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ln addition to the above. CSW59 provided valuableopportunities to attend other events of relevance to thework of Ruhama, to network, meet and strategise withallies old and new and to reinforce the key message ofprostitution and trafficking as an inherently harmful formof violence against women and girls across the globe.

ln November 201 5, we were privileged to present thework of Ruhama and the European Women! Lobby at a

conference on Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in Seoul,South Korea. This con{erence was organised by theWomen's Human Rights Commission and Departmentof Justice o{ South Korea. ln addition to the confer-ence, we had the opportunity to meet with statutoryand NGO stakeholders and visit to exchange informa-tion and learn from projects working with women andchildren who are victims of trafficking

Raising awareness to REACHthe most vulnerableA key area of Ruhama's awareness raising work during201 5 was the successful delivery of the REACH Project.

The REACH Project is a European Commissionco-funded project that aimed to raise awareness oftrafficking as a form of violence against women and girlsand improve responses to this issue across the wholeisland o{ lreland. The Project was realised via the workof a highly collaborative 'all island of lreland'multi-agency partnership, including:

- Republic of lreland: the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit atthe Department of Justice and Equality, Ruhama, theHealth Service Executive (HSE), the Child and FamilyAgency, An Garda Sioch5na and Cosc

- Northern lreland: the Department of Justice, Northernlreland Women's Aid and the Police Service o{ Northernlreland (PSNI).

REACH focused specifically on the trafficking of womenand glrls for the purpose of sexual exploitation and theinitiative had three key audiences: vulnerable womenand girls in the sex trade who had been or were at riskof being trafficked, men and boys as sex purchasers but

i{ffiRuhama on the world stageDuring 2015, Ruhamas CEO Sarah Benson continued toplay a key role in CA,P (Coalition {or the Abolition oiProstitution) lnternationa I (http://www.cap-internation-al.org/) as the Coalition's Chairperson.

CAP lnternational is a unique coalition of fourteenfrontline NGOs providing direct assistance to victims ofprostitution and sexual exploitation in Europe, NorthAmerica, A{rica, the Middle East and Asia.The fundamental objective of CAPlnternational is to contribute to the adoption andimplementation of abolitionist policies and legislation atthe domestic, continental and international levei.

ln the Spring of 201 5, Sarah represented both Ruhamaand CAP at the 59th session o{the United NationsCommission on the Status of Women (CSW59) in NewYork. She travelled as an approved member of theofficial lrlsh State Delegation to CSW59, which providedan excellent opportunity to meet with the State repre-sentatives o{ the lrish mission: both those travellingfrom the Department of Justice and also those fromForeign Affairs who form the Permanent Mission to theUN for the lrish State. Sarah also gave an address attwo packed CSW events:

- Advocacy and Networking Strategies for LegislativeReform: Ending Prostitution and Human Trafficking(organised by Our Lady of Charity o{ the GoodShepherd, and also addressed by Minister of State forJustice and Equality, Aodh5n O Riord5in, the Director ofthe Coalition Against Trafficking in Womenlnternational, Taina Bien-Aime and Diane Matte, Direc-tor of the Canadian frontline organisation La CLES)

- Prostitution and Sexual Exploitation: A Violation of theHuman Rights of Women and Girls (organised by CAPlnternational and also addressed by CAP colleaguesfrom lndia, Spain, France and Canada, by the FrenchMinister: for Equality, the senior advisor to the SwedishMinister for Equality and three Members of Parliamentfrom Sweden, France and the UK).

With Minister Aodhan O'Riordan & Diane Matte, Dirxtor La Cles Montrealbefore addressing the an event on

legislotive approoches to tackle the exploitation of prostitution ond

traffickinq.

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