PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AGAINST WOMEN TRAFFICKING IN TURKEY

Background Information : Because of its geographic location, political and economical structure and being more developed than the neighbor countries, Turkey is a destination country for human trafficking and different than many countries is a destination, transit and origin country for migrant smuggling. But mistakenly in many researches Turkey is stated as a transit country for human trafficking too. Especially in the Human Rights Report 2003 prepared by USA it is stated that there are nearly no Turkish women victims of human trafficking and Turkey is identified as a transit country for women trafficking from Asia, Middle East, Africa and Yugoslavia to Europe. But researches of international and national organizations clarifies that Turkey is destination country not a transit one. Very little identified cases of human trafficking is seen as sexual exploitation of citizens of dissolved Soviet Union countries.

Project Summary : This project was a cooperative project of Medecins Du Monde Greece and International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation (IBC) and was funded by European Union. The project aimed to create National Anti-Trafficking Network for the purpose of preventing this expanding. Contribution of civil society widely is also aimed by raising the level of knowledge and forming a platform for changing ideas. As a part of the project 2 day conferences film projections were realized in Istanbul and Trabzon in May 2005. Long term goal was defined as creation of a common sense about the issue. With the existence of the network governmental representatives, legislative units, NGOs, international organizations, journalists and academics would have the chance of constant communication.

Project Goal: Different aspects of women trafficking were analyzed in Istanbul and Trabzon conferences and during network meetings. Creation of efficient strategies in terms of national and international cooperation about issues like supporting the victims, legislative preparations, execution procedures was discussed during these activities. Network meetings also became a mechanism for the related actors of civil society and government to discuss the problems and difficulties. There have been some improvements in Turkey about legislation and structure of related institutions dealing with women trafficking.

Project Beneficiaries : Main beneficiaries were decision makers and stake holders. It is mainly targeted to form a network of NGO representatives and of course the potential trafficking victims.

Implemented Activities: Four network meetings and two conferences were realized in the framework of the project. A contact list of related actors and institutions was formed at the beginning of the project to invite them to the network meetings. These actors have also been invited to the 2 day conference in Istanbul . In the first and second days of the conference the movie “Balalayka” form Turkey and “Lila4ever” form Ukraine was projected and for the purpose of drawing attention to the issue. The Trabzon conference was planned as a local conference to be realized with the attendance of local NGOs, representatives of governmental institutions and public again to draw some attention to the problem. Film projections were also realized. After these two conferences both local and national media was monitored to evaluate the impact. A conference book was published at the end of the project. Organization of the conferences, media monitoring, designing and publication of the conference book was realized by Beyaz Gemi Training and Consultancy Services.