A student representative from Institute Le Rosey had an opportunity to represent Future Unchained Europe and interviewed the founder of Innocence in Danger Homayra Sellier on June 5th. Homayra shared her experiences in this field as well as some challenges she has overcome.
Homayra Sellier is an esteemed advocate and expert in child protection. With over 20 years of experience in the field, including her work with the United Nations. Homayra Sellier has honed her skills in addressing the pressing issues of child abuse, exploitation, and online dangers. Her invaluable experience working at the forefront of international efforts has equipped her with a deep understanding of the complexities and challenges associated with safeguarding children’s well-being.
Q: What motivated you to start Innocence and Danger, and were there any stories that inspired you to take action and founded this organization?
A: I did not imagine that child abuse and child exploitation had been going on all over the world until I attended a conference. The conference was held at the headquarter of UNESCO with the head of state, ministries of defense, and investigators. The major goal of the meeting was to discuss the deconstruction of what was identified in 1999 as the greatest cybercriminal network involved in child exploitation.
The Internet, as we all know, was a marvelous tool. Its original design and purpose were not specifically intended for widespread use in our homes and daily lives. The Internet was first designed for military use and for the use of willing adults, but unfortunately, as with any other tool, it is in the hand of human beings. If it is not properly monitored, governed by rules, and held accountable, it can become a platform for committing difficult-to-detect crimes. The screen makes people think that there is a barrier between reality and themselves, which there is not.
I used to believe that only girls experienced sexual abuse, or that it only occurred in places with extreme poverty. However, at the conference, I discovered that it could also occur in developed and wealthy nations, where people have access to education and legal protections to understand that children should not be treated with any less respect than adults or used as sexual partners.
This gathering opened my eyes to its courage, which was back then smaller than what is today. Even back then it was terrible, so this is the main reason why I decided to do something. In the same year, Federico Mayor, the director–general of UNESCO, nominated me to carry out the action plan of his worldwide citizen movement called Innocence in Danger, and this is the genesis of Innocence in Danger.
Q: What were the challenges on the way?
A: It remains a highly taboo subject that instills fear and causes people to avoid discussing it, making it difficult to mobilize support and seek help. I would say we are a group of brave soldiers protecting our children. It is an act of bravery, an act of courage, an act of belief in human nature and of humanity. You won’t encounter these beautiful qualities in everybody, at least not very easily.
Furthermore, there is an additional economic challenge. If it is hard to engage people to help you because they are afraid of the subject, it is even more difficult to have people get engaged financially to fight a worldwide urgent pledge.
Q: How do you think we can get rid of the taboo and start making people talk about it more?
A: I believe that what we are currently doing is a positive step forward. I also have a strong belief that the responsibility for change lies within your generation. Because you are much more fearless than my generation was, and you have already been exposed to so much that it will be easier to engage in a conversation with your generation and to have the courage to change the situation.
Those who are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation never intend to be victims; instead, it is our responsibility to lend a helping hand, to enable them to access therapy and rehabilitation, and ultimately, to assist them in becoming a part of our communities, to be economically powerful, to find love, to get married, and have children who believe in others and believe in themselves. We can accomplish this by planning our actions with young people like you since, in the next 15 years, you will be the ones directing political assemblies and making decisions for our communities and society. You and your kids are holding the keys to this world’s future.
What I want to emphasize is the importance of equipping ourselves with this kind of knowledge as we step into adulthood. It’s not just about raising our children; we are also shaping the future parents and leaders of society. With this viewpoint in mind, we have the chance to better the preparation our ancestors gave to our future generations. We face unique challenges in the age of the internet, where it can be both a valuable tool and a potential danger. There was no internet during my time, and we didn’t need to learn how to handle its dangers. Considering this, I believe that the education of your generation will be crucial in facing the challenges that lie ahead.
Q: We learn that you interact with victims and spend time with them a lot. What kind of processes are they going through after they get rescued?
A: Victims who are sexually abused can also be the victims of trafficking. Once the victims are identified, Innocence in Danger will study what has happened to them, and in a way enlist a judicial profile for them, to see if there are enough elements in our hands to help them access justice and make the perpetrators be sentenced and condemned. However, if the only evidence is messy words from traumatized victims and there is a lack of additional proof of what happened, there is a potential that the judge or the prosecutor wouldn’t believe the victim, which makes it difficult to bring the perpetrator to justice.
While achieving complete justice through the judicial system may not always be entirely possible, it is an important goal to strive forwards. Besides, there is another crucial step, which is providing therapeutic support to victims, beyond just traditional psychotherapy. I do not believe in psychotherapy for sexual abuse, because psychotherapies are based on words. Victims talk for hours and hours with a therapist, but this approach may not be practical for children or teenagers who may not have the means to access or afford ongoing therapy. It becomes impractical to financially support therapy for hundreds of victims.
On the contrary, I have a strong belief in cognitive therapies such as EMDR, which focuses on the mind, and I also recognize the importance of therapies that involve the body. It has been scientifically proven that trauma is not only stored in brains but also in bodies, as bodies retain memories of past experiences. We offer a wonderful program consisting of retreats held during school vacations.
