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International Organization for Migration
© IOM

GENEVA (AFP) - The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM), working alongside local groups in a host of countries, has stepped up attempts to stem the flow of people trafficked into prostitution or other forced labour -- approximately 150,000 a year from Eastern Europe alone.

The odds appear stacked against aid groups -- the IOM has been able to help just 9,000 victims since 1999 -- but they are constantly reinventing their tactics.

"We have to work all the different angles at the same time," said Richard Danziger, head of the IOM's counter trafficking service.

"We have to get away from constantly playing catchup to being a step ahead of the traffickers."

Young women in former communist nations, confronted by grinding poverty and social breakdown, are all too readily duped by the traffickers.

The organisation has spurred hotlines in countries such as Moldova and Ukraine to help trafficking victims -- and potential victims.

It is also behind lines in countries where the gangs' victims end up, such as Turkey. Similar lines exist in Western Europe.

The IOM trains people from local charities who work the phones in often shoestring operations, and brings together hotline staff from different countries to share their experiences.

It advises staff how to cope with anything from prank calls to outright threats from the traffickers.

"Security is a major issue when you're working in this field," said Danziger, noting that one counsellor in Macedonia has had to move three times.

It can cost 50,000 dollars a year to run a hotline, and the IOM also drums up finance from donor governments.

Hotlines are part of attempts to show potential victims how to decode the all-too-enticing small ads which offer jobs abroad.

"A man told my girlfriend that he could find us work in Turkey as waitresses and we would be able to make good money," said a 23-year-old Ukrainian unemployed single mother.

"The man arranged our travel to Turkey. We were met by a Turkish man at Istanbul airport."

"He said because of our travel expenses, we were in debt and had to work as prostitutes to pay it off. We refused but he said we had no alternative."

The woman, whose testimony is among others collected by the IOM, was freed after contacting a friend, who managed to call a hotline in Moldova which in turn directed him to its Turkish counterpart -- leading to a raid by Turkish police.

Ten Ukrainian women were freed in Turkey earlier this month, after years of prostitution, torture and imprisonment in a basement, thanks to a tip-off to the country's "157" hotline from one who used a mobile phone belonging to a client.

Launched in May, the hotline is staffed by Russian, Romanian and Turkish speakers.

Turkish customs officials and aid workers hand out leaflets at the border promoting the hotline, focusing in particular on young women who fit the profile of a trafficking victim.

The focus of hotlines isn't gangbusting, Danziger said: "The central concern is always the well-being of the victim."

While the IOM is always pleased when victims are ready to testify in court, it walks a fine line.

Hotline staff are barred from passing on information to authorities without a victim's permission, except if they learn of an immediate threat to someone's life.

Aid groups are deeply aware of the risks for women who come forward, whether violence by the traffickers, deportation home, or stigma in their communities when they return.

Danziger said that rather than preaching to women who are desperate to improve their lives, hotline staff explain how to minimise the dangers -- as basic as never handing over your passport and making sure your family knows where you are going.

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