge for the staff/counsellors/helpers. Updating knowledge and skillsleads to more confidence for thecounsellor/helper, and to a better wayof helping the clients.

Workers at Saalaa

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Another strategy for self-care used bySaalaa is organising parties for fellowshipamong the staff. We usually hold twoparties a year. For counsellors/helpers,it is definitely recommended that we taketime out to have fun and enjoy relaxedmoments when we can be just ourselvesand not think about our work. This alsobecomes a venue where we can socialisewith members of other assistanceagencies like lawyers, doctors andphilanthropists.

Working at Saalaa is like running in amarathon. Sprints are discouraged;constant and regular steps are favoured.The constancy, stability and equitablenessof our work takes priority. Keeping thisin mind helps us to pace our time andwork schedule. Maintaining a healthyperspective towards work, which includestaking care of ourselves, goes a long wayin improving the way we can and willhelp others.

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The Role of CulturalThe Role of CulturalThe Role of CulturalThe Role of CulturalThe Role of CulturalDifferences in Psycho-SocialDifferences in Psycho-SocialDifferences in Psycho-SocialDifferences in Psycho-SocialDifferences in Psycho-SocialAssistance Work with WomenAssistance Work with WomenAssistance Work with WomenAssistance Work with WomenAssistance Work with WomenVictims of TraffickingVictims of TraffickingVictims of TraffickingVictims of TraffickingVictims of Trafficking

by Maria Koleva

We are all foreigners here but not for each other -in our differences we are the same

only choose to stay abroad by default.This dilemma explains in two ways whymost trafficked people have difficultyadjusting to the life, people and cultureof the destination country. First, theyfind it hard to let go of the strongconnection they feel with their owncountry and culture, which gives them asense of identity, belonging andgrounding, but to which they canût return.And second, they remain in thedestination country not because theyreally want to, but because they have noother option. Over time, the destinationcountry and culture do become familiarto them, but continue to have the negativeassociations of all the traumaticexperiences that happened there.

Working with trafficked people fromdifferent countries of origin raises manyquestions and challenges for caregivers

CaregiversWorking withTrafficked Persons

from Different Cultures

Providing psycho-social assistance totrafficked people often means workingwith people from many differentcountries and cultures, as cross-bordertrafficking by its very nature includesdeparture from the home land andtransportation to a foreign country whichis often unknown to the trafficked person.

For many trafficked people, returning totheir country of origin is not an optionbecause of the danger they might face(including the danger of being re-trafficked), stigma, and discrimination.They cannot return home, and therefore

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because of the cultural differences ourclients present us with. How much dowe know about the culture of our clients?How much do our clients know aboutthe culture of the destination country?How much do they know about our ownculture when we are also immigrants inthe same country? How often do wemisunderstand each other? How oftenis there a risk of stereotyping andmarginalising? How easy is it to assumethat there is one universal way of thinkingand working and to impose it on everycase? How tempting is it to believe thatour own way is the right way and thatothers need to get used to it? And in theend, how difficult is it to have arespectful, open attitude and curiositytowards these differences?

Despite the fact that one of the basicrequirements of the caregiver is theability to show acceptance, empathy andunconditional positive regard for herclients, in practice there are stillprofessionals who listen to the stories oftheir clients from their own cognitiveschemata and personal point of reference.

We enter into the relationship withthe client as representatives of ourown culture and this influences theway we listen to their stories, theway we interpret their gestures andnon-verbal signals, the way we storethe information they share with us,and even the questions we ask, theway we ask them, our modes forinteraction, and so on.

We caregivers need to bear in mindthat our clients often see thingsdifferently from us, experiencesituations and events differently,think about relationships indifferent ways and may feeldifferently than we would even ina similar context.

It is our professional responsibility,part of our code of ethics, to show themunconditional respect for theirbackgrounds and sincere interest in theircultures.

In this essay, I will express my personalposition on how important culturalknowledge and sensitivity towardscultural differences are in work withtrafficked persons. My argument is thatcultural differences play a very importantrole in the work of caregivers offeringpsycho-social assistance, and they needto be considered with respect andprofessional understanding. We need tobe aware of the cultural differencesbetween us and our clients and try tofind a way to bridge them with one aim:improving the encounter with the other,which is the most important prerequisitefor the development of the therapeuticrelationship.

Maria Koleva is aclinical psychologistand groupfacilitator, with atheoreticalbackground inpsychodynamictheory,psychodrama andgroup analysispractice. Mariacurrently worksat BLinN (BondedLabour in TheNetherlands),providing psycho-social assistance tosurvivors of humantrafficking inindividual andgroup formats. Sheis originally fromBulgaria, and haslived in TheNetherlands for fouryears now. Mariacan be contacted onthe following emailaddress regardingany questions orcomments about herarticle: [email protected].

