Project: a second chance for deported women

● Localisation: Benin City and Lagos (COSUDOW offices) ​ ​ ● Duration: 3 years

● Main Partners: ○ La Naptip ( Abuja, Lagos, Benin, Uyo, Enugu, Kano, Sokoto, Maiduguri e Markudi ) take in charge the victims when they arrived, offer them a first shelter and try to have them testify against their traffickers. However they shelter them for only 2 to 6 weeks. ○ Caritas Nigeria, Abuja ○ COSUDOW in Benin city and Lagos (shelter capacity of 30 women) ● Other partners: ○ Idia Renaissance, Benin City ○ Women’s Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON), Lagos ○ Women Aid Collective (WACOL), Abuja, Enugu, Katsina, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Anambra, Ebonyi e Abia States they are present across the country offer shelter and professional training ○ WOTCLEF (Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation), Abuja ● Funding: ○ The IOM (international organization of migration) and the AMIF (asylum, migration and Integration Fund) ● Context:

Most women deported to Nigeria end up being re-trafficked again. Indeed most of them aren’t recognised as victims of sex trafficking and thus are deprived of any assistance from european countries. In addition to the financial difficulties and trauma these women also can’t return home because they fear for their life (they often didn’t pay off their debt toward their traffickers) and they fear rejection from her families or communities. Indeed some families have spend a lot of money to send them abroad knowing they will prostitute. Yet social linkage and family support is the key to both professional and mental rehabilitation.

Fortunately there are lot of local NGOS and an active governmental agencies that try to help those women. However they still can’t afford a long term and complet assistance to these women because they are lacking funds , human resources and housing.

● overall goal:

Help Nigerian women to be reintegrated into Nigerian society and prevent them from re-entering into sex trafficking again by reinforcing the cooperation between existing NGOs and governmental agencies

● Target: ​ Women who have suffered from human trafficking and have been deported, particularly those who haven’t been granted the status of “sex trafficking victims” and thus are deprived of any assistance

● Policy:

We strongly believe that a long term follow-up is the key to rehabilitation and such a goal can be achieve through cooperation and dialogue between local NGO across Nigeria and governmental agencies.

It’s also very important for us to build a strong relation with the beneficiary, we want them to take back control of their lives, thence we can’t state in advance how the fund for professional rehabilitation will be use because it entirely depends on the beneficiary personal preferences (scholarship, professional training,...)

● specific objectives:

○ create a network of local NGO across Nigeria which can complement each over’s action to offer a comprehensive and long term assistance ○ make sure these women are safe and don’t suffer from trauma ○ If possible, reunite them with their family and communities ○ enhance solidarity between these women ○ help their professional rehabilitation

Actions:

● Collaboration ○ organize round tables, seminar, conventions, etc with local NGO across Nigeria on how to fight re-trafficking ○ offering the service of our psychologist to other local NGO ○ facilitate transportation from one structure to another for the women ● Security ○ pick up girls at the airports or at least make sure they heard about us when they arrived ○ advocate for more transparency from nigerian and italian immigration service so the NGO and Naptip would be informed of new arrival ○ legal assistance to ask for police protection ○ systematically reporting cases of corruption ○ creation of an hotline ○ guarantee a place to remain if the return in the family is too dangerous ● Awareness: ○ public meeting with local officials and other community leader to explain that these girls are the true victims prevent stigmatization ○ creation of posters ● developing a system of mentoring between the women helped ● contact with the families through our psychologist ● professional training according to the need of the women helped ● short training on how to run a business (bookkeeping, business plan,...) ● Scholarship ● micro-landing

Need:

● a psychologist and a social worker or someone capable of counseling them in their professional project ● equipment for the trainings ● budget for transportation

Expected results:

● keep contact with the women during all the length of the project ● most of them should have a stable place to stay either in their families or by their own ● they should have an activity, even irregular, that enable them to meet their need and those of her families