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Monday, November 26, 2007

Trafficking in Persons Film Series Introduction:
Frontline: Sex Slaves

Remarks by Ambassador Schlicher at the American Center, Nicosia

Welcome. Thank you for coming out tonight to support the first in a series of films spotlighting the global problem of trafficking in persons.

Human trafficking is the criminal acquisition of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them. It is a crime against humanity.

And it is truly a global problem, amounting to a €7.7 billion euro industry worldwide.

Trafficking in Persons is a serious problem here in Cyprus, which serves as a destination country for women “brought” here, primarily from Eastern European countries, for purposes of exploitation in the commercial sex industry.

The United States is very clear about where we stand: we want to work together with Cyprus and the international community in a collaborative fashion to put an end to this problem.

Indeed, we recognize that there has been some real progress on combating Trafficking in Persons in Cyprus, and we applaud that. However, trafficking does remain a problem both here and abroad, and certainly more can be done to stop it.

Tonight, we are showing the documentary Frontline: Sex Slaves. We have decided to start with this film, as it tells an all too common story. Thousands of women each year are duped into working in the sex industry. Lured by traffickers who prey on their dreams of employment abroad, many of the women are deceived or kidnapped, and then “exported” to other countries where they may be sold to pimps, locked in brothels, drugged, terrorized and raped.

Too often we hear the refrain that the women we see working in the sex industry “knew what they were getting into.” Sometimes this is true. However, often it is not. But really, the question is moot. As soon as a woman is forced or coerced into doing something against her will, as soon as she is not free to leave or change her mind, it is a crime.

Tonight, for example, you will see the story of twenty-one year old Katia, who left home with the belief that she was going on a trip to buy goods in Turkey. Instead, she was kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery for $1,000 by the man who agreed to take her there.

For the past couple of years, our Embassy has been supporting a range of anti-trafficking initiatives. We are helping Cyprus’ civil society strengthen its skills and capacity to combat trafficking. For example, through our small grants program, we are funding an advocacy campaign, research and training. Tonight’s event is part of an aggressive outreach program that aims to raise awareness of the trafficking problem.

Our intention with this film series is to provide a forum for sharing information and making connections so that we are all better “equipped” to tackle this global blight.

After the screening, you will hear from our Embassy’s Bicommunal Coordinator, Dr. Juliette Dickstein, who will speak about our Embassy initiatives, and from Nicoletta Charalambidou from KISA and Mine Yucel from Prologue, who will discuss the work they are doing and lead a discussion on the wider trafficking problem that exists in Cyprus.

It is our hope that these films will bring about a greater understanding of the problem of Trafficking in Persons, and that they will encourage us to continue our collaborative efforts to end this egregious scourge.

Thank you.