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Working in TheNetherlands with WomenVictims of Trafficking

Being a foreigner in The Netherlandsmyself, it is easier for me to relate to thedifficulties my clients face in the processof adjusting themselves to this new andunknown Western European culture.When I came to The Netherlands fouryears ago, I thought I was coming to aworld not so different from the world Igrew up in. Bulgaria and The Nether-lands are, after all, two Europeancountries. Who would expect bigdifferences between their cultures? Yetdespite this, I can honestly say that I amstill learning, still getting to know theculture, the norms and the people herebetter. In life abroad, small things likehow people greet each other, whatbehaviour is considered polite and whatarrogant, which are the proper ways forexpressing gratitude, and many morebecome issues to consider and investigatefor the newcomer.

In the support groups for women victimsof trafficking which I facilitate, womenfrom different parts of the world meeteach other and receive recognition of theirdifficulties to feel at home abroad. Witheach otherûs input and efforts, we createa safe space where the broken sense ofbelonging is slowly rebuilt.

This is a slow process that begins withthe simple shared identification of thefears and difficulties of the people in

the group: çI find it difficult to say çNoéand it is so necessary to be able to do sohere...é, çI miss the closeness in theinterpersonal relationships which I amused to...é, ç I canût adjust to the tempoof living hereé, çI donût have enoughcontacts and often feel awkward inconversations with people because theystare at me...é. The typical reaction thatfollows this kind of sharing is: çOh, thismeans I am not alone...Letûs thinktogether how to manage with all this.éRealizing that we all face the samechallenges makes us feel similar to eachother.

Group facilitators or care providersare facing different challenges. Evenknowing the basic principles of humanbehaviour from the perspective ofpsychology, we still end up askingourselves simple questions. When a cliententers the room and just looks down, isthis her way of greeting me or is shedepressive? Why doesnût she speakabout her feelings, doesnût she trust meor does she lack the reflective ability forintrospection? When meeting new people,why does she immediately offer thema hug, isnût she aware of her personalboundaries? And the truth can be assimple as the questions are. ForNigerians, it is a sign of respect to loweryour posture when meeting an olderperson, for Sierra Leonean lookingstraight into someoneûs eyes is consideredoffensive, for Chinese people speakingabout your feelings with others is notcommon, and for Armenians the personalspace boundary is much smaller and alot of physical contact is normal.

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We may not be able to see this simpletruth clearly, but we can stay open tohearing it. As a prerequisite for this, weneed to be willing to stay in the confusionfor a while, to admit that we donût knowwhat this means in the specific case ofthis client and to listen carefully to whatour clients have to say. They are the onlyones who can teach us.

The Role of CulturalDifferences in the Workwith Trafficked Persons

The clients I work with at BLinN are ofdifferent nationalities. The two groupsrepresenting the majority of people canbe classified as follows: Eastern European(Bulgarian, Moldovan, and Ukrainian) andWest African (Nigerian, Cameroonian,and Sierra Leonean). Very often in mypractice I have been faced with culturaldifferences - both between the parti-cipants in the group and between meand them. These differences are dis-tinguishable not only at a behaviourallevel, but at a cognitive and emotionallevel too. Let me clarify this with someexamples from my practice.

Once, at the end of an intake interviewfor the support group, a young Nigerianwoman told me: çMaria, you are askingtoo many questions. In our culture, thisis not considered respectful. We believethat if the person has something to share,she would do this when she feels like.éHer remark made me feel awkward, but

I appreciated her honesty and learned animportant lesson on behaviour becauseof her. Now every time I have aninterview with a Nigerian woman I firstask if she would mind if I ask questions,allowing her to say çNoé and alsoshowing her respect.

Another example, which clearly showsthe importance of cultural differences atthe cognitive level of interaction, is takenfrom another group which I facilitated.At the end of the seventh session, a clientfrom West Africa told me: çI know nowwhat you are doing here with us. FinallyI understood! You are a native doctorand you try to heal our souls!é I had toanswer with a question: çWhat doesçnative doctoré mean?é And then shesimply said: çA psychologist or whateveryou people call it here...é When I heardher say this, I remembered our firstsession when I introduced myself to thegroup members very clearly, from myown perspective, by telling them that byprofession I am a Clinical Psychologist.Why did I assume that these women knowwhat ùpsychologistû means? Now I amreading about native doctors in Africa!

