The STOP team would like to apologize for our long silence:  we were extremely busy building up new contacts, exploring ways and means to raise funds. From now on, we will keep you posted as events transpire and the news warrants.

Flash:

In November 2008, we were pleased to let you know that Cyprus had abolished the artiste visa, a loophole exploited for trafficking. Unfortunately we celebrated too soon. As we examined the results after the abolition of the artiste visa, it became apparent that it had only been window dressing: girls are still coming in through other means. We are urging the government of Cyprus to make drastic changes, especially to meet its obligations as a member of the EU. News:

Célhia de Lavarène was in France to participate in the first Day to Fight Human Trafficking held in Paris on March 4th, organized by the NGO G.I.P.F.  John O’Reilly and Didier Duret, two police officers who are former members of STOP-Bosnia attended the conference and talked about their experience in the field helping to rescue victims of trafficking.

Rama Yade, the French Secretary of State for Human Rights, who has long supported our cause, was unable to attend the conference, but she delegated her cabinet chief, Jean-Bernard Bolvin to represent her. Madame de Lavarène and Jean-Bernard Bolvin met a few days later at the Quai d’Orsay, to discuss the opening of our first center, which should take place at the end of 2009. During her Paris tour, Célhia had the opportunity to meet with a lot of people who are interested in helping STOP.

Anna Balkan, a young jewelry designer, has joined our cause and created a special necklace. The profit from sales of this necklace will go to STOP.  Ms Balkan is now calling upon the fashion community to join the campaign: “The fashion community has stepped in to show that we can bring our creative talents and our interpretation of the issue to our designs.”  The necklace Anna designed is called the Circles of Life, and is intended to represent the transformation victims of human trafficking go through: a hammered circle at the top represents lost innocence and self worth. A satin finish circle is next and represents a beginning of the transformation for these girls, the start of the road to recovery. The last circle is shiny and represents regeneration and the rediscovery of both inner and outer beauty.  The necklace should be purchased online pretty soon.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 2:56 pm and is filed under March 2009 News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.