A young girl from Talsi loses her apartment she took a loan for and desperate as she is she agrees to sham marriage with a promised to receive 1500 euro for the marriage and 150 euro more per each consecutive month. However, as soon as she arrives at the respective country she is enslaved and forced to provide sexual services. Whereas Vitalijs falls for an advertisement of a job at an orange plantation in France for 8 euros an hour. But instead his passport is taken away from him and he is enslaved and living on bread and oranges.
Horror of the trailer
These are only some of the situations based on real life experience played out by participants of the forum theatre – all people present at the event. Instructor Reinis Gravitis (Reinis Grāvītis) explains that it is a method of informal education that creates safe environment to play out various instances of human trafficking and correct the mistakes made right away. Which helps learning the right behaviour model as well as recognizing wrong, unsafe and even illegal conduct.
The informative trailer that event organizers bring with them is also full of various objects and impressions. It shows things such as a shabby mattress, wedding gowns hanging next to it, a primitive sink, scanty food, a map of roads of human trafficking winding like a red thread, photos of faces worn out by violence and drugs as well as a cut “bloody” mannequin warning of the threat of organ removal.
“I had an impression about human trafficking but it does not look so horrific on TV. I am shocked that people get into those kinds of situations. I believe that it is an issue of today`s society because [people] especially young girls are enslaved very often,” says Natalija Sirotkina (Natālja Sirotkina) participating at the event.
Trade on unfulfilled needs
Society “Shelter “Safe House”” that helps victims of human trafficking informs that the current form of slavery is an international issue that involves almost all countries around the world through receiving or sending the people sold. Women and girls are mostly used for forced labour and sexual exploitation by force, threats, fraud or under duress.
Recruiters who normally expand their operation by trying to embrace the widest possible circle of the potential victims justify it with basic human needs: daily bread, safety, belonging, respect. Therefore, the offer, which includes satisfaction of such needs, becomes so important that the assessment of risks is no longer possible.
Forum theatre classes were held in February in Madona and Olaine and on April 8 they will take place in Saldus Municipality at Ciecere Elementary Boarding School.
This activity was organized under the project "Society’s “Shelter “Safe House”” Action Support Programme to Reduce Human Trafficking in Latvia" financed by by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway. The programme NGO Fund ir financed by the EEA Financial Mechanism and Latvian government. Find out more about the EEA Financial Mechanism programme NGO Fund here. Website of the Society Integration Foundation: http://www.sif.lv Website of the EEA Financial Mechanism in Latvia: http://www.eeagrants.lv Official website of the EEA Financial Mechanism: http://www.eeagrants.org. Responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the society “Shelter “Safe House””.
