TAMPEP 6 Fproject of the Respective Country
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COUNTRY PRESENTATIONS ollowing are the national presentations of all 21 member organizations. Each summarizes the results of the TAMPEP 6 Fproject of the respective country. Organization profile and remits Each presentation starts with a description of the profile and remits of the partner organization, depicting the core business and relevant background information. Contact details can be found at the very top of each document. Overview current national context Second is a national overview of the current political and legal context. Relevant factors such as changes in prostitution policy and identification of key barriers for intervention are discussed in this part of the assessment work. Assessment of the prostitution scene The results of the mapping activities and additional research are combined to form the assessment of the prostitution scene. This part of text indicates new trends and gives a short analysis of the phenomenon on a country level. National capacity for policy and strategy development This describes the setting up and maintaining of national platforms of service providers and policy makers, the structure, role and effects of national platforms, seminars and training programs that were carried out in the last two years Evaluation of the CD-Rom and other TAMPEP material A summary of the evaluation of the CD-Rom and other TAMPEP material includes the dissemination campaign, evaluation by implementers of the material and further needs assessment by the national coordinating centres. Actions with relevance for TAMPEP Here additional activities that the national member organizations participated in or organised themselves are listed. Bilateral field visit A short report of the bilateral field visit, summarizing activities and lessons learned. Integration of Central and Eastern European countries Where relevant TAMPEP members report on extra activities with regard to further integration and collaboration with CEE countries in the TAMPEP Network. Executive summary The most important aspects of the national report are summarized in a few lines. The reports of the four founding members of TAMPEP are more elaborate, in order to give a good picture of the core business of the Network. 36 AUSTRIA LEFÖ Lateinamerikanische Emigrierte Frauen in Österreich Address: Kettenbruckengasse 15/4 1050 Wien Phone: +43 1 58 11 881 Fax: +43 1 58 11 882 E-mail: [email protected] Contact: Maria Cristina Boidi Website: www.lefoe.at Organization profile and remits he presence of migrant women in prostitution in Austria –as well as in other European countries– is an undeniable fact. Also their extreme mobility and their non-recognition concerning access to health prevention measures and health care Tare well known. It is necessary to consider that the internationalisation of prostitution caused important changes within the structures of prostitution in all European countries. The new complexity of prostitution within Europe also brings new challenges for health prevention measures aimed at migrant sexworkers. National Focal Point: street work, cultural mediation & networking The intensification of our continued systematic street work and networking in Vienna, Eisenstadt, Wiener Neustadt, Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Vorarlberg (Bregenz, Dornbirn, Feldkirch) enabled us to further monitor and evaluate the living and working conditions of migrant sexworkers, the developments and their mobility, as well as for the cultural mediators to conduct regular health prevention work. We deepened our networking with organisations in the provinces and developed platforms for our common aims – also with organisations (health/social, migrant, women) not active in the field of prostitution, in order to sensitise them about the situation of migrant sexworkers. Outreach work Street work in Vienna takes place 1-2 per week; visits to the provinces (Eisenstadt, Wiener Neustadt) once a month; outer regions (Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Vorarlberg) twice a year. Activities during these visits include: dissemination of TAMPEP materials, national network building, cultural mediation, involvement of peer educators etcetera. Workshops As a part of our national activities we conducted workshops in Vienna for and with African and Latin American sexworkers (two workshops per group). The focus was mainly around health prevention measures (HIV/AIDS, STIs, contraception, pregnancy etc.), but also on social and legal issues. In co-operation with the organisation CARAVAN (”clearing-site for unaccompanied alien minors”) an additional workshop was organised for young African women. 37 Health, social and legal advice Migrant sex workers continue to visit the Lefö/TAMPEP office for advice on health, social and legal matters. The services are strongly used – among others – by women from Nigeria, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria and Hungary. Within the frame of our cultural mediation activities, the women are accompanied to the municipal health office and/or other HSPs, the abortion clinic, (criminal) police (i.e. registration as sexworker) and a range of social institutions. Lefö/TAMPEP-Austria profile The origin and development of TAMPEP in Austria is closely linked to LEFÖ's insertion in the sphere of migration of Latin American women, as well as in its participation in forums and other representative Austrian areas related to the migration issue, both from the political as well as the legal, social and health perspective. A review of TAMPEP-AUSTRIA's work necessarily leads to the origins of LEFÖ in September 1995. The origine of LEFÖ basically consists in that the initiative arose, continued and became consolidated from the knowledge and experience of the women themselves, whether they were, originally, political exiles or, later, migrant women from various origins. Thus, the issue of women's migration and its effects was (and continues to be) a matter for analysis and elaboration from the perspective of migrant women themselves, rather than from fellow Austrians. However, work has always been carried out by women from both cultural backgrounds. The meeting of two different cultures has been an ongoing process in the association's daily work since its foundation. LEFÖ was a bi-cultural team (at present multicultural) of women, and within this team they are confronted with their own world views and those of others, with racism, prejudice and stereotypes; but they also find productive, complementary counterparts, partial identification, support, solidarity, and compassion. LEFÖ defines itself as a Communication Centre for Latin American women, develops an integral concept of "counselling", "support", and "follow up", organises literacy and German language courses for Latin American women, structures a legal and psychological counselling service, in the mother tongue of the users, for Latin American migrant women, establishes contacts and exchange programs with sister organisations in Austria and in Europe, and disseminates information on the situation of migrant women, which is deteriorating and becoming more dependent with the new immigration rules and laws. Since the beginning of the 90's LEFÖ receives a new wave of migrant women as a result of the neo-liberal policies with their economic structural adjustment measures and the accompanying privatisation of the public sector. LEFÖ begins to work with Latin American sex workers, who in increasing numbers request counselling services or participate in the German language courses (thanks to the recommendation of other women). LEFÖ faces migrant women affected by trafficking in women, either for domestic work (for diplomats, United Nations officers or other types of families), for 38 prostitution or for marriage (as a result of sex tourism or marriage agencies that "sell" women from the so-called Third World). LEFÖ as TAMPEP Partner Late in 1995, TAMPEP invited LEFÖ to be the fourth partner of the project. The participation in TAMPEP meant an important qualitative change in the work with migrant prostitutes in the following aspects: The re-thinking of LEFÖ's Latin American workers as cultural mediators, according to TAMPEP's methodology and the significance of cultural mediation. The systematisation of the experience and the knowledge accumulated as part of the research about the situation and development of the prostitution of migrants in Austria in the last decade. The priority of prevention work in HIV/AIDS, in the framework of the process already developed, in counselling services as well as in workshops and in German language courses. The study and analysis of the material edited by TAMPEP up to that moment, for its adequate use in prevention work. The importance of street work. Database collection about the prostitution areas in Vienna, in order to design a street work plan, prioritising places where Latin American women work. The assessment of the contact with Latin American prostitutes, oriented to the election and training of "peer educators", according to TAMPEP methodology. The reconsideration of the importance of working together with community Health Offices, in order to achieve an efficient prevention work. The process of learning, discussion, and exchange of the working experience with TAMPEP partners in the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. Awareness on the importance of the European dimension related to the prostitution of migrants. Wider working perspectives. Significance of European work for the analysis, criticism, and elaboration of the work, methodology, and perspectives. Overview current national