Press Releases
Prevention of Human Trafficking
Performance of Night Stars
Astana, September 14, 2009 at 14.00
September 11, 2009
As part of its project to combat human trafficking in Kazakhstan, the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan is sponsoring a campaign to show students the dangers of human trafficking and teach them how to avoid being victimized. The campaign is being implemented by the Feminist League NGO, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The opening of the campaign, marked by a press conference, will take place in Astana on September 14 at 14:00 in the Zhastar Palace of Youth.
The centerpiece of the campaign is the play Night Stars written by Orenbai Zhanaidarov. The play is based on the true-life stories of former victims of trafficking. It will be performed by the Kokshetau Russian Drama Theater group in Astana, and each performance will be preceded by a discussion of trafficking and the exhibition of anti-trafficking posters designed by children. Anti-trafficking information booklets and a DVD of the play will also be given to schools and orphanages in Astana and Akmola Oblast. The project is expected to reach more than 9,000 students. At the end of the project, a roundtable will be held with governmental agencies and mass media.
In recent years, many young women and teenage girls have been sold into slavery both domestically and abroad. The majority of women are trafficked from rural areas to large cities and from large cities abroad for sexual exploitation. Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is very attractive to job seekers. Women that arrive in Astana become targets for pimps and traffickers who find them through newspaper advertisements or through travel, employment, and modeling agencies. Young girls are particularly receptive to lucrative proposals to work as models, waitresses, or baby sitters, not understanding the risks of being trafficked.
The U.S. Embassy is committed to fighting human trafficking and cooperating with governments interested in joining this fight. Since the release of the State Department's first annual Trafficking in Persons Report nine years ago, the United States government has provided approximately $600 million in anti-trafficking assistance to our international partners around the world. Of this amount, about $800,000 has funded programs in Kazakhstan.
Mass media representatives are invited to attend the opening and press conference on September 14, 2009 at 13.30pm at Press club at Zhastar Palace of Youth. __________________________________________________
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact U.S. Embassy in Astana
Perizat Zhakupova, tel.: +7 7172 702415 or Elena Beskrovnaya, tel.: + 7 7172 702314
