Jun 9, 2018 | Blog, Innovate For Good, News From the Frontlines, Romania, Uncategorized
#NotForSaleRomania March Against Human Trafficking
Over 500 youth participated in an anti-trafficking march taking place in several areas throughout Romania, shedding light on the exploitation that takes place within the country, and the lack of resources for survivors in a country with the highest number of persons affected by trafficking in the entire European Union.
Youth Mobilize For Anti-Trafficking Awareness
Romania is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking. That means that men, women and children are trafficked both into and out of Romania, making it a huge hub for exploitation. A large number of communities in Romania are affected deeply by poverty, lack of education, lack of employment, and corruption. Many people affected by sex and labor trafficking in Romania are promised a better life across the border.
Educating the local community is an important part of the work that Not For Sale Romania does. Each awareness effort has the potential to prevent exploitation, so Not For Sale Romania speaks to parents and students at local schools and participates in community events.
In the years that Not For Sale Romania has been holding awareness events, they have seen a positive increase in the amount of awareness gained. Several years ago, the topic of human trafficking wasn’t a common one. Today, many community members- especially the youth- are aware of the issue of human trafficking, and educated on red flags and how to avoid exploitation. Not For Sale Romania leads a youth awareness and anti-trafficking group which actively generates ideas to engage and educate others.
It was this group of youth that came up with the idea to hold Not For Sale Romania’s first awareness march and flash mob. More than 500 young people participated, in several cities thoroughout Romania: Bucharest, Brasov, Baia Mare, Galati, Oradea, and Timisoara.
In addition to this wonderful turnout across the country, the awareness movement created engagement on social media, garnering thousands of impressions. Supporters participated from other countries- Italy, Germany, Croatia, and more!
As Not For Sale Romania director Martina likes to state, “The change is in all of us”. When there is a collective effort to raise awareness, all of our voices are amplified to create change.
Learn more about our Romania program here.
Mar 7, 2018 | Blog, News From the Frontlines, Romania
When she was just 14 years old, Victoria* was forced to become a sex slave for powerful businessmen in Bucharest, Romania. Her mother was an alcoholic, and she had no family support, which left her vulnerable to exploitation.
The situation escalated to the point that her trafficker forced her to receive an important client under threat of killing her mother and her sisters, who were still unaware that Victoria was being exploited and abused.
Finally, after a year of abuse, Victoria was able to receive help from the authorities. She found Not For Sale Romania, and began receiving services as a survivor of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. It has been nearly ten years since Victoria came to Not For Sale Romania.
With Not For Sale Romania’s support, Victoria finished her high school studies, graduated from university, and completed a beauty training program. Now Victoria works in the tourist industry, and volunteers at Not For Sale with new survivors.
The path from being trafficked to regaining empowerment is long, and complex. Victoria’s situation is just one example of the work Not For Sale does together with survivors. What is destroyed in a minute, takes most often years to fix.
We’re proud of Victoria, not only for her groundbreaking recovery, but for being a powerful role model to survivors and women all over the world.
#SheInspiresMe
Aug 17, 2017 | Blog, News From the Frontlines, Romania
Want to make a bigger impact in ending modern day slavery? You can also partner with us or invest in companies that give back to Not For Sale. Get more involved here.
Give to change the course of a life affected by modern slavery.
With over 30 million people in the world still enslaved, Not For Sale is paving a new path to end modern day slavery. “We have to expect more of ourselves as social change agents than the traffickers themselves,” co-founder and executive director Mark Wexler says. It is time to provide survivors with the tools they need for control over their futures.
Our impact breakdown is simple. Let’s start with Romania:
We begin with social programming:
- In Western Romania, Not For Sale Romania helps over 800 children from vulnerable backgrounds, some of whom have been trafficked. The goal is to provide intensive direct services and all encompassing support: mental health care, education, shelter, and food.
Next is Research and Development.
- Then, we headed to Timisoara, Romania for research and business development. Our goal is to scale social business and create long-term social sustainability with economic opportunity. Our first idea: beauty salons. We aim to train young women with the necessary skills to implement salons all over vulnerable communities in Romania.
Finally, we create scalable ventures.
- This is the last layer of our impact stack – where we create a Not For Sale enterprise.
- To begin this enterprise, we need to identify two key factors:
- A talented and bright entrepreneur that believes in ethical business
- For-Profit Capital to invest in our Not For Sale enterprise and our entrepreneur
- Learn more by visiting some of our other NFS enterprises: Z Shoes, Rebbl, Dignita
Our system empowers the community in a sustainable way. With our impact stack, we can combine charity and business to end human trafficking. Please share our video to raise awareness on creating impact in a fundamentally different way.
NFS Romania strives to care for the 10,000 child refugees in Europe, protecting and providing for them a place of peace. Romania Not For Sale rehabilitates and repatriates survivors trafficked from dozens of countries. We provide short and long-term housing, extensive medical care and counseling. Visit Romania’s project page for more information.
Aug 16, 2017 | Blog, News From the Frontlines, Romania
Want to make a bigger impact in ending modern day slavery? You can also partner with us or invest in companies that give back to Not For Sale. Get more involved here.
Give to change the course of a life affected by modern slavery.
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” Leonardo da Vinci.
A few months ago, Mariana Petersel, director of Not For Sale Romania, rescued 3 young children sold into slavery by their desperately poor parents. Mariana has been fighting trafficking in Europe for the past 3 decades. Today and every day, we celebrate Mariana and all of the hard work she does to keep the world Not For Sale.
NFS Romania strives to care for the 10,000 child refugees in Europe, protecting and providing for them a place of peace. Romania Not For Sale rehabilitates and repatriates survivors trafficked from dozens of countries. We provide short and long-term housing, extensive medical care and counseling. Visit Romania’s project page for more information.
Aug 15, 2017 | Blog, News From the Frontlines, Romania
Want to make a bigger impact in ending modern day slavery? You can also partner with us or invest in companies that give back to Not For Sale. Get more involved here.
Give to change the course of a life affected by modern slavery.
Ion, age 17, fled his home in Ukraine after separatists killed his mother. Walking to Romania, he was found by Border Patrol and placed under our care. Ion now lives with a family and hopes to become an electrical engineer. NFS Romania strives to care for the 10,000 child refugees in Europe, protecting and providing for them a place of peace. Romania Not For Sale rehabilitates and repatriates survivors trafficked from dozens of countries. We provide short and long-term housing, extensive medical care and counseling. At our children’s home, we work to prevent up to 100 children from poor, marginalized and at-risk communities from being recruited and trafficked. Please share Ion’s story on Facebook to raise awareness about our work in Romania.
NFS Romania strives to care for the 10,000 child refugees in Europe, protecting and providing for them a place of peace. Romania Not For Sale rehabilitates and repatriates survivors trafficked from dozens of countries. We provide short and long-term housing, extensive medical care and counseling. Visit Romania’s project page for more information.
