If you speak up, I will join! was a project that aimed to identify and empower survivors of childhood human trafficking. The project was co-funded by CBSS Project Support Facility. This project involved local projects in Latvia, Sweden, Russia and Norway, and regional cooperation throughout the Baltic Sea region. The project started in 2019 and ended in 2020.

On the 11th of June, we held a webinar with survivors, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children, the Head of the Anti-trafficking secretariat the Council of Europe, and professionals cooperating with survivors in the Baltic Sea States. The webinar was for survivors of human trafficking and professionals working on related issues.

The webinar emphasised the journey of survivors to a new start in life and celebrate resilience and empowerment. It brought together survivors and professionals from the countries in the Baltic Sea region: Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

The brutal criminal offence of human trafficking must stop and it is urgent to provide survivors with long-term solutions to move on.

The programme for the webinar included:

0:03:58 – Introducing the agenda
Ms Madeleine Sundell, Swedish Platform Civil Society Against Human Trafficking

0:09:43 – Inspirational talk. Survivors at the Centre; Presentations including Q & A
Ms Malaika Oringa, Netherlands, Founder of «Footprint to Freedom Foundation»
Ms Marie Merklinger, Germany, Member of Space International
Ms Temitope Adekoya, United Kingdom, Coordinator of youth group at ECPAT UK

0:53:00 – Panel discussion on promoting long-term solutions for survivors
Ms Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
Ms Petya Nestorova, Head of the Anti-trafficking secretariat the Council of Europe
Ms Turid Heiberg, Human rights advocate.

01:41:16 – Roundtable dialogue with partners from the Baltic Sea Region
Sharing of experiences involving survivors. Inspirational, innovative, and empowering examples from Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden

02:40:15 – Way forward
Ann-Kristin Vervik, Executive Director ECPAT Norway/Lead Partner
Racha Hanine, Producer, Lightup Norway, Youth organization that works to end sexual exploitation and trafficking.