ATTITUDES in the north in respect of trafficking in women are changing, US ambassador Michael Klosson said yesterday during an address on the issue in the north.
Following a conference on the issue in the south earlier this week, a similar event and workshops were held in the north over the past two days at the Arabahmet Cultural Centre.
“A year ago, I would not have thought this meeting possible,” Klosson said in his address. “At that time, when we raised the issue, we found people largely in denial with respect to trafficking in the north.”
Klosson said that despite the dozens of nightclubs lining the roads to Morphou (Guzelyurt) and Famagusta (Gazimagusa), there was a reluctance to talk about what was really going on in those clubs and elsewhere.
“Of course, there are still plenty of people who will not discuss such matters, but I believe attitudes are changing here,” he said adding that more resources and media attention had now been focused on the issue over the past year since the previous first conference was held in the north when the embassy brought in Barbara Carlin, a Department of Justice expert on trafficking in persons.
“Turkish Cypriot authorities, I can say, are also beginning to take this issue very seriously as well. We now regularly discuss the problem with the authorities. All agree that exploitation of women must stop.”
Last year Cyprus came under heavy criticism from the US in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report but during the conference on the Greek Cypriot side Klosson noted that the Cyprus government has made strides in addressing the problem through measures that deal with ‘the three Ps’: Prevention, Protection and Prosecution.
“Trafficking in human beings is a global scourge, and the solution demands we all cooperate on a global scale. That is why the State Department has an annual report, that is why the American Embassy in Nicosia is active on this issue and that is why we are here today,” he told Turkish Cypriot participants at yesterday’s conference.
“I firmly believe that we all have a responsibility to work to eliminate what is in essence modern-day slavery.”
Referring to the annual TIP report, Klosson said this year was the first time the US had included as section on the north. “A great deal of responsibility rests on your shoulders to take steps to address this problem,” he said. “Attitudes must change, as I said, but that is only part of the equation. Let the Trafficking in Persons Report serve both as a wake-up call as well as a call to action. There is still much, much more work to be done. We all have a responsibility to the victims of trafficking, and to the well being of our societies and communities. That responsibility will continue as long as there are women in Cyprus who need our help.”
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