In 2000 Frank Cool founded De Ketelpatrouille in Antwerp, Belgium.

De Ketelpatrouille is a grass roots social service that assists women from Nigeria working as prostitutes in Antwerp.

Many of the women De Ketelpatrouille assists have migrated to Europe using smuggling or trafficking networks.

Wim Vandekerckhove is a researcher at the Center for Ethics and Value Inquiry at the University of Ghent who works closely with De Ketelpatrouille. Wim has authored several articles on ethics and prostitution policy. [article 1] [article 2]

In part one of this audio interview Wim and Frank talk about the distance between those who make human trafficking policies and the realities of those whom the policies are intended to help.

This is an interesting little piece I saw a while back on the BBC’s website:

French parking fine dodger upheld

The article is on a woman who won a court battle against the city of Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb of Paris, because the parking meters only took prepaid cards not cash.

The article states that many parking meters in Paris only take prepaid cards because "vandals" were breaking into meters and taking the cash.

What the story did not say was that some social workers and researchers who work in Paris on prostitution and human trafficking issues believe that the majority of these “vandals� were Roma young adults and children who lived within and on the outskirts of Paris.

“The reason why they come is rather simple. They come to Europe because in their own country there is no way to survive.� -Frank Cool. Director, De Ketelpatrouille

The building De Ketelpatrouille used as a temporary shelter was closed by the City of Antwerp in July of 2004. Details of the closing follow this piece.

Antwerp, Belgium. July 2003

The De Ketelpatrouille hospice sits on the second and third floors of a small building nestled amongst the brothels of Antwerp, Belgium. It is part of a network set up to aid Nigerian women working as prostitutes in Antwerp.

The network consists of the local bars where most of the women solicit clients, the University of Antwerp health clinic, the De Ketelpatrouille hospice, and De Ketelpatrouille’s social workers, who are all volunteers.