Princess’s mission

Saudi Princess Madawi Abdulrahman Al Saud continued her fight against human trafficking in the Gulf region by raising awareness at the annual St Christopher’s Cathedral dinner.

‘Human Beings are not for Trafficking’ was the topic of the night and the 29-year-old freedom fighter was the main speaker, sharing her thoughts and experiences about the horrors victims go through.

Princess Madawi said: “Some people are still in denial about human trafficking in the GCC and don’t even want to know about the issue.

“They believe that it doesn’t exist but sad to say, it does. I should know as I worked in a shelter in the UAE helping victims cope. It exists everywhere, even in Bahrain.

“The kingdom has a law against human trafficking here but not a lot of people know about it. This is why we need to raise awareness.

“I would love to have professional support from the governments across the Gulf to build shelters, add more laws and even train the law enforcement officers at the airport on how to tell the difference between a victim and a prostitute.

“Newcomers into a country could be handed brochures offering advice and details of what to be aware about, with numbers to call in case of emergency and perhaps a hotline could be set up to offer help.”

During the event, the princess touched the hearts of many with a short film sharing some statistics and facts about labour trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women and children.

She also used the opportunity to survey opinions and gather information. Princess Madawi conducted a similar survey in December 2013 on her last visit to the kingdom to promote the foundation at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) during the World Endurance Championships, as reported exclusively in GulfWeekly.

She said: “I conducted a similar survey last year and am sad to say that more than half of the people in Bahrain who responded didn’t know the problem exists.”

At the moment, the princess has set her sights on setting up a shelter for victims in Saudi Arabia.

Princess Madawi graduated from the Westminster University in London before completing her Masters in International Law at Sorbonne University and has now moved onto her PhD at Brunel University focusing on human sex trafficking.

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