In order to address the many issues raised by the growth of traffiking and the presence of migrant women in prostitution in Europe, a transnational co.operation was established in year 2002, under the name of “Gender Street”, that combined four different national Equal projects, funded by Equal Initiative Programme of the European Union: LI.FE. – Libertà Femminilie (Italy), Strada: Recupero socio-lavorativo delle donne oggetto di tratta (Italy), Improving Future Job Opportunities for Victims of Traffiking in Person (the Netherlands), and SILA – Low Threshold Access to Counselling and Qualification for Female Sex Workers (Austria).

In implementig their work, the Gender Street partners shared the view that support and protection measure for vistims of trafficking and migrant sex workers should be based on the respect of individual human rights and on the principles of self-determination and empowermentEmpowerment L’empowerment, in italiano “potenziamento”, rappresenta un modello di servizio sociale attivo che consente a persone, organizzazioni, comunità, di valorizzare le proprie abilità e individuare risorse aggiuntive in sé stesse, nel proprio gruppo o nel proprio ambiente sociale, al fine di migliorare proattivamente l’equità e la qualità della propria vita.. This publication – the result of over two years of work – includes an analysis of the Italian, Dutch and Austrian legislations, obstacles and good practices regarding the social and labour inclusion for trafficked women and migrant sex workers, as well as recommendations towards international organisations, national governments, law enforcement agencies and non-governmental organisations.