Methods of expressing and showingemotion also vary greatly across countriesand cultures. Not long ago, a Chinesewoman felt very emotional in one of thegroup sessions after talking about hertraumatic experiences as a traffickedperson. Most of the other women in thegroup felt deeply touched by her storyand shared tears. The client herself didnûtcry though, she only said: çI feel so sadnow. When I get back home (to my room

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in the shelter), I will lock the door andwill cry.é Later on during a creativeexercise in the group process, this samewoman drew a symbol of herself on aplate and presented it to the group: çThisin the middle in the form of a fire is mypassion. It is very powerful and wild.The blue circle around it represents myemotions, deep as the ocean. And thegreen circle outside stands for mybalance. We Chinese people value andstrive for personal containment, balanceand control. Whatever happens in yoursoul, you donût let it be expressed, youdonût let others see.é Hearing this helpedme understand her way of dealing withfeelings, which is very different from theway I am used to. Through the grouptherapy, we found a way to reach eachother - she helped us find the properway for giving her support and forreceiving the support she wanted to giveus too. Words and tears were not her

form of expression, but she highly valuedthe moments when we silently stayednext to her with our hands on hershoulders.

In all these examples, there was apoint of connection, a valuable momentof encounter, and this made them special.That wonderful experience of bridgingall the differences and misunderstand-ings, of reaching out and getting in touchwith each other was realised. My strongbelief is that knowledge about the lifeand culture of the client and an openattitude in communication are ofparamount importance in getting to thispoint. Only then can the behaviour andworld vision of our clients be graspedfully, as complemented by theirbackground, cultural heritage and context.Personal experiences again support thisstatement.

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Maria during her Staff Exchange Trip to Nigeria

Last October I went to Nigeria for amonth as part of GAATWûs staff exchangeprogramme and worked for Girls PowerInitiative, a local organisation. Theexperiences I had during that visit havestimulated and improved my work in TheNetherlands to a large extent. I learneda lot about the culture of Nigeria bymeeting the people and taking part intheir everyday life, and this has incrediblyimproved the contact with my Nigerianclients here. Simple things like saying

çGood afternooné instead of çHié(considered a disrespectful way ofgreeting), asking about their families andlistening to their prayers improved mycontact with them and made us feel closer.Knowing about our clientsû country oforigin is a way to show them respect andunderstanding. One Nigerian woman toldme once: çI am so pleased youûve beento Nigeria. You canût imagine how happyI feel. There is no need to explain now.Youûve been there. You know my world.é

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I am not trying to say, however, thatcaregivers must visit all countries in orderto really understand their clients whocome from abroad. We can learn a lotabout the worlds of our clients by simplyasking them to tell us, and they will bevery happy to answer. To speak abouttheir countries is as important for themas it is for us. Recognition of this facthas motivated me to make some changesin the format of my work. For example,I changed the structure of the supportgroup sessions I run to better reflect theneeds of the participants in this way.Every session now begins with 15 minutesof social warming up, during which thewomen speak about their countries of

origin, what they miss from theircountries, their upbringing, their families,communities, societies, their favouritefood and special memories, etc. Almostevery participant views this changepositively, and it has an empoweringeffect on the women by helping themreconnect with significant parts of theirlife stories (before the trauma) and withimportant aspects of their identities.

These warming-up parts of the sessionsare also very important for me as thegroup facilitator. I listen very carefullyto what the women are sharing, absorbingevery detail and remembering every

A View of a Different Culture

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example. Most of the things disclosedare very interesting and help meunderstand my clients much better. I oftenthink about their way of being in thegroup and compare it to what they shareabout their culture and their countries. Ialso often directly ask questions to checkif I understand them well, rather thansimply assume I do.

In this specific problematic area -trafficking in human beings - wepractitioners are often faced withpainful traumatic experiences,which as a consequence lead to veryunstable and fragmented Egostructure. But my clients havehelped me see that most of themhold one healthy part of the self,untouched by the trauma, whichcontains the culture and the worldof this person. This part holds thenorms and the values, the belief inthe order in the world, the abilityto belong, to be loved and to be acreator.

It is our task to help this part bereborn and to use it as a partner inthe process of recovery.

Conclusion

There is a huge amount of literature andresearch focused on cultural differencesand cultural knowledge and yet it stillseems like there will never be too muchwritten on the topic. My goal with thisessay was to share my personalunderstanding about the importance ofcultural differences in the work of thecaregivers supporting trafficked people.I am not trying to be thorough andexhaustive in my descriptions andanalysis. Rather, I would like this essayto provoke more attention and sensitivitytowards the topic.

