Networking

KOK is represented on committees both nationally and internationally. These allow us to maintain our efforts in influencing the decision-making processes of lawmakers by setting out our political demands. We see the following tasks as central to our mission:

• To improve interdisciplinary, 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 attain our goals, KOK works tirelessly on a national and international level. Our political direction is agreed amongst our member organisations. The expert knowledge and practical experience gained in counselling centres throughout the country serve to support our political demands by ensuring that they are current and relevant. The KOK office is, first and foremost, tasked with introducing these demands into the national and international political arena.

KOK has been successful in a broad range of areas. National laws and international conventions have seen reform. The availability of counselling to women who have been trafficked, or to migrant women exposed to violence, has increased and improved. Opportunities for such women to enjoy basic human rights have also increased greatly. Via our networking activity, KOK also hopes to make practical use of the expert knowledge gained by other organisations involved in combating trafficking in women.

There are still, however, many areas where improvement is needed:

• International law still usually sees human trafficking within the context of crime fighting in general, with standards applied accordingly. The migration aspect of these crimes is dealt with via harsh regulations.
• Trafficked women have virtually no legal rights.
• Combating criminality is of course an important aim for any government, but our primary focus is on the trafficked women themselves, addressing how they have been victimised and traumatised. Their function as witnesses in court proceedings is of secondary importance to this main goal.
• Our priority, as we see it, is to support trafficked women in regaining control over their own lives and bringing some degree of stability to their traumatic situation. As mentioned, the strategies used to combat trafficking in women are based on crime fighting, and cause the women to be let down by the very system that is meant to protect them. As a result, they become victims yet again. This situation also leads to a false impression of the realities of trafficking, and in doing so hinders the development of a preventative approach.

KOK is continually working to bring about changes on the political level and within society at large. We also strive to raise and improve awareness in these arenas, and we are committed to broadening the spectrum of legal rights available to trafficked women.