Vienna, Austria - 20 June 2024 - In a powerful move to counter human trafficking and migrant smuggling, the GLO.ACT Women’s Network of Gender Champions hosted a panel discussion on "Promoting Survivor Leadership in the Fight Against Human Trafficking." This virtual event aimed to underscore the importance of engaging survivor leaders in criminal justice responses, national policy-making, and key decision-making processes.
The discussion featured four survivor leaders from diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds, highlighting the crucial role survivor leaders must play in designing innovative and effective solutions to counter human trafficking. Speakers provided concrete examples of steps that can be taken to ensure more meaningful and sustainable survivor leader engagement. The event also aimed to shift the perspective on survivors, recognizing them not just for sharing their personal stories, but as crucial contributors to policy development.
Dr. Ibtisam Aziz, Chairperson of the GLO.ACT Women’s Network, opened the session, followed by Jeevan Kanakkassery, External Relations Officer at UNODC, who introduced the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking. Silke Albert, Leader of the Child Trafficking, Survivor Engagement, and Partnerships Team in UNODC's Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, emphasized, “We must continue our journey and ensure that those affected are not only included but are also empowered to play an active role as partners and allies, having the same voice as all other stakeholders.”
The event was moderated by Emmanuelle Kunigk, GLO.ACT Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement Expert and benefited from the expertise of four distinguished panelists, namely: Anastasia Khmeleva, Member of the Winrock International Survivors Advisory Group, Malaika Oringo, CEO of Footprint to Freedom and Advisory Board Member of GLO.ACT Women’s Network, Victoria Nyanjura, Chair and Board of UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking (UNVTF), as well as Founder of Women in Action for Women (Uganda), and Peter Parker, International Survivor Advocate, as well as Independent Consultant and Research Advisory Board Member at Modern Slavery Core Outcome Set.
Anastasia Khmeleva, reflecting on how to successfully integrate survivor leadership in anti-trafficking efforts noted that, “survivors like me, with specific experiences in the criminal justice process, can contribute by identifying mistakes and oversight in the response of police and other justice actors, a critical step to improving the situation.”
Victoria Nyanjura emphasized the importance of collective action, illustrated by the political mobilization of herself and other survivors through the Ugandan Women Parliamentarians, leading to the unanimous passing of a resolution to support women survivors and their children. She also highlighted the significance of education, affirming that it “enabled me to realize the importance of raising my hand, representing my voice, and the voices of many others who could not speak for themselves at that point.”
Addressing the participants, Malaika Oringo highlighted the barriers that survivor leaders continue to face, one being “the narrative about who is a survivor. We are seen as victims, traumatized people. This is a protective mechanism that, at the same time, hinders inclusion. Most of us have been seen only as stories.” Moving forward, she stated, “In order for us to be inclusive and fight human trafficking, we need to put survivors at the center of every policy, every intervention, and every process.”
Concluding the inspiring discussion, Peter Parker urged the participants to involve every survivor and leave no one behind, especially not young people: “Survivors are the change we need and the niche that is missing.” He also stressed the importance of allocating increased funding to grassroots and community-based organizations, shifting power from north to south, and ensuring accountability for NGOs and CSOs
As the GLO.ACT Women’s Network continues to grow and evolve, this panel discussion represents a significant step in recognizing and integrating the voices of survivors. Each speaker provided tangible recommendations, ranging from ensuring trauma-informed approaches are considered to thinking through what sustainable survivor leader engagement should really look like at the policy level. By championing survivor leadership, the Network not only seeks to empower those with lived experiences but also acknowledges their unique insights and skills to drive meaningful change in the fight against human trafficking. This event represented a pivotal moment in the ongoing effort to ensure that survivors are seen as valuable partners and co-creators in crafting solutions to end trafficking globally. The event was attended by over 55 participants, including Women’s Network Members and UNODC staff.
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The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is implementing the European Union-(EU) funded PROTECT initiative within the framework of GLO.ACT across Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. This initiative also addresses challenges in the broader Central Asia region, including the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, with a primary focus on enhancing the effectiveness of responses to trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM), particularly in relation to criminal justice. Meanwhile, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) is responsible for implementing the PROTECT initiative in Afghanistan (specifically through virtual MRC Afghanistan), Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Their primary objectives include improving gender-sensitive and rights-based migration governance at the national level and establishing Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs).
The project is funded by the European Union.
For more information, please contact:
Aimée Comrie (Ms.), Coordinator, GLO.ACT, Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, UNODC
Email: aimee.comrie@un.org
Golda Myra ROMA (Ms.), Senior Project Manager, ICMPD Silk Routes Region – Budapest Process
Email: Golda.Roma@icmpd.org
