Media Room - News at March, 2006

Milliyet Newspaper - March 23, 2006

Şükran PAKKAN - Istanbul

    200 women rescued

    The 157 helpline, established to rescue women forced into prostitution in Turkey, has received almost a thousand calls within the first 10 months. Three quarters of the callers have been the Turkish men asking for help to rescue the women from prostitution.

    The 157 helpline established by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with the funding of the US government has received nearly a thousand calls within the first 10 months. The counter-trafficking helpline operates to rescue women forced into prostitution.

    Within the campaign "Have you seen my mother?", 200 women received help and 81 of these women were returned to their countries. Turkish men having sex with these women in exchange for money comprised three quarters of the people calling the helpline.

    225 applications in 3 months

    According to the information from the IOM, 735 calls have been made to the helpline in the first six months and 225 calls have been made since the New Year. While the majority of the calls came from the provinces of İstanbul, Antalya and Ankara, the calls about the Moldovan women have increased in the recent months.

    Three quarters of the people calling the helpline about human trafficking have been the clients of the women forced into prostitution.

    According to IOM's telephone records, the clients generally say the following when they make a call: "The woman who is with me right now does not have access to any communication device. She claims that she is being forced into prostitution and asks for my help. They have taken away her passport and she is not allowed to quit this work. She doesn't even know the address of this place."

    Raid to the address

    After the call, the operators trained for emergency situations take the address from the men and inform the police or the gendarmerie in the region for a raid to the address.

    If the place is abandoned at the time, the security forces keep the area under surveillance for at least a month and the women are rescued when they are brought back.

    After their statements are taken by the police, the women are placed into the IOM shelter houses in İstanbul and Ankara. Up until today, 183 women have received rehabilitation services at the shelter house in İstanbul and 31 in the shelter house in Ankara. Due to their request, 81 of these women have been returned to their countries. Most of the women who are staying at the shelter houses suffer from character and sleep disorders as well as stress.

    One out of every three women is a mother

    IOM's report "2005: Turkey, Human Trafficking and Trends" have shown the frightening facts on human trafficking. It was stated in the report that one of every three victims of human trafficking is a mother, and that the illegal money earned through human trafficking exceeds 1 billion dollars a year. It was emphasized in the report that last year, 469 people were identified as victims of human trafficking but this figure comprised only ten percent of the actual number of victims.

    60 percent of the women come from Moldova and Ukraine. It was also found out that the women aged between 19 and 25 were not necessarily "university graduates" as commonly believed. In fact, more than half of the women have only received secondary education at most. The women are deceived by the people they know. While they earn 2 dollars a month in their countries, they are coming to Turkey with the hope of earning at least 300 dollars a month. 94 percent of these women are forced into prostitution. Most of the victims are identified in İstanbul, Antalya and Ankara.

    She jumped out of the window

    Moldovan E. is one of the victims rescued by the helpline. She came to Turkey when she was 19 and started to work in a shop. After a while, she went back to her country to visit her mother but she lost her job to someone else. She was then invited to Antalya by two of her friends in İstanbul. In Antalya, she was taken to the house of two men who E. thought were the boyfriends of her friends. But her friends left her alone in the house with the men who took away E.'s passport. Being forced into prostitution for a couple of months, E. attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of the window at the fifth floor. IOM brought her mother from Moldova and sent E. back to her home country with an ambulance-airplane. E. was only able to walk with crutches. The photograph was taken a couple hours before she left Turkey.

    LOOKING FOR A SPONSOR

    IOM's 700,000-dollar project, aiming to raise public awareness on the impact of human trafficking on children and families, is funded by the US government and supported by the Turkish government. An important portion of the support is also coming from Italian and Swedish governments. However, the funding for the campaign is coming to an end in the oncoming months. So IOM's efforts to seek support for the program are continuing. There are also ongoing meetings with the private and public institutions on this matter.

Sabah Newspaper - March 13, 2006

Sinan AYGÜN - Sabah Newspaper

    Turkey has become the base for modern-day slaves

    With the dissolution of the Soviet Bloc, our neighbors have gone into poverty and chaos. The wage of a government officer dropped down to $20-30 per month. People were craving to earn some money in desperation but they couldn't find any job in their countries. Being aware of this situation, the human traffickers have started to act.

    The women in these countries have been brought to Turkey with the promise of a job. But most of them have been sold as sex slaves. They suffered hopelessness and desperation.

    Now, there is a big fight to rescue these modern-day slaves from this shame of humanity.

    IOM is the main address for this combat. We have met with Marielle Sander-Lindstrom, IOM's Chief of Mission. The statistics she provided are alarming. The number of women brought to Turkey and officially identified as victims of trafficking is 469.

    But Lindstrom told us that this figure represents only 10 percent of the overall victims.

    With the statistics obtained from the victims, they have prepared the following chart:

    The average price per client: $150

    The number of customers per day: 15

    Daily revenue: $2,250

    Annual revenue (340 days): $765,000

    Total: 765,000 x 469 = $360 million

    Lindstrom adds:

    "When we multiply $360 million with 4690, we reach $3,6 billion."

    This is an incredible number. This is the money earned solely from prostituting foreign women. But there are also the hotel fees, meals, entertainment, taxis, etc. If we add these costs as well, then the amount of money related to prostitution reaches an alarming level. Lindstrom underlines that Turkey is the focal point for this sector. That is why they are giving a special emphasis to their activities in Turkey.

    They have established the "157 Helpline" and they are fighting intensely to rescue the women forced into prostitution. So we should all provide the support we can.