We ar ea team of volunteers. Please bear with us that we would rather dedicate our time towards our major activities. If you need urgent assistant, please use the form on this page to write us.
- Awareness raising for the general public using art, new & traditional media and events.
- Stakeholders capacity building through workshops and lectures.
- Victim support by holding first counselling and networking to appropriate organisation.
- Research and documentation of cases of human trafficking.
- Counselling for those who want to start a project against human trafficking or those who want to report human trafficking.
EXIT is a non-governmental, non-religious and non-profit organization based in Vienna. Our organization is dedicated to combating human trafficking from Africa to Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. EXIT was founded in 2006 by the Nigerian author and human rights activist Joana Adesuwa Reiterer with the purpose of bringing to light the existence and crime of human trafficking in Austria.
Working closely with journalist, filmmakers, actors & Actresses, civil society and governmental stakeholders, we continue to implement several awareness raising projects like facilitating book release, media reports, theatres and films on the topic. Our mission is to break the silence and mobilise everyone to take one action against human trafficking.
“Victims & vulnerable people all want exactly the things you want the most – security, choice
and a life with dignity!”…….Joana Adesuwa Reiterer
“Are we aware?” by Emanuel Danesch
“Are we aware?” is a newly developed documentary film portraying human trafficking from Nigeria to Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation, with film footage from the Na Wa awareness rasing Festival Event held in June of 2011 in Nigeria.
WARE FRAU, BY CORINNA MILBORN AND MARY KREUTZER (RECHERCHE UNTERSTÜTZT VON JOANA ADESUWA REITERER)
Ware Frau Digital – Amazon/Kindle
- Successfully implemented over 15 awareness raising events “Na Wa Festival” in Nigeria and in Austria during 2011/2012
- Implemented more than 20 projects in Nigeria and Austria since 2006.
- Produced short films, documentaries and facilitated media reports on the topic of human trafficking.
- Recognized by the Austrian league for Human rights with the 2009 “Human rights Awards”.
- Comprised of international and multi-lingual staff from Austria, Nigeria and United States.
- Our founder as well as our Organisation has been recognized by several awards for its engagements against violence.
- EXIT was founded in June 2006 during the production of the short film “Greener Pastures”. This film portrays the story of a Nigerian woman who was trafficked for prostitution to Vienna. The no-budget film was made possible by the support of Austrian Film students. “Greener pastures” was screened in schools in Edo state, Nigeria, to raise awareness among vulnerable youths. These awareness activities in Nigeria was documented by the Austrian national Television channel, ORF 2 “Am Schauplatz”. The program was broadcast in February 2007 and resulted into multiple media response. A further result of the airing of the documentation was that sex-Clients, who had heard similar stories from prostitutes on the street, contacted Mrs. Reiterer. Through counselling these men, about 15 victims were reached. That´s how our social counselling started.
DIE WASSERGÖTTIN. AUTORIN
Weltbild (Hardcover) /Knaur (Softcover) 2008/2009.
Zur Buchpräsentation Anfrage
HEXEN KIND. JOANA ADESUWA REITERER
edition a 12.10.2011
Past projects
Nawa Festival
Na Wa Festival is an awareness raising campaign against human trafficking. Following the first lap of the festival in summer 2011 held in Nigeria, Na Wa Launches its second lap in Vienna, Austria. Organized in cooperation with the yearly human rights festival “thishumanworld”, feature and documentary films debating human trafficking would be screened starting december 1st. Na Wa Festival would host two film premieres and panel discussions in Top kino and Schikaneder Kino.
“Enhancing Multi-stakeholders cooperation to fight human trafficking in countries of origin and destination” was an 18-months project designed to build capacity of stakeholders and raise awareness of human trafficking and undocumented migration in a selected country of origin and six destination countries. The project was jointly implemented by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, International Organization for Migration and the civil society organization, EXIT. NGO EXIT was responsible for the implementation of the awareness raising component of the project which included organizing a traveling film festival in three endemic Nigeria states, implementing and monitoring follow-up activity in Nigeria, developing of a documentary for training, organizing screening events in Vienna and disseminating the documentary for follow-up workshops in Europe. The main objective of the awareness component of the project was to foster prevention by raising awareness about the complexity of the issue among relevant stakeholders and vulnerable groups.
The traveling film festival in Nigeria lunched „Na Wa Festival“ was designed to host series film screenings and interactive activities. Na Wa Festival was a nine day event designed to facilitate dialogue on issues relating to human trafficking and the exploitation of African migrants in Europe. The nine-day festival, which began on June 13, 2011, had approximately 1329 attendees, including both government officials and members of civil society. Other attendees included Nollywood (Nigeria’s film industry) professionals, vulnerable groups/communities, academics and religious practitioners. The festival took place in 3 Nigerian states namely Abuja, Edo state and Lagos state. Through film screenings and other interactive activities like book readings, panel discussions, strategic networking events, consultation meetings and media relations, and the festival prompted an active debate and participation of target audiences. Furthermore, 3000 free DVD packages consisting of six films portraying the reality for victims of trafficking and undocumented migration were disseminated for further awareness raising.
