‘They never think it will happen to them’

Cyprus-Mail

By Natalie Hami Published on October 22, 2011

REGULAR beatings and sex with strangers round the clock were only some of the experiences noted down in a police statement by a Bulgarian victim of human trafficking, according to the Office for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings’ head, Rita Superman.
She was speaking at a news conference yesterday on the role of the media in combating human trafficking.
“I’m sure that statement explains it all and this is one of the cases that we deal with on a daily basis,” said Superman, adding that the issues were not easily dealt with as they involved cross-border crime, mainly Bulgaria and Romania.
The Bulgarian woman who submitted the statement had come to Cyprus under the pretext that she would make a quick €2,000 just by marrying someone, but ended up caught up in a prostitution ring.
Around 4 million people are exploited every year worldwide, mainly children and women, with human trafficking involving men, women and children of all ages for either labour or sexual exploitation.
According to Superman, the police investigated 34 cases in 2009, around 35 in 2010 and 11 cases from January to July 2011.
A drop in the number of victims from countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, Superman said was because these countries were beginning to create awareness about human trafficking, whereas women from poor countries like Vietnam were still falling victim.
“Leaflets do not work, that doesn’t mean we should stop them but all of these people never believe that it will happen to them,” said Superman.
She also pointed out that many of the women are tricked into coming into the country under false pretences, with the promise of a legitimate job or marriage to a Cypriot for money. “Many of them are told that they can have a drink with someone and if they like them they can have sex with them for money but usually they end up being forced to have sex with them,” said Superman. “A lot of these women end up alcoholics just to numb themselves to the exploitation,” she added.
Other issues that were addressed was the way in which the media present human trafficking stories and many of the policies that the state already has in place to combat the phenomenon.
“In the majority of cases the media promote and bolster traditional gender stereotypes instead of fighting them,” said Josie Christodoulou, policy coordinator at the Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies (MIGS).
 “The problem is that when they present the story they try to shock with a result that many times they end up re-victimising the victim,”
Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis noted that progress has been made over the last three years in combating the phenomenon but there was still a way to go. “We have updated our legislation so it is fully harmonised with the EU acquis and in accordance with international conventions,” said Sylikiotis.
A ‘Multidisciplinary Coordination Committee Against Human Trafficking’ has also been set up, chaired by Sylikiotis, and with an aim to identify the extent of the problem and formulate concrete solutions.
“We have two years to adopt the EU Directive and I’ve given instructions for this to be adopted as soon as possible,” said Sylikiotis.