Project Next Steps

Andrea:
"I was raised by my grandmother. When she passed away, I went back to my parents. I did not have a close relationship with them, which made me susceptible to the attention that a particular man gave me. He won my trust by pretending to have my best interests at heart. But he deceived me. In fact, he worked for the mafia and forced me into prostitution. I left Romania for the Netherlands. Here my passport was taken away, I ended up in a brothel, and had to work every day. I only got money for food and clothes, the rest I had to hand over to my pimp." 

About 35,000 people work in prostitution in the Netherlands. We know that many of them do not do this work voluntarily and that there is forced prostitution. These are women and men from all kinds of countries who have ended up in our country. They work often under difficult circumstances. Human trafficking for sexual exploitation also occurs in the Netherlands.

One of the countries these men and women come from, is Romania. A country hit extra hard by corona. The economic conditions of the country cause women to work in prostitution to provide for their families. Women see no prospects because of poverty. Many criminal organizations take advantage of these vulnerable women and force them to work in prostitution in the Netherlands.

Next Steps is a partnership between Bright Fame, Dorcas, IJM and the Salvation Army. We have combined our expertise to fight human trafficking and exploitation more effectively in Romania. We also work with women who want to leave prostitution in the Netherlands and want to return to Romania.

Assistance with the entire process from prevention to getting out such as:

• Education of vulnerable girls and women susceptible to trafficking
• Next Steps provides assistance with the entire process from prevention to getting out such as:
  1. Aftercare / trauma care
  2. Legal assistance and protection
  3. Help with alternative work and housing
  4. Training and advising the police and justice system in Romania

Yasmina is a 41-year-old woman from Romania who worked in prostitution from the age of 21. She grew up in a difficult family situation: her father was an alcoholic and there was a lot of conflict and abuse. One day she decided to leave her family and met a Loverboy. She was promised a bright future with a house and children. But the reality turned out to be a completely different story. “But first, you need to work” she was told. In daytime she did her utmost best to be the ideal housewife for her Loverboy, and in the night, she explains, she had 10 different personalities. “You cannot think or feel. You are a robot. There were sometimes 10 different men, all with different desires so you need to switch constantly”.

In a podcast, Yasmina describes how 15 years of working in prostitution is not only physically but also mentally traumatic and exhausting. “After a night of work when I lay in my bed I thought ‘who am I?’. After 10 years in prostitution, I believed that I was not able to do anything else”. During one of the dinners in the Bright Fame living room, she decided to stop. After many therapy sessions she started her new life with a great job and good friends. But sometimes, the nightmares of her time in prostitution still haunt her.

Call: +31 653750348