Anastasia Balezdrova
Tuesday is hardly the most appropriate day for sports games, especially in the morning. However, the closed ground at the Olympic complex in Athens was filled with hundreds of enthusiastic fans early in the morning.
The match was not organized for sports purposes. It was part of a campaign called "Break the chain" the aim of which is to inform the public on human trafficking. Veterans and current members of the Greek national team, foreign players in Greek teams, stars of NBA, actors and singers caused a furore in the stands with their masterly and not so professional performances. During the breaks, the girls' dance group to the organization The NO Project entertained their classmates.
"We are taking part with Ms. Judy Boyle, the organizer of The NO Project. She came to our school to make a presentation. She told us that each of us could help spread the idea through our hobby. For example, I like drawing and I helped by drawing one of the posters. Now, we are at one of the sporting events. There is a group of dancers. The aim is to inform young people about the problem of human trafficking.
The first time Ms. Boyle came to school and told us about the traffic, we were shocked and moved. She told us that we could participate in the campaign in any way and even take our own initiatives," said Ariadne, who was wearing a shirt of the organization and she is its ambassador.
"When I learned what happens to the victims, I was really shocked because I had no idea that this has been happening. The network dealing with human trafficking is widely spread and if we ignore this, it will continue to grow. We must inform as many people as possible about it in order to stop it," added Alexandra.
According to a recent report by the United Nations, Greece is among the countries in which the problem of trafficking victims of sexual harassment is very serious. They are mostly women from Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Africa. Often, traffickers keep them locked in apartments, where they bring their clients. In other cases, they take the personal documents of the victims or simply threaten their lives or the lives of their relatives to force them into prostitution. Mental abuse often goes along with physical violence and torture.
"History books state that slavery ended in 1833 and that it no longer exists. Like many of my classmates, I knew almost nothing about what is happening today and how serious this problem is. So, I take part in various events organized by The NO Project like workshops in schools, press conferences and others. I think this is the best possible way for spreading the idea among young people - through presentations and social media," said Nikol Helmi.
The 17-year-old girl believes that another important step is informing the girls in the countries of origin. "We cannot change things overnight. We must act consistently - to solve the problem in Greece and then, to help other countries too. It is an important link in the chain of human trafficking because many girls from Eastern Europe come here in search of a better life. They lie to them that they will find jobs here and when the girls arrive, they take their personal documents and treat them as slaves. What happens to them is very dangerous and makes things worse. And it happens everywhere - in the block where I live, in the block where you live. We must prevent this and I think it is very important that today's children, who are the future of the world, take the message and spread it worldwide. "
Scouts Elsa and Christina also help the organization. "We are scouts and cooperate with the Project, as we are preparing a lecture on human trafficking. It will be presented to the Scout meeting in Patras in two weeks. About 700 scouts from across the country will attend it and we will be able to call on more young people," said Elsa and Christina.
The founder of The NO Project organization defines it as an independent organization against modern slavery. "Our goal is to draw the attention of young people through music, videos, films, art, dances like hip hop, education and social media. The organization has been operating for about a year and a half, but I personally have been dealing with this problem for ten years now," said the Project founder Judy Boyle. All this time, she has been cooperating with social workers, offices fighting organized crime and other similar institutions and she is still doing it.
"I am not a supporter of the sensational style of presentation of offences related to trafficking. I believe in the power of training and that is why we cooperate with educational institutions where we organize programmes to fight trafficking. If I work with 100 teachers, this means that I inform at least 100,000 students about this problem. Until people learn to detect the crime of human trafficking, we can do almost nothing about it. Informing the public is the first step in this fight."
One of the latest ideas of the organization is to organize seminars in Bulgaria. Many victims of trafficking in women come into Greece from Bulgaria. "One of our young ambassadors organized a major presentation not long ago. Videos and other materials from the campaign were shown. At the end, the father of one of my female students said that he was working at a financial institution in Bulgaria and would like to do this there. He said he would contact the Bulgarian Ministry of Education to organize a campaign next year," said Judy Boyle.
At the end, she stressed that without a change in people's attitude to the problem it cannot be resolved. I.e. while there is demand, the chain cannot be broken. "In the first place, it is not possible when we learn about such a case to simply wave a hand and say, "Well, now..." 16-year-olds understand that we cannot accept trafficking of people as something that just exists. Society must understand that it is about rape making someone rich. The second is the stereotype that "men are men." Children say it is like shrugging your shoulders and saying, "Well, thieves are thieves," when your car is stolen. I know a father of two children, who often travels abroad for a few days. I heard him say, "Cambodia? It is great there. For 100 euro, you can have a different child each night." Of course, I am not saying that this is happening constantly. Sometimes I think that I am going too far and then, I met with a researcher as Mimi Chakarova who has been making great efforts on this issue.
The third stereotype is that the woman does with her body whatever she wants. Yes, I agree with that. But can we talk about choice when they threaten you that if you do not do what you are told, they will harm you or your children. This is not a choice."
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