The Hague. Netherlands.

I have been asked by the Dutch Rapporteur to assist in bringing together a group of well-respected experts from the United States, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Domestic sex trafficking between teenagers and young adults occurs in every country, but these six states are among the pioneers in their approach to fighting this atrocious crime. The attendants will be professionals who are combating sexual exploitation of children from different perspectives. Whether they are academics or governmental officials, involved in law enforcement or victim assistance; sharing their knowledge and experience will be mutually beneficial. We are confident that bringing all these experts together will lead to inspiring new insights and a fruitful exchange of promising practices to further improve the approach on domestic sex trafficking.

This meeting will coincide with a three day period in which two related events overlap: the ’19 Days of Activism – Prevention abuse and violence against Children/Youth’ organized by the Women’s World Summit Foundation from 1 to 19 November, and the Dutch ‘Week for Safety of Children’ from 17 to 23 November, initiated by the Dutch Taskforce on (Sexual) Abuse of Children. Therefore the expert meeting will be at the epicenter of attention for and efforts aimed at fighting sexual violence against children. As Mike is our Human Trafficking expert I am taking him along with me.

We started our journey from East Midlands airport with delays and cold coffee!! There was a moment as we boarded the plane when I felt obliged to ask if Mike could go in cargo when he insisted on trying to tell me what could go wrong on take off as we taxied down the runway!! Apparently it was too late to move him at that stage. But all was redeemed as we arrived after 7 hours at our hotel to find we had been upgraded in our rooms and they were fabulous. As we arrived we saw Sinterklaas (St Nicolas) make his annual grand entrance in the Scheveningen harbour and continued his journey through The Hague’s city centre.

We took a stroll out to grab something to eat and discovered The Hague by night.