VZCZCXRO6868
RR RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTC #0334/01 0451638
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141638Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4826
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJB/DOJ WASHDC
RUEHC/DOL WASHDC
RUEHAT/AMCONSUL AMSTERDAM 0370

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 000334 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL/IL, PRM, IWI, EUR/PGI, EUR/UBI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG NL
SUBJECT: DUTCH LAUNCH TIP OUTREACH CAMPAIGN 
 
THE HAGUE 00000334  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  The Dutch government launched a national 
outreach campaign January 12 to counter trafficking in 
persons in the prostitution sector.  The multimedia campaign 
is designed to increase awareness of the trafficking 
problem, and educate the public on how to identify potential 
victims and report them to the authorities.  The campaign is 
funded by the Justice Ministry and managed by the Dutch 
anonymous crime-reporting hotline, Meld M.  Initial 
reactions to the campaign have been positive.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The Dutch government and several NGO partners 
launched a national awareness campaign against trafficking 
in persons (TIP) and exploitation of prostitutes on January 
¶12.  The "Appearances Are Deceiving" campaign is targeted 
primarily at the clients of prostitutes and prostitutes 
themselves, as well as local residents, shopkeepers and taxi- 
drivers in areas where prostitution is common.  The 
objective is to promote awareness of the warning signs of 
trafficking and sexual exploitation, and encourage 
individuals to inform the police or the anonymous crime 
hotline if they observe anything suspicious.  The campaign 
is funded by the Justice Ministry and managed by the Dutch 
anonymous crime reporting hotline Meld Misdaad Anoniem, or 
Meld M (the Dutch equivalent of Crimestoppers 
International). 
 
¶3.  (U) Other parties participating in the design and 
implementation of the campaign are the regional police, the 
National Police Expert Group on Trafficking in People (TIP), 
the National Expertise Center on People Trafficking and 
Smuggling, the National TIP Rapporteur, the Foundation 
against Trafficking in Women (STV), the Red Thread 
organization for prostitutes, and Atalantas, an organization 
run by former TIP victims.  Ten police regions throughout 
the country, including Amsterdam, have committed to 
providing additional manpower to investigate reports of 
possible trafficking received by the hotline and to 
distribute campaign brochures. 
 
REACHING THE TARGET AUDIENCE 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The centerpiece, and most controversial component, 
of the campaign is an animated advertisement on a website, 
www.hookers.nl, frequented by clients of prostitutes, which 
has about 40,000 daily visitors.  Each page of the website 
includes the number of the Meld M hotline, along with 
warnings about trafficking.  Justice Ministry TIP specialist 
Sasja Hulscher told us that campaign planners determined 
that the website would be an effective vehicle to reach a 
wide audience in the key target group, the clients of 
prostitutes.  She said explicit language and graphics were 
used in the ad because it had to get the attention of those 
visiting the site, if it were to accomplish the campaign's 
objectives. 
 
¶5.  (U) In addition to the website ad, posters and brochures 
are being distributed throughout the country, by police in 
the ten participating police regions, local health and 
welfare departments, social service and victim assistance 
organizations, and by taxi drivers.  The material, which 
will be handed out on the street and posted in brothels and 
the restrooms of bars and restaurants, lists the warning 
signs of forced prostitution -- including fear, marks of 
physical abuse, and lack of interest -- along with the phone 
numbers of Meld M and the police, to which suspicions about 
abuse and potential trafficking victims can be reported 24 
hours a day.  It also refers readers to the STV website 
(www.mensenhandel.nl) for additional information on 
trafficking and forced prostitution. 
 
¶6.  (U) The animated website ad is in Dutch and English. 
Most of the printed material is currently available only in 
Dutch.  A Meld M official told us that they did not develop 
materials in other languages because the campaign is 
targeted primarily at residents of the Netherlands, who, she 
said, can be expected to speak Dutch.  The Rotterdam 
regional police district, however, used its own resources to 
have the flyers translated into Turkish and Bulgarian for 
distribution in that city.  The campaign is getting 
extensive coverage in national and local newspapers.  Ads 
will also be placed in free advertising papers delivered 
door-to-door throughout the country. 
 
CAMPAIGN STRATEGY 
----------------- 
 
 
THE HAGUE 00000334  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶7.  (U) The Justice Ministry press release announcing the 
campaign said that the police received 604 reports of 
suspected forced prostitution in 2004; on the basis of these 
reports investigations were initiated.  The STV registered 
405 alleged victims that year.  The press release noted that 
the clients of prostitutes, who may be aware of trafficking 
and other abuses, are often reluctant to report their 
suspicions to the police for privacy reasons; Meld M would 
provide an appropriate and safe alternative for those who 
did not want to contact the police. 
 
