On the 20th of December, we proudly presented the documentary entitled “WAY OUT”, intended to raise public awareness about the rights of survivors of human trafficking.
Three true experiences are documented. Three memories and lives of women and girls who managed to find a way out of the chain of slavery and human trafficking.
The idea behind the film is to support victims of human trafficking and strengthen their rights, by showing the importance of proactive identification, protection, access to services and access to justice for these persons in accordance with international standards and national procedures.
After the documentary, a panel discussion was organized with the director of the film as well as the main stakeholders in the prevention of human trafficking in North Macedonia, i.e. the Director of Open Gate, representatives from the Ministry of the Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The panel discussed the current situation of human trafficking in North Macedonia, with an emphasis on the shortages in the detection of cases as well as the deficiencies in the process of protection and reintegration. For us at Open Gate, dealing with human trafficking is an everyday thing.
These three stories are only a small part of the presentation of the challenges faced by the victims, but also by us as professionals, who help them recover, re-socialize and reintegrate, said the director of Open Gate, Jasmina Dimishkovska Rajkovska. In improving the lives of the heroes who managed to get out of the chain of human trafficking, compensation plays a big role, i.e. compensation for material and non-material damage. The Law for compensation for victims of crime that was initiated and that Open Gate lobbied for was passed in November 2022 and we hope to apply it in every identified case.
Тhe film show the hellish road that a victim goes through, but also the way out that always exists, but unfortunately not everyone sees it and reaches it.
Under the direction of Sibel Abdiu, the film “WAY OUT” was shown at prestigious film festivals, and Open Gate will continue to show it to institutions and relevant stakeholders as well as to the public with the aim of realizing the rights of the victims, raising public awareness of the seriousness of the problem and improvement of the response to human trafficking in the country.