European Network of Migrant Women
COALESCE
We are very pleased to start a new project COALESCE, beginning January 2021, funded by the AMIF Fund and led by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies OF Cyprus , in partnership with Immigrant Council of Ireland, Caritas and Refugee Council of Cyprus, Solwodi in Germany, Klaipeda Centre of Lithuania, Iroko Onlus of Italy and Marta Centre of Latvia.
The objective of the project is to provide support to the female migrant victims of trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation in Europe by providing gender-specific psycho-social, legal and economic support and assistance to third-country national women victims of sex trafficking, and to develop synergies andcomplementarities in facilitating needs identification, assistance and support, and improve transnational cooperation among front line professionals and practitioners.
The proposal’s aim is to place the voices and authentic opinions of trafficked women at the centre of implementation.
COALESCE SURVIVOR VOICES: IN TIME YOU WILL UNDERSTAND
In the frames of the COALESCE project, and to mark World Antitrafficking Day 2022, we are sharing “In Time You Will Understand” by Armandine Love Saadio, supported by our partner organisation Cyprus Refugee Council within the COALESCE project. Armandine Love Saadio documents the life of a survivor of sexual exploitation and abuse, Rita, immersing the reader in the emotional turmoil of her journey, from child to woman.
In this excerpt from her yet unpublished novel, we watch Rita struggle with being forced to abandon her dreams, which were but an illusion, paid for by Uncle Yves, a deposit on a life of submission. This testimony serves as a preamble to Rita’s life before trafficking: the abandoment of her studies due to a forced marriage, her father’s incestuous acts and grooming, and an abrupt end to her personal dreams and aspirations. These are some of the elements that are common in the lives of sexually exploited women, unknown to the wider public.
