Meet the coalition

United for a world free from sexual exploitation!

Meet the coalition

CAP International’s work is made possible by the collaboration between its members, the Board, and the International Secretariat.

At present CAP international is composed of 35 member organizations. Membership is open to all domestic frontline NGOs working to provide support to prostituted persons and to combat the exploitation of the prostitution of others.

CAP international develops strategic partnerships with existing abolitionist networks, NGOs and broader organizations that support the universal abolition of prostitution.

THEY MAKE THE MOVEMENT

1000 Möjligheter - Sweden

1000 Möjligheter (1000 Opportunities), is a foundation with the goal of an equal society free from violence. They have three fields of expertise; young people in prostitution, dating violence and violence prevention work. The support work with young people in prostitution is mainly focused on a national chat-helpline which provide support and help for young people in prostitution and a therapeutic centre in Stockholm where young people in prostitution can get help, advice and therapy.

1000 Mojligheter also does preventive work with young people in order to change the attitude and norms regarding buying “sexual services”. They also educate professionals on how to support young people in prostitution and lecture on the Equality Model and its impact on the society and on their work.

www.1000mojligheter.se

Apne Aap Women Worldwide - India

Apne Aap Women Worldwide is an Indian organisation working in brothels, red-light districts and caste-ghettoes of formerly nomadic groups trapped in inter- generational prostitution in Bihar, Delhi and West Bengal. Based on the Gandhian principles of Ahimsa (non-violence) and Antyodaya (uplift of the Last) and Ambedkar’s notion of the Anataj – last born, it seeks to link the weakest, most marginalised Last Girl – the Antyajaa – to her basic needs like a safe space, school self-confidence, government issued identification documents and subsidies like low-cost food, housing, health care, legal protection as well as small friendship circles.
Apne Aap (self-empowerment in Hindi), has touched over 20,000 lives in Bihar, Delhi and West Bengal, put 66 traffickers in jail and played a key role in the passage of India’s first anti-trafficking law-Section 377 I.P.C. It was founded 14 years ago by journalist Ruchira Gupta and 22 prostituted women with the dream of a world where no woman could be bought or sold.

http://apneaap.org/

Breaking Free - USA

Breaking Free was established in October 1996 as a non-profit organisation serving women involved in systems of abuse, exploitation, and prostitution/sex trafficking. Founded by Vednita Carter, survivor of sexual exploitation, Breaking Free helps over 500 women a year escape systems of prostitution and sexual exploitation through advocacy, direct services, housing and education. Main offices are located in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a branch in Minneapolis. Breaking Free’s doors are open to women throughout Minnesota and the United States.

http://www.breakingfree.net/

Comisión para la Investigación de los Malos Tratos a Mujeres - Spain

The Comisión para la Investigación de Malos Tratos a Mujeres (CIMTM) is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 with the goal of erradicating all forms of violence against women in Spain. CIMTM has several programs dedicated at prevention, training and direct assistance to women and children.

From its foundation, eliminating the exploitation of prostitution and trafficking in human beings has been a top priority of CIMTM. In a difficult context of trivialization of prostitution, we have successfully raised public awareness and political attention on the exploitative nature of prostitution.

malostratos.org

Comisión Unidos Vs Trata - Mexico

Comisión Unidos vs Trata has the vision of eradicating Human Trafficking in Mexico and Latin America, especially the sexual exploitation of women and girls. We advance with a three fold mission: In designing and implementing prevention and education strategies, in the rescue, protection, rehabilitation and education of victims of this crime, and in over-seeing that the laws that sanction criminals and protect the victims of human trafficking are applied and strengthened.

Comisión is committed to make the full circle of exploitation of women and girls visible: The trafficker, the intermediary and the consumer, and to lobby for the full criminalization of the exploiters as well as for the decriminalization, protection, restitution and rehabilitation of their victims.

http://comisionunidos.org

Crisis Center for Women - Russia

CCW organization has been working in Saint-Petersburg (Russia) for 27 years. Its specialization is supporting women experienced different forms of violence, including prostitution as an ultimate form of men entitlement to women bodies, using the interdisciplinary approach to gender relationship problem.

