| Pitesti, Romania (NGO Reaching Out)
Beneficiaries:
25-30 young women aged 13-22, repatriated to Romania
following their rescue from human trafficking and forced
prostitution.
Reaching Out is a unique project providing safe housing,
counseling, life skills education, vocational training,
and reintegration assistance to young Romanian women
who have been forced into prostitution. The program
assists victims of sexual trafficking to overcome their
trauma and reintegrate into society. Ranging in age
from 13-22 years, the young women targeted by the program
may be runaways from institutions or homes in which
they faced intolerable sexual and physical abuse. They
are always impoverished and uneducated. Without skills
or means of support, naïve young girls are particularly
vulnerable to promises of "help" and "jobs,"
making them unwitting and easy prey of international
traffickers. Although the sexual and economic exploitation
of young women is a growing and extremely alarming problem
in Eastern Europe, Reaching Out is the only long-term
shelter in Romania dedicated to helping the victims.
Repatriated from places like Serbia, Macedonia, and
Bosnia, the girls benefit from counseling that enables
them to work through their trauma, slowly rebuilding
their self-esteem and confidence. Laying a foundation
of life skills, the staff gradually strengthens their
capacity to help themselves. As the young women take
small steps toward self-sufficiency, they are encouraged
to serve as mentors to other young girls who enter the
program.
The Reaching Out program has generated international
interest and support. Since 2001, the U. S. Agency for
International Development has awarded The LIFT Foundation
two grants to help strengthen Reaching Out’s impact.
National standards have been developed and an educational
campaign has reached thousands of girls at risk.
In 2003, Reaching Out completed construction of a new
shelter that includes an on-site workshop in tailoring.
The girls are now earning a small wage while they learn
vocational skills that will create future economic opportunity.
This small business is Reaching Out’s first step
toward financial sustainability and may serve as a model
for other programs.
LIFT funding covers:
100 % of services, including salaries, food, clothing,
rent, etc.
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