Vision and mission
La Strada International believes in a world where every person is free to migrate and work in the labour sector of their choice and is free from trafficking, exploitation and abuse, knowing that they have their rights respected at home, abroad and on the way.
Mission
The crime of trafficking in human beings can only be stopped if every person’s rights as human being are recognised, respected and realised. La Strada International promotes women’s, labour, migrants’ and human rights to ensure people are protected by law from exploitation and abuse. The Platform protects and realises trafficked persons’ rights by providing access to adequate assistance and support, justice and effective remedies.
La Strada International aims to be a strong, leading and innovative platform, with a clear NGO voice and grass root identity. The main purpose of the La Strada International NGO Platform is to strengthen cooperation between civil society organisations, to raise awareness of human trafficking in Europe, to promote anti-trafficking initiatives and the work of NGOs and to engage in joint advocacy and policy work. Where relevant and required, the LSI Platform will monitor and react to issues that closely relate and or impact human trafficking, including human/women rights, gender based violence, labour policies, migration policies and violation of rights of vulnerable groups including undocumented workers, sex workers, minority groups and LGBTIQ.
The platform acts based on collected information and evidence obtained via information exchange, monitoring and advocacy, which calls for adequate rights protection and support for all trafficked persons and risk groups. Being a transparent, open-minded and reliable knowledge actor, and taking up a critical watch dog role, enables La Strada International to engage independently with other actors.
While human trafficking is a global issue, LSI Platform focusses on Europe broadly (both EU and non-EU countries). Jointly with others we can ensure adequate European and global action and accountability.
In our work we are guided by our values.
- La Strada works from a human rights perspective to trafficking in human beings, meaning that we oppose all anti-trafficking measures that undermine or adversely affect the human rights of the groups concerned. We understand trafficking in human beings as both a (root) cause and a consequence of the violation of human rights.
- We believe every person should be free to choose the work that fits their situation best, whether in a regular or irregular setting, and have their rights respected. We accept that sex work is an occupation in which adults can choose to engage. We consider exploitation and abuse in the sex industry a form of labour exploitation.
- We believe in the power of people. Our services are focussed on supporting people to regain that power after a situation of exploitation. We recognise that trafficked persons are victims of crime and their status as a victim means that they are claimant of rights according to international law. However, their victim status routinely leads governments and non-governmental organisations to treat them as powerless and without agency. Consequently, rather than label them as ‘victims’ in this anthology, we refer to them as ‘trafficked persons’.