I hope you are well and enjoying the Christmas Spirit that is all around us.  We’ve been busy building up to Christmas at Abolishion too! 

“How’s your work in the underworld of Romania going?” read a message from my friend the other day. It surprised me and in fact, I still haven’t replied. It got me thinking: is that what people think I’m doing? Do they think I’m wondering the streets of Romania at all hours of the night, rescuing girls? Oh how wrong they are...

This week we are excited to launch our 'Furnish For Freedom’ campaign.  We are ready to set up our first Restore Home and need to fill it with furniture and items to make it a home where survivors of human trafficking can feel safe, heal and build an independent life.

"We can all do something to fight human trafficking.  Yet we all have different skills and different amounts of time we can give.

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October was a busy month with the #adaynhershoes campaign.  The idea was to wear heels for a day and to donate to our Restore Home for survivors of human trafficking.  We saw people from all over the world participate with photos coming in from abolishionists in Australia, UK, USA, Romania and even Spain.

One of the best things to to know, when starting to fight trafficking, is where to get help when you need it.  As you learn more you will find certain things start to happen.  You'll start noticing more.  You'll question what you see going in that back alley.  You'll think twice about that couple in the airport where the girl doesn't look very happy.  You'll start to get suspicious about that guy hanging around at the high school. You'll start to wonder about that lady that never comes out of the house across the road.  You'll keep an eye on a house that seems to have lots of male visitors.  

The shocked faces stared back as Leanne Rhodes, Abolishon’s CEO, shared stories of human trafficking.  Everyone gathered there that day at Bookafe had heard of human trafficking before, but that wasn’t why they were shocked.  

The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity here at Abolishion. It doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon! I wanted to update you on what you've been a part of the last few months.

Abolishion’s CEO, Leanne Rhodes, made an important trip to Chisinau, Moldova to meet with Liliana Balan from Child Protection.  Liliana said that 6% of the child population in Moldova have been trafficked.  Then she emphasised, “that’s just the ones we know about." 

Last week, Abolishion was invited to meet in Bucharest with governmental officials from the Ministry of Labour and ANITP, Romania’s anti-trafficking agency to discuss standards for providing residential care for survivors of human trafficking.  Guests from Bulgaria and Poland show cased their work in providing residential care.