CCW’s mission is to create conditions for elimination of all kinds of discrimination including violence against women and other forms of discrimination, women’s rights defense, the assistance in enhancing the status of women in the society, their role in public, economic, social and cultural life, their interests defense. The NGO provides direct services for women as well as organise public campaigns and educational activities for specialists.

www.crisiscenter.ru

Dar hosea - Malta

Dar Hosea is an NGO which was established in 2013 by the St Jeanne Antide Foundation. Dar Hosea is a safe and welcoming residence which serves as a daily drop-in centre for women seeking refuge from abuse, violence, poverty, addiction, mental health issues etc.

Dar Hosea supports women in prostitution through counselling, social work intervention, inspiration, encouragement and empowerment. Through these sources, vulnerable women will regain a sense of self-respect, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency. Dar Hosea provides women in prostitution with basic needs such as food, clothing, and a safe place where they may eat, shower and rest. Extended support to tackle issues such as housing, medical issues and legal problems is also provided. Additionally, Dar Hosea offers the facility for developing alternative lifestyles, through educational programmes and job support. Dar Hosea also reaches out to women in different contexts of vulnerability, including migrants and young women living in residential care, to encourage them to make use of its services and avoid being entrapped in the web of prostitution.

EVA Center - USA

The EVA Center is a survivor led, social justice oriented program whose mission is to empower women who have experienced sexual exploitation, (prostitution, sex trafficking), to find solutions to the issues they face and exit the commercial sex industry. The Eva Center also works to challenge public perceptions and strongly advocate for specialized, survivor led, strength based programming that increases awareness of the many socio-economic and situational factors contributing to women’s and girls entry into the sex trade.

evacenter.org

Exit Prostitution Association - Finland

Exit Prostitution Association is working to reduce prostitution and sexual maltreatment. The main focus has been in preventive and advocacy work and participating in public debate. Youth Exit (Nuorten Exit) works on the domain of primary and secondary prevention of sexual maltreatment and “compensational” sex of teenagers. Youth Exit provides awareness-raising workshops for secondary school students and trains multidisciplinary professionals working with adolescents.

On the national level, preventive work is done in forms of online-counseling and social media. The focus is on empowerment by promoting sexual self-determination and sexual rights. Exit Prostitution also works with substance abusers (Usva-hanke) between the age of 18-25 providing counseling regarding sexual violence, different forms of maltreatment and prostitution.

www.exitry.fi

Fondation Scelles - France

The Scelles Foundation is an independent, non-profit organisation based in Paris (France) that fights against human trafficking and sexual exploitation through analysis, advocacy and awareness initiatives. Through its International Center for Research on Sexual Exploitation, the Scelles Foundation has developed an international database on sexual exploitation with more than 3,000 studies and reports online. More than 100,000 documents are downloaded annually from its website from over 50 countries. The Foundation regularly issues a global report on the state of sexual exploitation. Recognised for its expertise, the Scelles Foundation has developed partnerships with NGOs, experts and political leaders at the national, European and international levels for research, advocacy and training initiatives.

http://www.fondationscelles.org/

Fundación Empodérame - Colombia

The Empodérame Foundation is a Colombian organisation which aims to defend victims’ rights of human trafficking. The community promotes personal empowerment, resilience, growth and social entrepreneurship through projects and policies for women who have suffered from human trafficking. The Empodérame Foundation wants to actively educate on human trafficking to prevent the crimes from continuing and to make every woman a resilient and empowered leader in human rights.

Iroko Onlus - Italy

IROKO works to combat inequality by supporting victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation to establish independent and dignified lives and by campaigning for the abolition of the sex industry in order to prevent such exploitation and indignity in the future. IROKO’s activities can be split into three categories: direct service provision, sharing knowledge and expertise, advocacy and prevention.

www.associazioneiroko.org

Isala - Belgium

Isala gathers citizens who want to provide assistance and support to persons in prostitution and to mobilise society against the system that exploits them.The association aims to act on the causes and consequences of prostitution, through 4 areas of action: Support for women in prostitution through meetings and support; Changing views on prostitution through prevention and awareness; Mobilization of society through the training of social actors; Advocacy towards an egalitarian society.

www.isalaasbl.be

KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation - Lebanon

KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation is a feminist, secular, Lebanese, non-profit, non-governmental civil society organisation looking for a society that is free of social, economic and legal patriarchal structures that discriminate women. KAFA has been aiming to eliminate all forms of exploitation and violence against women since its establishment in 2005. It fights for substantive gender equality.