Following the traveling film festival in Nigeria, three follow up initiatives were selected based on an open call for proposal launched by NGO EXIT. Selected initiatives were granted funds to replicate the Na Wa Festival. Follow up activities utilized the disseminated films to educate about 1700 vulnerable individuals through grassroots operations in Edo and Lagos state. The civil society organization GPI, implemented further follow-up projects that led to the weekly airing of all six films on the local television network in Edo state.
A 25-minutes documentary film, “Are we Aware?“ was developed by the Austrian filmmaker Emanuel Danesch to train stakeholders from judiciary, law enforcement and civil society. The documentary, which portrays trafficking from Nigeria to Europe and analyzes push factors, cohesion of victims and identification of victims was disseminated to participating stakeholders, interested civil society organizations in Austria and study-visit participants.
The European lap of the awareness-raising initiative was launched in Vienna on December 1-2, 2011. The festival was launched with a press conference and three film screenings/discussion events held in two Viennese cinemas. Screening events in Vienna saw the participation of the Nigerian ambassador to Austria who later initiated a follow-up lecture targeting the Nigerian community leaders. Awareness raising materials including the film packages were disseminated to stakeholders and study-visit participants to initiate follow-up screenings.
The awareness raising component of the project reached approximately 2700 individuals directly, while continuous on going usage of the film, airing on television of the films as well as media reports reaches thousands of viewers and readers in Nigeria and in Europe. The Festival served as a starting point for a series of awareness-raising activities and discussions about human trafficking. As films selected showcased personal stories of victims of trafficking in various European countries, the realities of life in Europe for trafficked victims were diversely conveyed. Through testimonials of victims and exchange of information during respective awareness events, participants from civil society gained additional knowledge on how to identify victims and protect potential victims against the luring promises of traffickers. Also family members and vulnerable young girls were reminded about the need to seek deeper information on any offer to Europe. The festival brought more visibility on the issue of trafficking in persons and the dangers associated with it, which led to further exchange of ideas for future collaboration with Nollywood professionals and European filmmakers and researchers on developing realistic home videos for the Nigerian local market. Initial evaluation clearly indicates that the awareness-raising component of this project has successfully paved the way for continued action and dialogue on the issue of human trafficking from Nigeria to Europe.
Nawa Festival follow up
As a follow-up to the Na Wa Festival initiative to raise awareness on the ills of human trafficking, held June 2011 in Nigeria, the following projects have been selected;
Project 1 – Adesuwa Initiative Youths club – AIYC
Target group/Geographical region: Female secondary school students and Church youths in Benin City, Nigeria
Implementing Organization/Agency: Adesuwa Initaitves, Nigeria
Project “Adesuwa Initiative Youth Club (AIYC)” would host 6 film screenings, 6 facilitated group debates and discussions, weekly individual counseling for six months and 2 essay competition laps about the topic of human trafficking. Films would be screened by school students and church youths on a monthly basis for the period of six months, starting November 2011 to end April 2012. After each film screening, students and youths would be encouraged to debate and ask questions relating to the film topics they have watched. Representatives from Adesuwa Initiative and NAPTIP would be invited to answer questions and discuss with students.AISC seeks to empower the target group through screening human trafficking related film, group debates and individual counseling on a personal level.
Project 2 – Lets stand Tall……understanding the dignity of womanhood
Target group/Geographical region: Secondary school students and Nollywood professionals in Lagos State, Nigeria
Implementing Organization/Agency: Divas Dynasty production Ltd
On the 11th of November 2011, Divas dynasty would host the maiden edition of her sensitizing program to empower and educate young girls. Starring Nolywood starts and prominent guest speakers, the program would host discussions and film screenings, including the Na Wa Festival film “A Place of Peace” by Michael Sokolar. As guest speaker on human trafficking, a representative from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) would provide young girls and students with useful information on the ills of sexual exploitation in Europe. The awareness raising Event would be recorded for airing on Divas Dynasty television airing channels to reach out to a broader audience. Sponsored by local and international companies and agencies, “Lets stand tall” has incooperated the anti-human trafficking awareness in its program agenda as a follow-up initiative of the Na Wa festival.
Project 3 – War Against Human Trafficking
Target group/Geographical region: Christian and Muslim women forums, student forums in Lagos state, Nigeria
Implementing Organization/Agency: Innovative Strategy for Human Development (ISHD)
War Against Human Trafficking is an awareness raising dialouge between religious groups and student forums on the issue of human trafficking. On the 7th of December 2011, the project will commence dialouge with fe,male religious forums such as the Women’s Wing of the Religious Association (WOWICAN and FOMWAN) and with the Students’ Forum on the 25th of January 2012. Lagos state has been selected as a pilot State, while Ikorodu Local Area has been selected as the pilot LGA for the state. This stems out of consideration of the rural/suburbs of Lagos State like Badagry, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, etc. of which Ikorodu is one, and these are areas where the Trafficked Persons are routed through to get into the metropolis or to the international route.The proposed initiative would tackle two thematic debates stated as follows:
- Role of traditional practices and religion within the trafficking network and anti trafficking sectors in relation to sexual exploitation in Europe.