For me, working with the culturaldifferences which exist between me andmy clients means staying curious andopen to meeting the world of the client,and being ready and willing to connectwith the other person. It feels like aprivilege to do this work, and it enrichesme as a person.

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Human Trafficking in Brazil:Human Trafficking in Brazil:Human Trafficking in Brazil:Human Trafficking in Brazil:Human Trafficking in Brazil:Initiatives to Assist VictimsInitiatives to Assist VictimsInitiatives to Assist VictimsInitiatives to Assist VictimsInitiatives to Assist Victims

by Luciana Campello and Frans Nederstigt

Human trafficking is not a newissue within Brazilian society.From the sixteenth to thenineteenth century the slave

trade exported millions of Africans allover the world, including to Brazil, thelast country in the world to abolish thepractice in 1888. Today however, manyBrazilians are facing modern slavery. Thelargest country of South America,bordering ten different nations, is now asource and destination country for men,women and children trafficked for thepurposes of sexual exploitation and forcedlabour.

Only recently, however, has the problemof human trafficking begun to be seriouslystudied1 and reached the media andpolitical agendas. As a booming issue,the problem requires special attention inorder to create a more comprehensiveunderstanding able to foster effectivestrategies.

Migration within Brazil

Triggered by economic push factors,millions of Brazilians have migrated sincethe late sixties in hope of a decent job inthe highly industrialised urban zonessuch as São Paulo, or at the fazendas(huge farms) in Brazilûs fertile rural zones.Economic migrants from the dry areas inthe North-East of Brazil crossed distancescomparable with Turkish migrants whowent to work in Western Europe. Eventoday, many people are easily recruitedwith promises of decent wages, and endup in forced labour on these huge andoften very distant farms in the Brazilianinterior. Thousands of impoverishedworkers were (and still are) trapped in asystem of debt bondage, lured away fromsmall villages and impoverished cityslums to be exploited by powerfullandowners.

1 2002 PESTRAF-study on Human Trafficking for Sexual Purposes, Especially of Women and Children(www.cecria.org.br).

Luciana Campello isa psychologist with

a Masterûs byCoursework on

Social Change andDevelopment, from

the University ofWollongong inAustralia. Sheworks in that

capacity for ProjetoTrama

(www.projetotrama.org.br),an anti-trafficking

consortium made upof three Brazilian

human andwomenûs rights

organisations and auniversity in Rio de

Janeiro.

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Under the government of President Lula,the Labour Ministryûs mobile anti-slaveryteams recently managed to free thousandsof forced labourers. According to theInternational Labour Organisation (ILO)at least 5,100 people were freed fromslavery-like conditions in Brazil in 2003.According to the ILO, Brazil is now açreference countryé that shows otherswhat can be done. A National ActionPlan against forced labour brings togetherall the anti-forced labour initiatives, sothat the various bodies are coordinatedand work together. The renewed Article149 of Brazilûs penal code (Law N 10.803,in force since December 11, 2003)prohibits landowners from holdingworkersû documents or using control overtheir transportation to and from remotefarms to imprison them, although it doesnot make any reference to humantrafficking.

Risky Emigration

External migration became a significantissue in Brazil more recently. Officialfigures indicate that the number ofmigrant Brazilians was 1.5 million in 1997and almost 1.9 million in 20012. However,

2 Source: Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.3 www.mj.gov.br/trafico4 Ceará and Goiás were chosen because they are locations of intense trafficking activity, while Rio de

Janeiro and São Paulo have the main international Brazilian airports, which serve as departure pointsfor many trafficked persons.

most migrant workers migrate throughunofficial channels, end up working innon-qualified activities and in theinformal economic sector, and thereforeare not included in official statistics.These informal migrants in search of abetter life elsewhere are most likely toexperience at least some kind ofexploitation, harm or mistreatment, beingvulnerable to traffickers and coyotes(human smugglers).

Although the Government has beenputting great effort into anti-slaverystrategies, only recently has humantrafficking entered the political agendaof different ministerial sectors within thegovernment. In 2002, the National JusticeSecretariat of the Ministry of Justice3 andthe United Nations Office on Drugs andCrime (UNODC) initiated a partnershipto develop a pilot project to combatinternational trafficking in women forsexual exploitation. Four Brazilian stateswere contemplated for the initial actions:Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Goiás andCeará 4.

In the next paragraphs this essay willtry to unfold a few brave governmentalinitiatives to assist victims of trafficking,and identify some of the problems,misunderstandings and lessons to belearned.