KAFA has developed a permanent and dedicated programme on prostitution and trafficking in human beings and released the first research project on male sex buyers in Lebanon. KAFA provides assistance to domestic and foreign victims of prostitution, including among the vast population of refugees.

http://www.kafa.org.lb/

La CLES - Canada

The Concertation des Luttes contre l’Exploitation Sexuelle (La CLES) is a coalition of groups and individuals mobilised against the sex industry. Founded in 2005, La CLES gathers 50 member groups, more than 150 individual members, and many supporters committed to a world free from prostitution. We implement three priority programmes: direct support to women, awareness raising and training, and political advocacy. We have set up a unique “solidarity fund” for women in prostitution in order to support their crucial transition steps towards the exit of prostitution.La CLES is one of the key coordinators of the Canadian Women’s Coalition for the Abolition of Prostitution and has been instrumental in supporting the adoption of an abolitionist law in Canada.

http://www.lacles.org/

Maiti Nepal - Nepal

Maiti Nepal was officially founded as a non-profit organization in 1993 to combat human trafficking and protect Nepali girls and women from crimes like domestic violence, child prostitution, child labor and various other forms of violence and exploitation. Maiti Nepal has today grown in national and international prominence with its relentless social activism and on-going rescue efforts. Maiti Nepal’s main focus has always been centered on preventing trafficking for prostitution, rescuing victims of the flesh trade and rehabilitating them. This organization also actively works to provide justice for the victimized girls and women through criminal investigation and waging legal battles against the criminals. It provides shelter, essential diet, medical care, counselling, therapy and end-of-life care to a vulnerable population, who have been neglected and shunned by the society.

http://maitinepal.org/

MARTA Centre - Latvia

MARTA Centre in Riga, Latvia was founded in 2000 to protect and promote the rights of women that have suffered prostitution, trafficking and other forms of gender based violence as well as other discrimination, to improve their socioeconomic situation and facilitate gender equality. They accomplish this by educating women on their rights and providing skills training, legal advice, litigation and support services to help women and girls live their lives free from violence, discrimination and poverty. Marta Centre also lobbies to improve legislation and legal frameworks on issues of equality and violence against women including prostitution, and sets up awareness-raising campaigns in order to educate the general public.

www.marta.lv

Mouvement du Nid - France

Founded in 1946, Mouvement du Nid is a French NGO providing assistance to thousands of prostituted persons and victims of trafficking, through frontline offices in 26 cities. The organisation reaches out to more than 5000 women, men and children affected by prostitution. Mouvement du Nid offers all- encompassing human support, including social, psychological, legal and medical services. It also supports access to justice, housing, and to employment. Every year, Mouvement du Nid organizes training sessions for 3000 professionals (social workers, police officers, judges and lawyers), and carries prevention and educational programmes with more than 20000 teenagers. In cooperation with 60 women’s rights NGOs and with survivors of prostitution, Mouvement du Nid has coordinated the French advocacy strategy towards the adoption of an all-encompassing and consistent abolitionist legislation in France.

www.mouvementdunid.org

O Ninho - Portugal

O Ninho is a NGO whose objective is the human and social promotion of women victims of prostitution. O Ninho works on street prostitution and intervenes in places of prostitution, such as pensions, bars, five-star hotels, closed stroll houses, massage parlours, agencies, luxury bars etc. Over the years, O Ninho has played a serious and consistent role in denouncing prostitution, its causes and consequences. O Ninho’s expertise comes from almost four decades of direct work with women in prostitution and exchange of experiences with similar organisations in Europe and Brazil.

