Girls and women trafficking survivors say that staying in Atina’s safe house helped them to “unburden their souls,” “purge their suffering,” and “gently release the fear.” In those words lies more pain than we can imagine – and more courage than the world often knows how to recognize.

In the summer of 2003, NGO Atina opened the first safe house for girls and women who were trafficked. Since then, for 22 years, not a single day has passed without the doors of that house ever once closed. Because pain doesn’t take a break. And neither does Atina.

Providing safe accommodation is the lifeline in the recovery process of these women – without it, that process would be almost unimaginable. This service has proven crucial in reducing the risk of violence and exploitation, but also in breaking free from multigenerational poverty. It allows women and girls to recognize their strength and potential, recover, grow stronger, and regain dignity.
 

Since 2018, this service has been officially licensed as assisted housing, and to this day, it has supported over 600 girls and women. It wasn’t just an address for each of them – it was the first moment they felt safe again, the first day without fear, the first breath of freedom.

You can find the full report on this ongoing struggle at: Housing solutions tailored for women: Continuity, Quality, Togetherness | atina

As well as the testimonies of women who have been part of it.
These are not confessions—they are testimonies of survival, of a fight that continues, even when the world turns away and walks on.