Frans Nederstigt isthe director ofProjeto Trama,where he worksfulltime as aninternational lawyerand is responsiblefor networking.Frans trained as alawyer in TheNetherlands,specialising inhuman rights,childrenûs rights,internationalrelations,immigration lawand development.He has alsoundertaken aMasterûs in PoliticalDevelopment at theUniversity ofManchester (UnitedKingdom) and iscurrently attendingBrazilian law schoolat night with theaim of becoming apracticing lawyer inBrazil by the end of2007.

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Offices to Assist Victims ofHuman Trafficking

The Global Program to PreventTrafficking in Human Beings proposedspecific actions in each of the four states,such as capacity-building of lawprofessionals, campaigns, research, andthe construction of a database. Theseactions encouraged the creation of fourregional bureaus which should receivevictims of trafficking and their families.

However innovative and indicative of theGovernmentûs commitment, these bureausare not yet best practice for the assistanceof trafficked people or prevention actions.First of all, the name of the Offices wasnot very carefully chosen sinceinternational experiences show thatpeople who suffer human rightsviolations, and especially traffickedpeople, do not automatically identifythemselves as victims of trafficking.

http://www.guiageografico.com/mapas/mapa-brasil.htm

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Besides that, and maybe even moreimportantly, trafficked people are noteager to step forward because they mighthave lost confidence in others, especiallythe authorities, be traumatized, ashamed,afraid, or receiving threats, or just wantto forget what happened as if it were abad dream or an unlucky choice in thesearch for a better life. Opening an Officeto Assist Victims of Human Trafficking,even when offering a range of services,will not be effective without a clearstrategy on how to address and identifytrafficked people in a non-discriminatoryand supportive way.

In the second place, the Offices to AssistVictims of Human Trafficking prioritizedquite different foci in each of the fourBrazilian states where they have beenimplemented.

The different objectives of theOffices include:

Ô Offer and/or indicate legal,social and psychological assistanceto trafficked people in difficultcircumstances (includingorientation and support forreintegration);

Ô Articulate a network of localservices on health, education andsocial assistance in order to attendto the demands of the victims ofinternational trafficking;

Ô Organise educational andinformative ùwarningû campaigns;

Ô Action-research and diagnostics.

In this sense, the Offices were idealisedto provide immediate assistance,indicating and offering victims theassistance of an articulated network ofalready existing services. The mainconcern regarding mid- and long-termassistance is that the support network isnot yet prepared to assist traffickedpeople. In the city of Rio de Janeiro, forexample, there is just one governmentshelter to protect women. However, thisshelter is designed for victims of domesticviolence and, therefore, does notautomatically include (or accept) highlystigmatised victims of sexual exploitationor trafficked people. Training andqualitative preparation of relevantprofessionals, and monitoring andevaluation of their work, should beintegrated parts when articulating anetwork of already existing services.

The Office to Assist Victims of HumanTrafficking in São Paulo opened in May2003 within the headquarters of SãoPauloûs Secretary of Justice and Defenseof Citizenship. São Pauloûs stategovernment provided staff and an office,while the Ministry of Justice promotedtraining and workshops about humantrafficking. The case of São Pauloûs Office,which assisted very few trafficked people,helps us understand the complexity ofthe assistance service in Brazil.

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Research

In 2005, São Pauloûs state governmentand two NGOs5 conducted research asper a plan developed by the Secretary ofJustice and Defense of Citizenship, thefederal Ministry of Justice and theUNODC. The research was entitledçSigns of human trafficking within thegroup of deported and non-admittedBrazilians that return through São Pauloûsinternational airport of Guarulhosé6, andtried to detect the socio-economic profileof deported and non-admitted Brazilians,their motivations to leave the country andtheir possible involvement in humantrafficking. Through this work, fifteenBrazilians were identified as beingsomehow involved in the European sexindustry and had some information aboutcriminal networks. Maybe more importantwas that the research concluded that thenumber of deported or non-admittedBrazilians will probably increase, givenmigratory flows.

According to this same report, the lowrate of trafficked people that are actuallyassisted by the São Paulo Office confirmsthe idea that only 30% of the cases ofhuman trafficking are known byauthorities7. A reason for the smallnumber of people assisted by the SãoPaulo Office was already mentioned: the

fact that trafficked persons do notautomatically identify themselves asvictims of trafficking or actively ask forhelp as they might be reluctant orashamed to come forward. The fact thatthe Office is hosted by a governmentalservice easily associated with crime-fighting might also account for the lowlevels of confidence in the initiative.Another practical reason might be thatthe office is located in the city-centre ofSão Paulo, while the great majority ofthe women who (forcibly) return to thecountry arrive in São Paulo InternationalAirport, a two hour drive from the city-centre.

