A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Ewa Sobczynska and TAMPEP

Ewa Sobczynska originally comes from Poland. She is currently a first year student in a Master’s program at Georgetown University Center’s for German and European Studies and plans to concentrate on the human rights regime in the European Union along with earning a Certificate in Refugees & Humanitarian Emergencies. Before arriving at Georgetown, Ewa was studying at Adelphi University, NY where is earned her BA in International Studies with concentration in Political Science and French, and at Adam Mickiwicz University in Poland. Ewa speaks Polish, English, German, French and Spanish. This summer, Ewa interned with TAMPEP in Turin, Italy working on issues of women’s trafficking.

TAMPEP is an Italian grassroots NGO committed to protecting the human and civil rights of migrant sex workers and to assisting women and minors who are victims of human trafficking. On the national level, utilizing cultural mediators and other local groups, TAMPEP works with sex workers and trafficked women to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission, raise awareness, and provide free legal and health services. On the international level, TAMPEP works closely with other NGOs to combat human trafficking. TAMPEP also runs programs such as ALNIMA and Turnaround. ALNIMA seeks to improve the lives of foreign prostitutes once they have been deported back to Nigeria, Morocco or Albania; to identify women who might be at risk from trafficking, because of their age or family circumstances; and to provide micro-credit training. Turnaround seeks to create bridges between civil society in Nigeria and in Italy so that organizations in both countries can cooperate to stop the trafficking of women and girls from Nigeria to Italy. Specifically, the project aims to warn Nigerian women of the risks they face before they are tricked into prostitution.

Children Ewa encountered on the street in Torino.

Ewa’s projects for TAMPEP this summer focused on strengthening two aspects of the organization. The first aspect was international cooperation and international programs. The second was the social work performed by TAMPEP in Turin and its environs.

She contributed to the preparation of a report on the ALNIMA program for the European Commission, which funded the project. A large portion of her time was also committed to drafting a project proposal for ALNIMA2, a program inspired by the successes of ALNIMA. In addition to drafting the proposal, Ewa was asked to present the proposal to potential donors. The research needed to identify possible funding sources provided Ewa with the opportunity to learn about various micro-credit organizations active in Nigeria.

Assisting with the social work, which included accompanying prostitutes to health clinics and educating at-risk groups about HIV/AIDS prevention techniques, Ewa found her face-to-face encounters with migrant sex workers to be very powerful experiences.

During the summer, this year’s intern, Ewa, posted weekly reports online in the form of blogs. Visit her blog to read more about her thoughts and experiences, including contact with a determined young Nigerian woman named Sara who struggled to overcome incredible odds after she was first trafficked to Italy, as well as Ewa’s reflections on the effects of the Italian immigration system on the ability of migrants to integrate.

• Ewa Sobczynska's blog