Networking

The KOK e.V. is represented on committees both on a nationwide and international level. Here, in an effort to influence the decision making processes of the law makers, we put forward our political demands. We see the following as being our tasks:

• the improvement of inter-disciplinary, interregional and international cooperation
• to bring about a situation where the human-rights aspect plays a bigger role in both the political and legal arena
• to implement and improve national and international regulations

In order to reach our goals the KOK e.V. is constantly working on a national and international level. The political direction of the KOK is agreed amongst its members. The expert knowledge and practical experience gained in counselling centres throughout the country serves to support our political demands by making them more based on reality. Primarily, the KOK-Büro is given the task of introducing these demands into the national and international political arena.

The work of the KOK has been successful in certain areas. National laws and international conventions have been reformed. The availability of counselling to women who have been trafficked or to migrant women exposed to violence has increased and improved. The possibility for such women to enjoy basic human rights has also increased. In networking the KOK we also hope to make practical use of the expert knowledge gained by other organisations that combat trafficking in women.

There are however still many things to be done:

• International law still usually treats human trafficking according to standards developed for crime fighting in general. The migration aspect of such crimes is dealt with through tough regulations.
• Traffickedc women have virtually no legal rights
• Combating criminality is of course an important aim of the government, but our work concentrates on the trafficked women and on how they have been victimised and traumatised. Their function as witnesses is of secondary importance to our work.
• Our main goal, as we see it, is to support trafficked women in regaining control over their own lives and bringing some degree of stability into this traumatic situation. The strategies used in combating trafficking in women are based on crime fighting and cause the women to be instrumentalised by a system that is meant to protect them and they thus become victims yet againThis situation also leads to a false impression of the realities of trafficking and in so doing hinders the development of a preventative approach.

The KOK e.V. is continually working to bring about changes on the political level and within society at large. We also strive to develop a different awareness in these arenas and are committed to broadening the spectrum of legal rights available to trafficked women.