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Women Caught in Net of Exploitation Helped in Belarus
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Minsk, Belarus, October 2009-In a secret location in Minsk, women on the run from exploitation will receive help integrating back into society thanks to the support of international organizations, NGOS and the Belarus government. At a recently re-opened shelter in a private flat, the women will receive social services, jobs skills and sanctuary from abduction and trafficking by criminal organizations. “Our main goal is not merely to provide medical, social or other types of help, but to ensure the person comes out of the difficult situation, to recover and to integrate back into society and be able to make sound choices in the future,” Galina Tyurina, head of a Belrusian NGO, said. To help the women make that adjustment after being held against their will, the European Union, United Nations Development Programme and UNICEF re-opened the shelter as part of its ongoing efforts to battle human trafficking. In partnership with the Belarus government and NGOS, the 1,334,550 EURO project provides victims with a range of help. Activities include financial and technical support, accommodation, psychological and social counseling, medical and legal help, and training in jobs skills. The programmes are part of a broader goal of preventing human trafficking through better protection and rehabilitation of those caught in the net of exploitation. The shelter also meets rising demand for such help in Belarus. Increasingly, Belarus, along with Moldova and Nigeria, has become a key transit route for trafficked individuals. Women, for instance, are abducted or recruited under false pretences and then transported against their will. Common destinations include Western Europe and the Middle East. Men are also trafficked as labourers. Belarus, with an open eastern border and proximity to EU borders in the west, has become an important transit route. According to the Belarus government, in eight months of 2005 law enforcement officials identified 366 individuals as victims of trafficking. Of those individuals, 313 were involved in sexual exploitation such as forced prostitution, and 53 were a part of labour exploitation. The EU-UNDP-UNICEF project, officially launched on the EU Anti-Trafficking Day on 18 October, is seen as one way to reduce those numbers, and provide the victims with hope for a better future. “Upon their return home, the victims need protection, counseling, medical support and understanding from those around them,” Valentina Stalyho, UNDP programme manager, said. “Competent and timely rehabilitation and reintegration into society assistance is an important factor in their return to normal life in society.”
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