¶8. (SBU) MOJ TIP specialist Hulscher told us that the 
Justice Ministry had provided 60,000 euros to cover design, 
production and advertising costs for the campaign.  The 
participating police regions were contributing the manpower 
to distribute the printed materials.  She noted that the 
website ad would run initially for six months, after which 
the results would be evaluated.  If the evaluation were 
positive, the ad and other elements of the campaign would 
likely be continued.  Hulscher said that prior to launching 
the campaign, the MOJ held extensive consultations with 
regional police districts and other participating partners 
to design an effective campaign. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) She noted that a key concern had been to ensure 
that the police would be prepared to respond effectively to 
the hoped-for increase in phoned-in tips about trafficking 
cases.  Ten of the Netherlands' 25 police regions committed 
to providing the additional personnel resources to 
distribute the campaign materials and to investigate the 
tips received.  Extra publicity materials were provided in 
those ten regions.  Meld M employees also received special 
training on handling trafficking-related tips, in particular 
what questions to ask to ensure the police would have 
sufficient information to initiate an investigation.  All 
the information received on the hotline is immediately 
referred to the police in the relevant region for 
investigation. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Hulscher said that a preliminary assessment would 
be made after the first month of the campaign to determine 
whether it was generating an increase in the quantity and 
quality of reports from the public, or whether adjustments 
should be made in the campaign.  The Director of the 
National Expertise Center on Human Trafficking and Smuggling 
told us February 13 that the initial anecdotal evidence is 
positive.  Since January 15, Meld M has received 23 reports 
of suspected trafficking from the general public; in 2005, 
the hotline received only 52 such tips.  Hulscher added that 
the MOJ and its campaign partners would also assess whether 
to expand the outreach campaign to cover other forms of 
trafficking, such as labor exploitation.  She noted that it 
might be more difficult to design an outreach campaign to 
educate the public about trafficking for exploitation other 
than prostitution because it would be more difficult to 
determine the appropriate target audiences. 
 
(MOSTLY) POSITIVE RESPONSES 
--------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) On January 12, UNODC Executive Director Costa 
welcomed the launch of the Dutch campaign and said he hoped 
other countries would follow the Dutch example.  The 
European Parliament issued a press release endorsing the 
campaign.  National TIP Rapporteur Dien Korvinus told the 
press she was pleased with the campaign.  She noted that 15 
percent of all reports about forced prostitution currently 
come from customers of prostitutes.  National police 
coordinator for prostitution and TIP Ted Peer said that all 
tips received would be taken seriously. 
 
¶12.  (U) Amsterdam city council member and former prostitute 
Karina Schaapman, who co-authored a recent report on 
prostitution in Amsterdam, also welcomed the outreach 
initiative, but objected to the ad on the hookers.nl 
website, which she said was degrading to women.  Schaapman 
argued that it was inappropriate for the government to 
"subsidize" the site by paying for the advertisement.  She 
also objected to the explicit nature of the ad; the 
government must set a higher standard, she said. 
 
¶13.  (U) A spokeswoman for Meld M told us that the decision 
to advertise on the hookers.nl site had been made jointly by 
all parties involved in the campaign, including those 
representing prostitutes and victims.  All parties felt that 
use of the "club" with 40,000 daily customers would ensure 
wide distribution.  She added that, during a New Year's 
 
THE HAGUE 00000334  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
reception at the Amsterdam Prostitutes' Information Center 
(PIC), to which both police and customers were invited, 
customers had reacted positively to the campaign.  She said 
that campaign planners had gotten a similar positive 
reaction during a meeting with the Association of Brothel 
Owners (VER).  She said that Meld M was considering 
additional outreach actions over the next six months, 
including a special campaign on International Women's Day on 
March 8. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) The anti-trafficking outreach campaign launched 
in January is making a good start toward increasing public 
awareness of the problem of trafficking and forced 
prostitution and the need to combat it.  The campaign was 
designed to reach the two groups that are most likely to 
become aware of trafficking victims -- prostitutes and their 
clients -- and enlists their assistance to bring evidence of 
trafficking to the attention of authorities.  Importantly, 
the third group critical to the success of the campaign -- 
the police responsible for investigating reports of 
trafficking -- has played a key role in the design and 
implementation of the campaign.  The close coordination 
among government, police and civil society groups involved 
in TIP issues will help ensure the campaign contributes 
effectively to the long-term effort to combat trafficking. 
END COMMENT. 
 
BLAKEMAN