History and present

Late 1990s

By the end of the 1990s, La Strada had launched a special telephone hotline to prevent human trafficking, and had created a template for addressing the issue of human trafficking at a government level and with the general public.

2000

2000 was a breakthrough year on the international scene when ‚The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children‘, supplementing the United Nations' ‚Convention against Transnational Organized Crime‘ (henceforth referred to as ‚the protocol‘) was negotiated. Its main significance was that it contained the first legally-binding and internationally-accepted definition of human trafficking. La Strada's inter­national network was represented at these protocol negotiations.

Within La Strada, just at the end of the year 2000, a template for social services to help trafficked women was decided upon and the organisation acquired its first emergency shelter at a undisclosed address. After dealing exclusively with trafficked women working in the sex industry, La Strada started in 2003 to encounter and offer its services to trafficked women employed in sewing workshops.

2004

2004 was of great significance for the Czech La Strada, and indeed for the organisation as a whole. La Strada had been pushing for a number of years in this country to have the Czech definition of human trafficking as a criminal offence changed to agree with that of the United Nations' protocol. In 2004, the Czech definition of human trafficking was altered so that it no longer only encompassed human trafficking with the view to exploiting people in the sex industry, but with the view of exploiting people in any other sector too.

La Strada started to offer its services to male clients as well.

In the same year, La Strada produced its first set of recommendations for the Czech government addressing the issue of human trafficking, and which summarised, from the point of view of the organisation, which steps should be taken to address the causes of human trafficking and offer effective help to trafficked persons.

In order to improve the organisation's work with its clientele, a counselling centre was opened where advice could be given to the clientele on a face-to-face basis, and where clients had access to information and communication technology.

The association La Strada International came into being with an administrative office situated in Amsterdam. The association links nine independent organisations in nine European countries.

2006

In 2006, La Strada broadened its operations significantly to encompass field work, specific activities aimed at the Vietnamese clientele, and legal services. The organisation also acquired more sheltered accommodation.

The Present Day

In recent years, La Strada has witnessed a rise in cases of exploitation in sectors other than just the sex industry.

La Strada successfully helped a client win compensation within a criminal trail.

La Strada is currently a member of the Global Alliance against Trafficking in Women (GAATW) which is based in Bangkok, and since 2008, is also a member of The Platform for Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM). In the Czech Republic, La Strada is a member of the Forum for Integration (FORINT).