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Nine people have been included in a protection program. They testify against their tormentors in trials and therefore live dangerously.
The nine trafficking victims currently living in a protection program are those who are fighting back: they have chosen to work with the police and judiciary to bring those who exploited them to justice. So you testify against human traffickers in court – and that can be dangerous.
Some of them are malnourished and eating regularly for the first time in 15 years.
The victims were usually treated very badly beforehand, says Thomas Roth from the Trafficking association, which takes care of them. “Some eat regularly for the first time in 15 years,” he cites as an example. “Some of them are malnourished or they have injuries because they were beaten regularly.”
The program then gives them the support they need. The Trafficking association helps to organize psychotherapy or accompanies the victims to lawsuits. In doing so, he ensures that they are not pursued. Finally, the victims must be sure that the perpetrators do not know where they live.
Although victims’ lives are often marked by exploitation and violence, very few report their tormentors. Not least because many victims do not trust the police, says Thomas Roth.
Victims become perpetrators
One of the reasons for this distrust is that the police often do not recognize the victims as such. During raids on brothels, for example, she checks the residence papers of foreign prostitutes.
If these are invalid, the women are liable to prosecution and are deported – without first clarifying why they are working in the brothel and why they are doing it without a permit. How to overlook victims of human trafficking.
Cooperation between agencies, organizations and the police is important to change that, says Sonja Roest. She heads the specialist unit for protection against violence and support for victims in the Basel Department of Justice. Since this has been done more in Basel, there have been more processes.
The Basel government gave the go-ahead in 2017. At that time, it declared the fight against human trafficking to be one of its priorities. As a result, the first trials took place. And right now there are nine alleged victims of human trafficking living in a protection program.
Identify clues to crime
“Basel was one of the bottom ranks in Switzerland when it came to combating human trafficking,” says Sonja Roest. “But now we were able to fight our way to the top. That’s great.”
Roest relies on cantonal police statistics. This states that in 2022 there were 20 reports of violations of Article 182 in Basel-Stadt. In Switzerland there were 63 in the same period.
Trained personnel is particularly important in the fight against human trafficking, says Roest – and not just for the police. Human trafficking doesn’t just happen in the sex trade, but also on construction sites, in nail salons, in restaurants or with domestic help.
“If the health workers or those who carry out site inspections are specifically trained, they can better recognize signs of human trafficking,” says Roest.
Thomas Roth from the Trafficking association is pleased that Basel-Stadt is now much more involved in the fight against human trafficking than it was before 2017.
It is even more difficult than in brothels to identify victims who work in private households: “You hardly see the nanny, the cleaner or the helper in the private household.”