Samilia Prize
SAMILIAA Prize On the occasion of the Gala Dinner following the International Symposium on the theme: “Sex trafficking: from armed conflict zones to exploitation in destination countries via migratory routes” whose objective is to analyze the impact of rape as a weapon of war on sex trafficking and the exploitation of prostitution in destination countries, the SAMILIA Prize was awarded to a person who has contributed to significantly advancing the fight against human trafficking. This prize is awarded in collaboration with the Thierry Speeckaert Foundation.
This prize, worth €10,000, was awarded to Hrystyna Kit, for the Association of Ukrainian Women Lawyers “JURFEM”.
Hrystyna Kit, a lawyer, works in the field of women’s rights protection. In 2017, she was one of the initiators and co-founders of the Ukrainian Association of Women Lawyers “JURFEM”, of which she is currently the president.
Immediately after the start of the war, and with the numerous testimonies accumulated, JURFEM worked to build legal cases for victims of sexual violence in the context of armed conflicts to guarantee them compensation and the defense of their rights before international courts.
Indeed, the sexual violence suffered constitutes a major risk factor for vulnerability to human trafficking and the SAMILIA Foundation wished to honor, through JurFem and Hrystyna, all victims, whether Ukrainian, African or other, of sexual violence committed in the context of armed conflicts.
The SAMILIA Foundation thus intends to encourage the essential work carried out by representatives of civil society to highlight the different realities of this crime that is human trafficking.
Indeed, since 2007, the SAMILIA Foundation has been fighting against human trafficking. Inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (goals 8 and 16), it is part of a citizen movement with the aim of raising awareness and encouraging political authorities to take charge of this form of organized crime, which is very lucrative for traffickers.
It is to encourage this essential dynamic that the SAMILIA Prize – Thierry SPEECKAERT Foundation was awarded for the first time on October 18, 2021 to Frédéric Loore, investigative journalist, and will be awarded tomorrow to Hrystyna Kit.
