Not For Sale South Africa is pleased to announce it has secured a property in Cape Town for a new crisis center.

For several months, the organization has been working towards expanding its efforts in South Africa in 2012. In particular, the team has been on the hunt for a suitable property to provide emergency support and care for survivors of modern slavery in the capital.

The team, led by Not For Sale Coordinator Christina Bacino, is delighted to confirm it has just signed off on a new building that will provide these essential services. The center will be entirely funded by proceeds raised at the recent Passion 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Recognizing an essential local need, the new crisis center will provide specialized shelter and support for survivors before they are interviewed by law enforcement about their experiences.

Many survivors have experienced extremely traumatic circumstances. More often than not, they feel vulnerable, and rarely do they have the capacity to trust anyone offering them help.

Not For Sale believes it is imperative to their healing that survivors receive the correct care as soon as they are identified–to protect them from slipping back into the hands of traffickers. Providing them with this immediate care could significantly boost the number of survivors willing to report their stories to law enforcement and, as a direct result, the number of convictions.

Speaking about the new center, Saskia Wishart, who works with Not For Sale on its international projects, said, “We are so overwhelmed by the generosity of the Passion 2012 students which has made this project possible.

“Ever since the funding was announced I have been running through the stories in my head of the individual girls whose lives will be changed by this development. The potential is totally inspiring. I can’t stress enough the importance of having an immediate location of safety for victims to be placed in after an intervention.”

Not For Sale would like to thank all the students who attended Passion 2012 and generously made donations that have enabled the organization to expand its scope in South Africa by setting up this crisis center.

We will have more updates on how the project is progressing very soon.