20,000 to Spain: Stop Deportation of Sexual Slavery Victim

Explosive campaign on Change.org demands government official in Madrid halt deportation of sexual slavery victim.

The sexual abuse survivor was arrested by Spanish authorities after her arrival and moved to a detention center, where she has been held for the past month. Photo courtesy: The BBC

(MADRID, Spain) - More than 20,000 people have joined a popular online campaign calling on Spanish immigration officials to halt the deportation of a woman fleeing sexual slavery.

The woman, a survivor of sexual slavery whose name cannot be published due to safety concerns, came to Spain to escape enslavement in another European country. She was arrested by Spanish authorities after her arrival and moved to a detention center, where she has been held for the past month.

Despite her reported willingness to cooperate with the judiciary, security forces, and Spanish government, the sexual slavery survivor has almost been deported twice and faces a third deportation attempt in the near future.

Soon after the arrest an online campaign to stop the deportation was launched on Actuable, a European campaigns platform recently acquired by Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change. Supporters claim that the deportation would put the sexual slavery survivor’s life in danger, and run contrary to Spain’s role as an ally in the international fight against sexual slavery networks.

"People all over the world are mobilizing to support a woman whom they believe faces imminent danger,” said Change.org’s Spain Country Director Francisco Polo. “The calls of more than 20,000 people will be difficult for the Spanish government to ignore, and this campaign seems likely to lead immigration officials to take another hard look at this case. Actuable and Change.org exist to empower anyone, anywhere to demand change on the issues that matter to them, and it’s clear that this campaign is striking a chord with a lot of people.”

In August of this year, a similar online petition on Actuable stopped the deportation of Algerian Sid Hamed Bouziane after just 6,000 people joined the campaign.

Live signature totals from campaign:
http://actuable.es/peticiones/delegada-del-gobierno-detenga-expulsion-una-victima-la

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