CAIRO - Minister of Family and Population Moshira Khattab held on Monday the first training course for the first regional shelter for rehabilitation of the female victims of human trafficking. "The establishment of this shelter, built in Medinat el-Salam last September, is a recognition of the rights of the victims of trafficking to rehabilitation and reintegration into society," she said. According to the Minister, the establishment of the shelter comes after relevant amendments to the Child Law and Penal Code, while a legal framework that protects children from trafficking was approved in 2008. This was followed by the implementation of a legal framework that protects adults, represented in the Law for the Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings, approved by the People's Assembly (the Lower House of the Parliament) this year, in its most recent session. "We are witnessing today [Monday] the first training course for people who will manage the shelter. On Wednesday, there will be more training for people who will man the family counselling line [phone 16021], receiving cases and referring them to the shelter," added Khattab. Patsy Sorenson, the founder and director of Payoke, a Belgian-based organisation aimed at protecting human trafficking victims and their families, gave a training course for staff, who will run the shelter in the area of security and safety for the victims. The training also covered risk assessment and management, very serious situations, security and confidentiality of data, security and personal safety of the staff. The Minister highlighted the necessity of respecting the rights of non-Egyptian women and non-discrimination against them, as well as the right to privacy and confidentiality of data to ensure that a victim doesn't become stigmatised or fall into the hands of the traffickers again.
