United Kingdom: slaves freed” “

According to the UK Home Ministry, at least 1500 girls, most of them in their lower teens, have been smuggled into the UK over the last year to feed the prostitution racket. Great Britain is often used as a transit country for women coming from Africa and directed towards other European countries, lured by the promise of a better life by those who then force them into prostitution and become their protectors. To curb this situation, the penalties for their exploiters have been made stiffer, and in some cities, Manchester for example, a campaign has been launched to identify and fine the customers who kerb-crawl or have sex with prostitutes by the roadside. In Birmingham, on the contrary, the legalization of prostitution has been proposed: some MPs have suggested the setting up of “safety zones” or “tolerance zones” to which prostitutes should be confined to keep them under control. Yet in the same city there are also those who are combating prostitution and trying to help women to get out of the racket. In particular there’s a group of Catholic nuns that helps girls to find another kind of work and to recover their own dignity. And this miracle has often been repeated over the last fifteen years. A silent work. The project, covered by maximum reserve – those involved in it almost always refuse to speak with journalists – is called “Anawin” and is based in Birmingham, in Edgbaston, one of the areas most frequented by prostitutes. Some premises have been furnished for group meetings, counselling, psychotherapy, and others in which computer and sewing courses are organized. A computer is available for those who want to write a “curriculum vitae”. The project is being promoted by four Catholic sisters of the Order “Our Sisters of Charity”, assisted by ten volunteers and some part-time staff. The aim is to find a source of employment for girls who have never had anyone else as an employer other than a protector. Relations of trust. Over the last fifteen years the “sisters of charity” have patrolled the streets by car, two by two, and offer help to prostitutes. “It’s the most important part of the job”, explains Ruth, a civil judge who sits on the management committee of the “Anawin project”. “It’s the phase we call ‘outreach work’, the attempt to approach women”. “The sisters are by now well-known in the area after all these years, and are much liked by the prostitutes. They know they are being approached by those who have their true interests at heart, they trust them, and are glad to talk with them – explains Ruth – but building up a relation of trust takes weeks, even months”. “In the sisters – continues the judge – the prostitutes see someone to whom they can talk about their problems, someone they can confide in and discuss the possibility of abandoning the street. Most of these women take drugs, heroin or crack, and this makes it even more difficult to get them out of the racket. It’s essential that, before beginning their social and professional reinsertion, they disintoxicate themselves, because it’s very difficult to work with them if they continue to take drugs”. Reconstructing a life is difficult. The “Anawin” project also comprises a large kindergarten because almost all the women involved have children, often of infant age. “In Great Britain the State provides housing and a monthly allowance for young mothers which is sufficient to survive on, but sometimes women relapse in the temptation to have more money and return to prostitution”, explains Ruth. “Nonetheless, the sisters often succeed in rehabilitating these girls”. Another problem, adds the judge, is linked to the fact that “it’s very difficult for a former prostitute to find a job. Almost always these women have a criminal record and no one wants to hire them. In Great Britain, moreover, the law is very severe. Anyone who has committed a crime of a sexual nature cannot work with children, even if thirty years have elapsed since the crime was committed. Such severity does not help our work”.