www.facebook.com/associacaooninho

People Serving Girls at Risk - Malawi

People Serving Girls at Risk (PSGR) is registered under Trustees Incorporation Act as a non-profit making charity. Its mission is to fight against commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of girls and women. PSGR strives to implement programmes that are holistic in nature in responding to prostitution and sex trafficking. Key programmes include; public awareness raising on commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking; rescuing victims of trafficking from brothels; provision of psychosocial counseling to survivors of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking; reintegration of survivors of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking in their respective communities; PSGR also collaborates and networks with other local, regional and global like-minded organizations to lobby and influence policy change to emancipate girls and women from all forms of social and human rights injustices!

http://peopleserving.webs.com

Reden/KFUKS Sociale Arbejde - Denmark

Founded in 1947, KFUKs Sociale Arbejde (YWCA Social Work) is the first Danish NGO providing global assistance to prostituted persons through four centers of Reden (the Nest) in Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg. Reden International (The Nest International), with its specific focus on people who are identified as victims of human trafficking, was established in 2002 by Dorit Otzen. KFUKs Sociale Arbejde and Reden are involved in advocacy but are, above all, major frontline providers of care and shelter, drop-in services, counseling, various social and health services including group therapy, and a specialised crisis center dedicated towards victims of human trafficking. We are currently developing new prevention programmes with RedenUng. KFUKs Sociale Arbejde and Reden employ more than 100 staff in addition to a large number of dedicated volunteers.

http://www.kfuksa.dk

Ruhama - Ireland

Ruhama is an Irish NGO working nationally with women affected by prostitution including victims of sex trafficking. The organisation offers a free, confidential, non-judgmental holistic service which is led by women’s own priorities. Ruhama’s person centered care plan assists women in a broad range of ways including: emergency accommodation, counselling & trauma healing, help reporting crimes against them, education and personal development support, career guidance, practical help getting housing and social welfare benefits, assistance with immigration issues and other support depending on each individual woman’s needs. Ruhama is also a lobbying and campaigning organisation which aims to raise awareness and change public attitudes, policies in relation to the exploitation of prostitution and sex trafficking.

www.ruhama.ie

Sawa - Palestine

Sawa is a leading Palestinian organization dedicated to providing support, protection and social counseling for survivors of violence. Sawa and its community partners stand for an enhanced social wellbeing, based on values of humanity and gender equality, through a set of differentiated services to combat all types of violence, abuse and neglect practiced against women and children. Sawa’s flagship program is the Listening Program (National Helpline): a free three-digit (121) national phone-line that provides support, medical and legal advice, referral services and counseling to women and children who have been exposed to various forms of violence and abuse, including prostitution. Sawa operates numerous outreach programs in the community, visiting schools, community centers, youth clubs and professional associations to raise awareness in the community on the issue of violence and associated prevention and mitigation methods. Sawa delivers specially-designed training courses for professionals on the issues of violence/sexual violence. Its services are completed by two
mobile clinics: the mobile psycho-social clinic and a mobile sexual and reproductive health clinic.

sawa.ps

SISTERS - Germany

The humanist association “Sisters – für den Ausstieg aus der Prostitution! e.V.” (Sisters – for the exit from prostitution! e.V.) has set itself the goal of fighting against the injustice system of prostitution and for the prostituted women/persons. Prostitution is incompatible with the dignity of the human being. “Sisters” advocates for the implementation of the Nordic Model, engages in public relations work, informs and networks with organizations and initiatives that also believe in a world without prostitution. In order to enable more and more women to make their way out of prostitution, “Sisters” empowers its local and nationwide members to give a helping hand to prostituted women/persons who want to exit from prostitution. With the prevention work “Sisters” is doing in schools and youth groups, adolescents are educated about prostitution in order to be able to also recognize, for example, the strategies of so-called lover boys at an early stage and to protect themselves.

