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Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women

Human Rights
at home, abroad and on the way...

GAATW Logo

Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women

Human Rights
at home, abroad and on the way...

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Towards a fair and inclusive society for all

Statement by Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women on International Women’s Day 2022

GAATW stands in solidarity with all women workers – paid and unpaid, local and migrant. We salute their courage to organise, form collectives, and support each other in this difficult time. We are inspired by their creative and innovative organising strategies. 

We also applaud the steps taken by some states to provide migrants, including undocumented migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, with various forms of emergency support. Initiatives to extend visa and work permits and to create firewalls between access to services and immigration authorities are stepping stones to creating inclusive societies. More recently, we have been touched by the generosity of neighbouring countries towards people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

In Agenda 2030, states made commitments to promote the socioeconomic and political inclusion of all, ensure decent work, and end violence against women, among others. As signatories to the Global Compact on Migration, states have also agreed to ensure empowerment and inclusion of migrants and work towards social cohesion. Yet, the exclusion and othering that we have seen in the last two years and, most recently, towards non-Europeans fleeing Ukraine, tell us that reality is very different. Sadly, our states and we as people have many excuses to justify exclusion and rejection of our fellow human beings. Gender, race, class, caste, religion, and ethnicity are invoked in different contexts, both within countries and across borders, to justify exclusion.

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Stop all forms of gender-based violence: A manifesto for an inclusive and comprehensive EU gender-based violence policy for all

In the lead up to International Women’s Day, 8 March, and the expected publication of a draft EU law to address violence against women and domestic violence, major international and European networks and organisations have adopted a manifesto for a truly inclusive EU law and policy. All civil society organisations and Members of European Parliament are invited to join us – sign up to the manifesto here

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Interview: Tenth Anniversary of Anti-Trafficking Review

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GAATW launched Anti-Trafficking Review - the first open access, peer reviewed journal focusing on human trafficking - in 2011. On the occasion of this tenth anniversary, the journal Editor, Borislav Gerasimov, spoke to three of the women who conceptualised and launched the journal and have continued to support it in various capacities: Bandana Pattanaik, International Coordinator of GAATW, Caroline Robinson, who was working at the time as International Advocacy Officer at GAATW, and Rebecca Napier-Moore who was working at the time as Research Officer. Caroline and Rebecca were part of the editorial team for the first issue, and Rebecca continued as journal Editor through 2016.

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Voices and Participation of Victims, Survivors and Workers: Reflections on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

Bandana Pattanaik 

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HRathomeabroadListening to the lived experiences of trafficked persons and incorporating their feedback in anti-trafficking initiatives have always been a practice among many GAATW members. The International Secretariat has also taken a number of steps over the years to ensure that state and non-state actors consult trafficked persons while planning their anti-trafficking work.

However, this is work in progress. While organising survivor-testimony sessions and seeking their input on assistance measures are not difficult, ensuring their participation in all aspects of anti-trafficking work is fraught with many barriers. On this World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, I would like to reflect on our work to centre the voices and concerns of survivors and suggest ways to make it better.                                                                           

I remember a consultation organised by GAATW, AWHRC (Asian Women’s Human Rights Council), SANGRAM (a sex workers’ support group based in Kolhapur, India) and VAMP (a sex workers’ collective based in Sangli, India) in March 1999. It had brought together organised and individual trafficked persons, organised sex workers, academics and activists from Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan. It was my first international meeting as GAATW staff and the respectful discussion among people who were genuinely trying to understand complex concepts such as choice, consent, and exploitation by listening to lived experiences was truly educative. Colleagues did not always agree with each other. There was vast diversity in terms of class, caste, religion, ideology, language and sexuality. Women who had been rescued from brothels and formed their own survivors’ collective or were staying at shelters shared space with sex workers who were organising for their rights. Academics struggled to find a language that people with no formal education would be able to understand. The discussions made it clear to me that intersectional conversations, however difficult, are the only way to move forward with social justice work. I also learnt that the rights of sex worker and rights of trafficked persons are not mutually exclusive.

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