These retreats are centered around therapeutic workshops, including artistic workshops, equine therapy with horses or other animals in a natural setting, yoga and meditation, and music therapy. Since 2013, thousands of children have benefited from these several disciplines and retreats, which were first accepted as therapeutic by Germany, India, and countries in South America before being acknowledged by the United States.
Q: When you’re talking with them, what do you do to make them feel more comfortable, or what are the things that you have to keep in mind when you’re talking to them?
A: First of all, they need to feel safe talking to you. So, where and how we talk to them is very important. I have great interactions with the survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking, but I rarely ask them important questions right away because I want to make sure they feel secure enough to confide in me. When there are important points, I will just write them down and wait for the right opportunity to ask the question, especially when the answers are useful in court or help to build the judicial profile. It is very important to address them respectfully. You have to build trust with them and make them know that you understand that it was not their fault and you only want to help.
What’s more, don’t ask for anything in return. Let them know that it’s okay if they don’t want to talk and that they can talk at any time about anything they need. Emotional intelligence is important here. You can’t have a productive conversation unless you understand what it means to be a victim and you truly engage with their experiences to understand where they are coming from.
Q: As a student, what do you think is the best way that we could raise awareness and help with the issue?
A: I believe that to increase awareness, you have to first understand what is happening. You cannot talk about something that you do not even know well about. If you want to spread awareness and participate in this cause, you should watch more documentaries and movies that are based on real-life cases of sexual abuse, human trafficking, and exploitation. Also, you can read more about how abuse affects the brain and overall health. Once you have this information, you may then decide if you are capable of supporting this cause.
I don’t come from a background that specifically tailored me to become the person I had become in this topic, not to mention that I had a beautiful childhood. I was raised by devoted parents who were very protective of me, so I was unaware of child abuse. However, a friend of mine who had experienced sexual abuse committed suicide. Therefore, her life trajectory mobilized me. I went to conferences, sat down with victims, and tried to understand them. The more I learned, the more I realized this is what I want to do. Thus, we must first acquire knowledge before being mobilized.
Q: I watch a lot of documentaries, and they often talk about how the traffickers ended up in jail, which doesn’t shed much light on the victims.
A: You are right. Unfortunately, the effects on victims’ mental health, their paths to rehabilitation, and the challenges they face are hardly discussed in documentaries or movies. Since I’ve been doing this work for 25 years, I have a lot of vivid stories of the people I’ve saved and am still helping today. And I thought, if I ever get the chance to meet some scriptwriters, I’d be pleased to share some of these stories with them so that these authors might bring the stories to life on screen.
Q: Regarding human trafficking, the number of victims increased by 50% since 2019, do you think there’s a reason for this sudden increase?
A: I think there are a few reasons for the increase. One of them is that we talk more about sex trafficking and human trafficking than before. We know more since we have had access to media. COVID-19 exacerbated the issue, as victims faced increased isolation and difficulties seeking help. Additionally, the internet gave perpetrators a platform to share harmful information and target victims.
Another aspect is the fact that our laws are still quite inadequate in the subjects. For instance, no one seems to be talking about any of the laws regarding child pornography on social media, which is why traffickers and other undesirables have been allowed to advance quickly. Because the mass public has not done enough. Though I do believe if we are mobilizing others, we can push our governments and our leaders to address these questions with more vigor and more solemn.
Q: The current law only sentences human traffickers to a maximum of 20 years in prison. Do you think in the future this law will change and extend the serving time?
A: I don’t think the laws will change if we don’t do anything about it. For me, 20 years is not enough. A 20-year sentence could mean that an individual convicted at the age of 30 could be released by the time they are 50 years old, potentially allowing them to continue their criminal activities. Moreover, traffickers could still have access to the internet inside the prison.
Therefore, it is necessary for laws to become stricter to effectively combat these issues and ensure appropriate punishment for offenders. One strategy could involve pressuring traffickers to disclose names and identify their partners. Trafficking, like any form of organized crime, operates within extensive networks. By pushing individuals to contribute critical information, the judicial department can better know and handle the scope of these networks. This strategy can improve accountability and more successfully dismantle these criminal networks.
Q: One example I can think of now is the Menendez Brothers. Even right now they’re still gaining a lot of attention. To me, it’s very unfair because the very reason they killed their parents is that they were sexually abused by their father. Their parents should’ve been sent to jail instead of them.
A: Unfortunately, 30 to 40 percent of people who rape children are also sexual abuse survivors. They struggle with psychological issues and mental health issues. They have, nevertheless, done the crime, and ruined the life of numerous children. So, in my opinion, for them to be sanctioned is normal and is necessary because child predator commits up to 120 rapes in their lifetime.
The solution, in my opinion, is to assist victims when they are offered several choices to heal so they do not choose to become delinquent or a rapist themselves. My goal is to offer other alternatives to victims when they are young, so as they grow, they don’t even envisage becoming rapists. They would realize they have other choices because they have discovered art, nature, sports, love, dignity, and respect.
This task must be done, and the more involved we are in it, the better off we will be in the long run. It takes an army to raise a child, an army to defend a child, and an army to provide a more secure upbringing and environment for ourselves and our children.