Andrea Tokaji¹

1 Fighting for International Justice Foundation

 This paper discusses the current gap in legislation and policy in relation to the trafficking of women and forced prostitution in Australia. International best practice models will be considered through a human rights framework and the proposal for a Women and Children’s Advocacy Centre will be outlined. It will be argued that an Advocacy Centre should address not only the therapeutic needs of survivors, but also provide restorative justice and appropriate dispute resolution processes for victims, and assistance with legal aid. In addition, an Advocacy Centre would operate as a exit program for women in the sex trade. Services provided in such a model would include mediation, dispute resolution and juvenile restorative processes for both survivors and perpetrators of gender based violent crimes – especially rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse – within a therapeutic and supportive case management context to enable a multi-disciplinary approach to the survivor’s rehabilitation and reintegration and the perpetrator’s rehabilitation through cognitive behavioural education diversion. This approach is a theoretical work in progress, and will require all relevant stakeholders support and contributions.