For the professional public
At Society Ključ, we have been implementing preventive and curative programs since 2001, specializing in the prevention of human trafficking and support for victims. We strive to constantly upgrade and develop both types of activities, comparable to the development of the field. We implement the Comprehensive Care for Victims of Human Trafficking program, which includes crisis accommodation, safe accommodation and (re)integration. Since we have many years of experience in working with victims of human trafficking, we recognize the importance of offering help and support even to persons who are not yet ready to fully exit the situation in which they are being abused.
The area of regulation of prostitution and support for people in prostitution is very neglected in Slovenia, both in terms of research and planned measures. In 2019, at the Interdepartmental Working Group for Combating Human Trafficking, we specifically highlighted this issue, and it is planned that in the coming years, the legislative area will be regulated in such a way as to ensure more security for people in prostitution.
People with experience of prostitution and/or exploitation are vulnerable individuals who ended in exploitation for various reasons. During the childhood and later in adulthood, they often experienced neglect, violence, abuse, addictions, poverty, war, etc. Early traumatic experiences affect physical and mental health and functioning in adulthood. At work, we often meet people who have untreated chronic diseases since childhood, sexually transmitted infections, physical injuries, dental problems and mental health problems that are the result of difficult experiences. Illnesses were not treated because of neglect at an early age, because of stigma, shame, lack of information, difficult access to health services and irregular health insurance.
People in prostitution are often victims of psychological, physical, sexual and/or economic violence. They are often subjected to threats, isolation, emotional violence (insults, subjugation, possessiveness, control, provoked feelings of guilt), coercion into sex, coercion into committing crimes, rape and causing debt (financial) dependence. As a result, people are often exhausted, confused, lonely, with frequent feelings of fear, helplessness, anger, disgust, guilt and shame. They are often left with feelings of being bad, dirty, unimportant, stupid, mentally disturbed, and undeserving of help and kindness. They often have low self-esteem, negative self-image and behave obediently, passively. In threatening situations, they have developed survival mechanisms, which they often still use after withdrawing from the threatening environment, and they need time and support to overcome them and adopt new patterns that are more consistent with the new life situation. As a result of repeated stressful and traumatic events, individuals often develop post-traumatic stress disorder, which manifests as re-experiencing the trauma, persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic event, and symptoms of heightened arousal. Emotional numbing and traumatic forgetting are usually present as well. People often have psychosomatic symptoms such as insomnia, headaches, digestive problems, back pain, nausea, etc.
People in prostitution often experience dissociation, wich helped them to survive unbearable and painful conditions. The abused mechanism of “switching off” bodily sensations, emotions and personality can become an automated, unconscious process which is triggered even in situations in which one could otherwise take an active role and overcome the problem. Addiction to alcohol and other substances helps maintain dissociation, so the risk of developing addiction is even greater.
People in prostitution can develop mood disorders, they can be anxious and depressed. They may have concentration problems, communication problems (also due to frequent isolation from society), occasional outbursts of anger, or turn their anger inward and self-harm (emotionally or physically).
Exploiters sometimes force people in prostitution to commit criminal acts and thereby violate their value system, which destroys the victims’ last psychological defenses. Due to isolation and limited movement, the victim is increasingly dependent on the perpetrator (both in terms of physical survival, information and emotional support), and the perpetrator can become both a source of humiliation and a source of support, which can lead to a traumatic attachment to the perpetrator. Traumatic attachment allows the victim to remain in the relationship with the violent partner and try to rationalize it and dissociate the memories of the violence. When dissociation occurs unconsciously and so often that it hinders relationships, we can speak of dissociative personality disorder.
HERE you can read the press release in which the position on prostitution of the Society Ključ – center for the fight against human trafficking, supported by some related organizations, is presented in more detail.
With the program, we want to strengthen users so that they can take care of their physical as well as mental health. By participating in the program, they will have the opportunity to improve their self-image, obtain information about self-care, be informed about the health system and the services they can access, boost their strengths, knowledge, and skills, and realize that they have a choice in life. With the newly acquired information, users will improve their mental health and use health services which they may now believe would further stigmatize them due to past experiences.
