Rosie Hooton
Working with survivors of sexual exploitation in Greece
Positioned at Europe’s crossroads, Greece has become a gateway where vulnerable women and children are exploited by trafficking networks.
Prostitution is legal in Greece under specific conditions (which are rarely met), and its existence is accepted as part of life, but people involved in it are despised. Sex traffickers bring victims into the country, as well as finding and exploiting vulnerable people who are already here.
Vision
It’s very hard for someone caught up in the sex trade to leave it – it needs opportunity, courage, and the ability to still have hope that life can get better. But staying out is hard too, in different ways. Most survivors in Greece are foreign, some can’t find or hold down a job because of racism, their trauma, lack of education, criminal record, mental health, physical challenges, and family situations. I served in a local ministry to women on the streets and in brothels, until God led me to change focus to the other side of the problem. My team currently runs two small businesses -a shop and a cleaning company – and employs survivors, offering mentoring, and on the job training.
Our goal is to help the women we support to lay foundations for their future, providing legal and safe jobs, helping them fill in gaps in their education, and re-building a healthy identity as people who are not defined by their past, but know they have value and dignity. Above all, we want to witness Christ to them, in our actions as well as our words. He is the one who can truly restore and heal.
About me
I oversee the work of our company and work in one of the freedom businesses, alongside the ladies we have hired. As part of our skills training programme for our employees, I teach English, and help with computer classes. The highlight of my week is usually doing bible study with the ladies who are interested.
I attend a small local Greek church, where I have been ‘adopted.’ I have a love for the Greek language and have been speaking it for many years. As the years progress, I hope to become ‘more Greek’, to reach the Greek.