PART of its continued commitment to promote women and children’s rights while combating sexual exploitation in all its forms, the Austrian Embassy is launching this October a year-long initiative in partnership with the nongovernment organization Voice of the Free (VF), in accordance with the United Nations 2021 theme: ‘‘Victims’ Voices Lead the Way.’’
The embassy’s campaign: “We Stand As One: Campaign Against Human Trafficking,” aims to raise public awareness for human trafficking and sexual exploitation, as well as the plight of victims through a series of events that focus on survivors and target groups to reduce vulnerabilities, prevent future crimes and enhance cooperation between state and nonstate actors at all levels toward a more victim-centered and effective approach.
Planned events include interactive webinars, expert seminars and panel discussions, as well as film screenings and creative workshops in partnership with stakeholders in the education sector, civil-society organizations in Austria and the Philippines, tourism, media, and relevant players.
“[The pandemic] and its socioeconomic impact have exacerbated the existing stark inequalities of children, young girls and women in many parts of the world, and amplified their risk to trafficking, sexual exploitation and abuse—especially online—and as they are exposed to the new vulnerabilities of home-based learning,” underscored Ambassador Bita Rasoulian. “This campaign will help…raise awareness for the scope and impact of sexual exploitation and abuse of children in all its forms, [as well as] the need to adequately respond to this growing transnational threat through urgent action at [the] local, regional and global levels.”
One of the highlights of the year-long campaign is the intercultural creative workshop facilitated by Austrian artist Alexandra Fruhstorfer, in collaboration with Filipino artists and Salzburg Global Seminar fellows Ralph Eya and Reymart Cerin. Designed for human-trafficking victims and survivors at the VF and End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes Phils. shelter, the workshop aims to empower survivors by allowing them to find their voices and lead the fight versus human trafficking via creative expression.
According to the embassy, the campaign also forms part of the numerous activities organized in 2021 to mark 75 years of bilateral ties between Austria and the Philippines, as well as the close fraternal bonds between their two peoples.