Media Room - News at October, 2007

Hürriyet Newspaper - October 29, 2007

Eray EROLLU/Istanbul - Hürriyet

    157 Helpline has rescued 134 women from forced prostitution

    The 157 Helpline passport inserts have been distributed at İstanbul Atatürk Airport. 157 Helpline was established on 23 May 2005 by International Organization for Migration(IOM) in order to rescue the women that we were forced to prostution and combat human trafficking. Small 157 Helpline brochures in Russian,Romenian, English and Turkish have been distributed especially during the arrival hours of the planes coming from Old Eastern Bloc countries.

    The Media Coordinator of IOM Tukey Mission, Selin Arslan, emphasized that the project is funded by US and in the first year, 2005, 52 victims of trafficking,56 victims of trafficking and in 2007, till this month, 26 victims of trafficking were rescued through the 157 Helpline. The women are rescued after they call 157 Helpline through the gendarmerie or police, interviewed with the direct assistance in IOM and allocated into the shelters. Arslan mentioned that there are two shelters in Turkey. One of them is in Ankara, the building was allocated by Ankara Municipality and is managed by Women Solidarity Foundation(WSF). Other shelter is managed by Human Resources Development Foundation(HRDF) in İstanbul. The majority of the victims of trafficking in the shelters have serious traumas. The shelters are provided pyschological, medical, social and legal assistance to the victims of trafficking. In addition to this, if the trafficked person requests, the shelters provide them vocational training opportunities and support them with small credits to start their owm business. In that situation, IOM direct assistances monitor them properly.

    Selin Arslan mentioned that the trafficked persons that return their home countries don’t tell anyone what they lived in order to avoid people’s prejudice. This situation helps traffickers to easily continue their business.