In order to improve direct assistance totrafficked people and reach a largernumber of cases, the Office to AssistVictims of Human Trafficking in SãoPaulo is planning to offer services withinthe restricted area of São PauloûsInternational Airport, assisting deportedand non-admitted Brazilians who wereforcibly sent back. The biggest challengewill be to inform those Brazilians whosehuman rights might have been violatedin such a way that trafficked people willfeel safe enough to step forward. TheOffice is also planning to focus onprevention and disseminate educationalinformation about trafficking in persons.

5 Serviçoo de Mulher Marginalizada (www.smm.org.br) and ASBRAD (www.asbradguaralhos.org.br)6 Piscitelli, A., Indícios de tráfico de pessoas no universo de deportadas e não admitidas que regressam

ao Brasil via o aeroporto de Guarulhos, Ministério da Justiça/ UNODC, São Paulo: 20057 Ministério da Justiça/ Nações Unidas, Escritório contra Drogas e Crimes: Tráfico de Seres Humanos no

Brasil, Brasília, 2004.

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The Offices in Goiás and Ceará, as withthe one in São Paulo, did not encountera large demand for the services providedby the bureaus, even though the researchat São Pauloûs Airport identified that themajority of Brazilians who were forciblyreturned originated from the state ofGoiás. The Office in Goiás has beenfocusing on the organization of preven-tive and informative campaigns andworkshops, e.g. at schools, in order toraise awareness on the issue. Ceará, onthe other hand, launched in March 2006the first Office to be effective at aBrazilian international airport.

Other Changes

Rio de Janeiro is the only state wherethe implementation of an Office to AssistVictims of Human Trafficking waspostponed, since the federal Ministry ofJustice found it difficult to identify awilling state organisation to takeresponsibility for the regional project.Instead of focusing on governmentalpartners within the stateûs persecutoryor repressive authorities, whose mainresponsibility and concern is to combatcrime, the federal Ministry of Justice -after some diplomatic NGO-mediation -found an eager partner in the WomenûsRights Council of Rio de Janeiro(CEDIM/RJ). The first strategy was toinvolve some NGOs working on the issue,including Projeto Trama, a consortiumof four human and womenûs rightsorganisations and the main non-governmental actor in Rio. The delayedimplementation of the Office in Rio de

Janeiro was positive in a way, since itmade it possible to identify the mainproblems that the other three Offices hadfaced and then implement a well-foundedand broad plan of action.

Part of the plan included conductingresearch at the International Airport ofRio de Janeiro in order to understandthe complexity of the problem of humantrafficking and to identify the humanrights violations suffered by deported andnon-admitted Brazilians who return home.The idea here is to organise a permanentinformation-service on guidance andinitial assistance for Brazilians who areforcibly returned home and whose humanrights might have been violated whilemigrating or travelling. When comparedto the Offices, such a service would focuson the immediate needs of returnees, notnecessarily identifying trafficked peopleat first glance (and hence opening themup to stigmatization), but insteadinvesting in some confidence-building andfocusing on identification and possiblerestoration of the rights that wereviolated. Authorities at the InternationalAirport in Rio de Janeiro, such as theFederal Police, have already shown theircooperation and interest in this initiative.

At this very moment, however, theallocation of sufficient governmentalfunds and an extension of UNODCûsGlobal Program to Prevent Trafficking inHuman Beings will decide the extent towhich these changed and growing ideasmight really become effective andaccessible for those trafficked people whoneed concrete actions to be taken.

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Joint Action

Civil society groups have already beenorganising themselves at a local and anational level to address humantrafficking, sometimes working togetherwith governmental authorities. Anti-trafficking measures should be inspiredby the already existing National Plan toConfront Sexual Violence againstChildren and Adolescents and theNational Plan to Eradicate Slavery Work.

The main Brazilian non-governmentalorganisations concerned with anti-trafficking measures8 met earlier this yearat the VI World Social Forum in Caracas,Venezuela with some Latin-Americanpartners.

Frans Nederstigt, Director of Projeto Trama,speaking at the VI World Social Forum in

Caracas, Venezuela

8 Projeto Trama - www.projetotrama.org.br; Serviço Mulher Marginalizada - www.smm.org.br; Chame -www.chame.org.br; Projeto Jepiara; IBISS-Co; ASBRAD

A key event at this meeting was theparticipation of the Brazilian Minister ofWomenûs Rights (and President of theInteramerican Womenûs RightsCommission of the Organization ofAmerican States) Nilcéa Freire in twoworkshops on human trafficking.GAATWûs coordinator, BandanaPattanaik, gave her a copy of GAATWûsManual on Human Rights and HumanTrafficking translated into Portuguese,symbolically showing that a human (andwomenûs) rights focus when dealing withhuman trafficking issues, an internationalconcern, should be adopted by Brazil, inits own Brazilian way.