- Role of family members in relation to human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Europe
IDIA DESIGN & HANDWERK AKADEMIE (German)
Das neue Modulsystem, das EXIT für den in der Vergangenheit bereits erfolgreich durchgeführten IDIA Schmuckkurs entwickelt hat, ermöglicht den Teilnehmerinnen ein rasches und kompaktes Erlernen der Grundlagen im Bereich der Schmuck-und Taschenherstellung im Rahmen eines Basismoduls. In diesem verpflichtenden Modul werden neben Materialkunde und technischen Inhalten auch Grundlagen im Bereich Marketing und Vertrieb vermittelt. Das Erlernen dieser Inhalte soll es den Teilnehmerinnen ermöglichen, die im Laufe der Ausbildung angeeigneten Fähigkeiten auch im Rahmen einer selbständigen Tätigkeit als Kunsthandwerksdesignerinnen und -produzentinnen umzusetzen. Das zweite verpflichtende Modul des Trainingsprogramms ist das Modul Management. In diesem Modul lernen die Teilnehmerinnen Grundlagen im Bereich Buchhaltung und Recht, die sie als Selbständige Designerinnen und Produzentinnen benötigen. Das Modul drei behandelt das Thema Design. Die Einheiten dieses Moduls sind darauf ausgelegt, die Kreativität der Teilnehmerinnen zu wecken und zu schulen. Die Teilnehmerinnen werden mit professioneller Unterstützung lernen, ihre Ideen als Designs zu Papier zu bringen. Weitere verpflichtende Module sind Marketing, Video & Fotographie, Computer und bei Bedarf Deutsch Nachhilfe. Die Inhalte in diesen Modulen sollen die Teilnehmerinnen auf die Tätigkeit als selbständige Designerinnen vorbereiten.
Der erfolgreiche Abschluss der verpflichtenden Module (Module 1-7) ist die Voraussetzung für den Abschluss aller weiterer Module. Im Anschluss daran können die Teilnehmerinnen je nach persönlichen Fähigkeiten und Interessen verschiedene Aufbaumodule (Module 8-12) absolvieren, die auf das Erlernen spezifischer Techniken in der Schmuckherstellung abzielen. Während die Module 1-7 sowohl theoretische als auch praktische und kreative Einheiten beinhalten, sind die Aufbaumodule sehr praxisorientiert angelegt. Im Moment bietet EXIT die Aufbaumodule „Knüpfen“, „Arbeiten mit Metall“, „Perlenherstellung mit Polymer Clay“, „Serviettentechnik“ und „Taschen“ an. Je nach Interesse der Teilnehmerinnen und der Fähigkeiten der KursleiterInnen kann das Angebot an Aufbaumodulen auch erweitert werden. Gemäß unserer Erfahrung in früheren Ausbildungskursen legen wir in unserem Kurssystem großen Wert auf Flexibilität. Wir ermöglichen es unseren Teilnehmerinnen daher, bereits während ihrer Teilnahme an den verpflichtenden Modulen auch ein oder mehrere Aufbaumodule zu besuchen. Die gleichzeitige Teilnahme ist für die Teilnehmerinnen besonders sinnvoll, da eigne Designs im Aufbaumodul praktisch umgesetzt werden können. Umgekehrt werden die Teilnehmerinnen lernen, die Beschaffenheit der verwendeten Materialien in ihre Designs einzuplanen, diese zu vermarkten und das benötigte Budget zu berücksichtigen.
Trotz der zeitgleichen Teilnahme an zwei Modulen gilt der erfolgreiche Abschluss der verpflichtenden Module als Voraussetzung für den Abschluss eines Aufbaumoduls.Die Evaluierung der Teilnehmerinnen eines Moduls erfolgt auf Basis der Anwesenheit in den Kurseinheiten (mind. 80%) sowie einer schriftlichen Prüfung am Ende des Kurses beziehungsweise das Design und die Anfertigung eines selbst entworfenen Schmuckstückes am Ende des Semesters. Am Ende der Ausbildung ist von den Teilnehmerinnen das verpflichtende Abschlussmodul zu belegen. Ziel dieses Moduls ist es, ein eigenes Werkstück zu entwerfen und herzustellen. Dieses soll von den TeilnehmerInnen so entworfen werden, dass möglichst viele der während des Semesters in den verschiedenen Kursen erlernten Techniken Anwendung finden. Dabei erhalten sie Unterstützung durch gezieltes Coaching durch eine/n KursleiterIn. Nach erfolgreicher Absolvierung des Kurses erhalten die Teilnehmerinnen ein Zertifikat, das über Inhalte und Umfang der Ausbildung Auskunft gibt. Detalierte Informationen zu unserem Kursprogramm finden Sie hier.
Anmeldung via mail an office@ngoexit.org
Semesterbeginn: 05.04.2013
Vorraussichtliches Ende: 22.08.2013