[Brussels, 26 September 2012] EWL Communications & Media Officer, Leanda Barrington-Leach, on Monday addressed a group of journalists invited to Brussels by the European Commission and the European Journalism Centre to investigate the realities of human trafficking in Europe and the EU policies in place to tackle this phenomenon. Following interventions by Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, Myria Vassiliadou, and a variety of EU officials, the EWL presented the NGO perspective on human trafficking, highlighting in particular the gender dimension and inescapable link to prostitution.
The EWL was pleased to take part in the lively discussion which followed the panel presentations of the EWL and two fellow NGOs (Samilia Foundation and Pag-Asa), demonstrating the strong interest of journalists in this topic, and appreciation of the importance of a gender-sensitive analysis and of increasing the focus on the other actors in the system of prostitution besides the exploited women.