Since the human trafficking issue inBrazil seems to have been framed throughthe paradigm of children and adolescentsû

Bandana Pattanaik, GAATW InternationalCoordinator, presenting Nilcéa Freire with

a copy of the GAATW Manual on Human Rightsand Human Trafficking in Portuguese

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rights9, the Brazilian Ministry of WomenûsRights has put great effort into developingNational Politics to Confront HumanTrafficking together with seventeenother Ministries that should be involvedwith the issue. As a consequence ofthe Caracas-workshops, the mainBrazilian non-governmental organizationsconcerned with anti-trafficking measureswere invited by the Minister to discusssome themes related to adult womenûstrafficking, such as migration andprostitution. Promising developmentsshow the interaction necessary betweengovernments and civil society whendiscussing anti-trafficking measures.

Although the Federal Government hasnot yet found a clear and commondefinition of public policies or minimumguidelines to direct those policies,National Politics to Confront HumanTrafficking, according to governmentofficials, are planned to be declared beforethe Presidential elections later in 2006.Civil society is able to suggest changesand improvements, and will thereforehave to play an important and criticalrole in the development process. NGOsmust be aware that the already largelycommitted political agenda in thiselection year will probably leave littlespace and time to claim for the effectiveimplementation of National Politics toConfront Human Trafficking, includinglittle space and time for the necessaryand decisive allocation of governmentalfunds.

There is still much work to be donewhen talking about effective andconcrete actions that really benefittrafficked people. The federalMinistry of Justice ùtraditionallyûhas been the main govern-mental actor involved in networkingbetween governmental and non-governmental organisations andprogrammes concerning humantrafficking, but recently the spacefor other ministries, such as theWomenûs Rights Ministry and theHuman Rights Ministry, seems tohave increased. Shared ministerialresponsibility for a multi-dimen-sional problem such as humantrafficking should be welcomed,although it also raises the risk thatsome ministries responsible willsimply wash their hands and nottake any lead.

The issue of human trafficking needs apermanent discussion on the operationalconcepts that guide each intervention andwill always have to respect the way inwhich the individual involved looks uponher (or his) situation. In this sense, it isstill necessary to investigate, together withthose who are directly involved, howconcepts of human trafficking, migration,exploitation, slavery, forced work, sexualexploitation and (forced and voluntary)prostitution relate to each other, in orderto prevent repressive measures beingtaken where affirmative, supportive andemancipatory measures are moredesirable and effective.

9 E.g. the 2002 PESTRAF-study on Human Trafficking for Sexual Purposes, Especially of Women andChildren (www.cecria.org.br).

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Mutual Support SystemsMutual Support SystemsMutual Support SystemsMutual Support SystemsMutual Support Systems

by Jacqueline Tan

�ESSAYS�

In the search for a betterlife, many migrants faceexploitative and unfairlabour conditions. In this

article, Jacqueline Tan details howa group of migrant domesticworkers are providing assistanceto each other and their compatriotsto improve their circumstances.

Indonesian domestic workers inSingapore have come together to set upa support group for their compatriots.Its vice-president, Sumarni Markasanshares with GAATW the vision and aimsof Indonesian Family Network.

The rain in the late morning did notdampen the mood of a group ofIndonesian domestic workers who were

The Singapore skyline

Jacqueline Tan is afreelance writer

based in Singapore.She has been

contributing mostlyfood, decor andtravel articles tovarious lifestyle

magazines for closeto 10 years, but lastyear a music project

that she wasinvolved in, MigrantVoices, sparked herinterest in migrant

workersû issues.Migrant Voices hassince evolved into

an arts societyinvolving pioneermembers workingalongside migrant

workers to providean artistic platformfor them to expresstheir many talents.

Jacqueline is incharge of publicity

for the group.

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gathered at Singaporeûs Marina Beach (ahop, skip and jump away from TheEsplanade) for a Sunday picnic. Withpicnic mats and pots and containers ofmostly home-cooked food in tow, theywere not about to let the drizzly weatherspoil their day. As long as it wasnût adownpour, the picnic would go on asplanned. The skies eventually cleared andmore than that, sea breeze-cooled weatherwas theirs all afternoon.

Copious amounts of food and drinks wereshared in between çthe best kebayaé (atraditional Indonesian outfit) and poetry-reading competitions, but 21 May wasmore than just a fun-filled off-day forthe domestic workers and their fellowIndonesian friends made up of mostlyworking professionals and students. Itwas the day that marked the soft launchof the Indonesian Family Network (IFN).