www.sisters-ev.de

SOLWODI - Germany

SOLWODI (SOLidarity with WOmen in DIStress) is a non-profit organisation assisting women affected by human trafficking for sexual exploitation, arranged marriage and domestic violence. Founded in 1985 in Mombasa, Kenya by Sr. Dr. Lea Ackermann SOLWODI continued its work two years later in Germany offering safe housing, social welfare assistance and integration programs. Today the SOLWODI network consists of seven safe houses and eighteen counseling centers and offers outreach to women in indoor and street-based prostitution.

www.solwodi.de

South Kolkata Hamari Muskan - India

South Kolkata Hamari Muskan is a front-line, anti-trafficking organisation working with second-generation prostituted women and children (prostituted or otherwise) to prevent trafficking and second-generation prostitution in two red light areas of Kolkata—Shonagachhi (Asia’s largest red light area) & Bowbazaar (West Bengal, India). SKHM stands by the abolitionist model. SKHM has met survivors who have defined prostitution as sexual slavery. SKHM’s values are the women’s perspectives.

http://www.hamarimuskansouthkolkata.org

Stígamót - Iceland

Stígamót is a feminist NGO, working with survivors of any kind of sexual violence, including rape, incest, sexual harassment, prostitution and trafficking. We have two equally important goals. One is to provide help to self-help for survivors, both by counselling sessions and by running closed self- help groups with trained leaders. The other equally important goal is to do feminist society work, which includes activism, training, lobbyism, and international work.

www.stigamot.is

Talita Asia - Mongolia

Talita Asia is providing help and support to women and girls who are exploited in prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes. It is the first organization in the country licensed to work with children who have been subjected to sexual exploitation. Talita Asia’s actions include a Safe House programme, providing a safe social environment and proposing an Environment therapy. The NGO also provides help and protection to victims of prostitution and sexual exploitation through a 24/7 hotline, distribution of food, hygiene articles, clothes. Talita Asia also provides legal accompaniment, contributing to trials and being present during police interrogations and preliminary investigations. Talita’s actions also include long-term support, through trauma therapy, psycho-education teaching, personal skills development training, life coaching, excursions, art therapy, physical training and vocational training.

www.talita.org/

Talita Sweden - Sweden

Talita is a non-profit organization in Sweden offering both acute and long-term support to women who have been exploited in prostitution, pornography or human trafficking for sexual purposes. Talita runs safe houses in Sweden, Mongolia and Romania where we offer aone-year program for our target group . We have formed a method for rehabilitation that consists of: safe housing, trauma therapy, psychoeducation, planning for the future and transition to independent living and integration into society. We strive after a holistic approach to each woman’s situation and we aspire to create a safe place where new hope can be formed. Talita’s motto is to see the whole person, help her the entire way, regardless of where she has been exploited and regardless of whether or not someone pays for her stay at Talita.

talita.org

Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter - Canada

Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter (VRRWS) operates Canada’s oldest rape crisis centre and a transition house for battered women and their children, running 24 hours per day since 1973. We are active in responding to women who have experienced any form of sexist attack on the continuum of male violence, some of which are: rape, battery, incest, prostitution, and sexual harassment. VRRWS is a collective whose membership of paid and volunteer workers are diverse in terms of race, age and class backgrounds. Our current campaigns are focused on the abolition of prostitution, better policing, guaranteed livable income, and the autonomy of women’s groups.

www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca

Wahine Toa Rising - New Zealand

Wahine Toa Rising is an NGO run by survivors of prostitution and supports Wahine Toa (women warriors) and Tamariki (children) who have been and are being exploited in the sex trade in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

www.wahinetoarising.nz

Women@thewell - United Kingdom

Women@thewell is a women-only drop-in centre in Kings Cross, London, dedicated to supporting women whose lives are affected by or at risk of being affected by prostitution. Most women who use its services have multiple and complex needs including problematic drug and alcohol abuse, mental health difficulties, rough sleeping and trafficking. Women@thewell envisions a society in which all women are empowered to achieve their full potential free from discrimination, abuse and neglect. Its mission is to develop a holistic response to their needs and empower women to make choices to improve the quality of their lives. The center was founded by Lynda Dearlove and officially opened in September 2007.

www.watw.org.uk

THEY MAKE THE MOVEMENT

Strategic partners