Founded and run entirely by a group ofIndonesian maids working in Singapore,IFN wants to be the voice of theIndonesian domestic worker community.About one in six households in this tinycity-state employs a foreign maid and outof the 160,000 domestic workers,approximately 60,000 are from Indonesia.

Most Indonesian maids do not get offdays while the çluckyé ones get oneSunday off each month. Foreign maidsworking in Singapore are not covered bythe Governmentûs Employment Act, hencethey do not get a mandatory rest day.The Government recently rejected callsfor time off saying it could lead toçrigidities and inconvenience for manyfamiliesé.

Never mind that fewer than 100 of themwere at the picnic. For the committeemembers of IFN, it was an encouragingstart nevertheless. çWe trust that thosewho turned up today will help spreadthe word about us, that we are here tosupport each other and provideassistance,é says Sumarni Markasan, itsvice-president. çIFN aims to reach outto the newly arrived domestic workersas well as those who have been workinghere for a few years. We want to be agroup that Indonesian domestic workerscan identify with and feel belonged to.We want to speak up for ourselves andbe heard.é

Sumarni is one of the fortunate few whogets regular off days. The outspoken andoutgoing 34-year-old hails from CentralJava and has been working in Singaporefor the past 10 years - mostly for expatriatefamilies. Her current employer is aFinnish expatriate, who not only givesher an off day every Sunday but on publicholidays too. Her off days have givenher the time and opportunity to attendreligious and self-enrichment courses atmosques and at Darul Arqam (MuslimConverts Association of Singapore). Shehas not only widened her circle of friends,but also come into contact with localNGOs such as TWC 2 (Transient WorkersCount 2).

Together with a few Indonesian domesticworkers, she even found time earlier thisyear to rehearse and record a song trackon Migrant Voices, a fund-raising musicalbum initiated by a local theatrecompany, The Necessary Stage, andfeaturing different groups of migrant

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workers in Singapore. çIûve had theopportunity to make friends and alsoenrich myself during my stay inSingapore,é says Sumarni (affectionatelyknown as Mary to her friends). çThoseof us who had the opportunity to stepout of our daily work and routine toexperience all these things just want toshare with our compatriots what we havelearnt. We know that not many can comeout and mingle, but that doesnût meanwe canût start something for ourIndonesian domestic worker community- even if we start out small.é

The group is still at its infant stage,having been conceived just three monthsbefore its soft launch at Marina Beach.çThe Indonesian community and NGOshere have been supportive and helped

us all these years, but we feel the timeis ripe for us to form our own group,éenthuses Sumarni. çThis will help usbuild our confidence and self-esteem.Moreover, we are also able to betterunderstand the problems and strugglesthat our fellow domestic workers gothrough.é

Top on IFNûs agenda is to work closelywith partners such as the Indonesianembassy, Darul Arqam, TWC 2, mosquesand Migrant Voices (an arts group formigrant workers in Singapore) to comeup with training and enrichmentprogrammes. And IFN wants to addleadership training, communication andorganisational skills to the line-up inaddition to the usual computer andEnglish courses. çItûs important we pickup these skills as they empower us andhelp us find our self-worth and dignity,éopines Sumarni. çCommunication skillswill also help us to better interact andcommunicate with our employers.é

With maids often appearing in the localnews for the wrong reasons, IFN alsowants to work towards changing thepublicûs perception of domestic workers

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so that they will be seen and çportrayedéin a more positive light.

A gargantuan challenge lies ahead of IFN.Resources and funding are limited, butthey are not about to let that bog themdown. çWe have to look on the positiveside of things, that there are supportivepartners like the Indonesian embassy andDarul Arqam who are working closelywith us,é adds Sumarni. çThe first stepis to get the word out about IFN to ourcompatriots, not just to the domesticworkers but also the Indonesian studentsand working professionals here. Then wehave to get started on our trainingprogrammes.é

So what about the more çseriousé issuessuch as maid abuse cases and wagedisputes? Sumarni admits that the help

IFN can give is limited at the moment asthey lack the resources and volunteers.What they can do at the moment is toçchannelé such cases to organisationslike TWC 2 which deal with abuse andwage problems. çOur group is verynew, so we want to take things one stepat a time. For now, we just want tokickstart our training and enrichmentprogrammes,é says Sumarni.

The group will launch officially thisAugust - with help from the Indonesianembassy. IFN may be starting out small,but it is a big step for this group ofdomestic workers who is determined tostand up for themselves and be heard.And who wants (and deserves) to betreated like any human being - withdignity and respect.

�ESSAYS�

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