A/HRC/41/46 (AMKAS) in Nepal, an NGO made up entirely of women migrant workers, including survivors of trafficking for labour exploitation, especially for domestic servitude, who carry out national and international advocacy work, as well as paralegal and psychosocial counselling, and work for survivors’ economic empowerment. They have achieved impressive results in terms of survivors’ economic empowerment, by mapping the skills that returnees possess against the demands of the market, and by setting up small collective businesses, taking into account survivors’ interests. In order to set up businesses, they created cooperatives out of their savings, where each woman returnee can take a loan to start an activity of her choice at much lower interest rates than those charged by banks, which very often are not keen on giving loans to women. Out of a spirit of mutual trust born of having shared similar exploitative working conditions, women running these cooperatives were able to make them profitable in only six years, breaking all forms of gender stereotype and of stigma associated with their trafficking and exploitation experience. 26. Another interesting practice as regards survivor-led empowerment projects is that of Polaris, an NGO in the United States of America, which has recently launched Survivor Innovation Labs. The project consists of a database of about 200 survivors who are offered a variety of paid consultancies in the anti-trafficking field and who can choose when, where, how often, and on what topics they work. Recognizing that many survivors have no interest in anti-trafficking work, Polaris also works to establish corporate partnerships in sectors such as hospitality, social media, technology and aviation to create scalable survivorcentred employment models. As emphasized by survivors themselves, their participation in anti-trafficking actions should always remain voluntary. 27. In Asia, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women network facilitates peer support groups of survivors who advise trafficked persons still in their recovery phase on various issues related to their integration process. This network of NGOs has also raised concerns around the risk of dependency that support programmes can create. Service providers need to strike a balance between providing assistance and building autonomy. It is also important to have standards of care and case supervision which can identify and address issues related to victims’ dependency on care providers, as they arise. Having come from a position of heavy dependency on traffickers, participation and decision-making power are new models of behaviour for trafficked persons, towards which they are often, at least initially, ambivalent. 28. Peer-to-peer support has also been successful in promoting survivors’ integration in the Netherlands. The NGO Humanitas has been working with a system of “buddies” for trafficked persons, especially victims of sexual exploitation. The buddies are volunteers, often survivors of trafficking themselves. They serve as guides for navigating society and the labour market in the Netherlands, and also, having experienced trafficking themselves, as psychological support. This gives two-way assistance to victims of trafficking to help them find their place in the host society. 29. Noting with concern that civil society is facing increasing challenges in almost all countries of the world today, the Special Rapporteur recalls that civil society plays a formidable role in this field, as it offers grass-roots experience, expertise and flexibility. She underscores that it can also play an important role in sensitizing families and communities to understand and accept survivors. 3. (a) Restoring trafficked persons’ dignity and reputation Combating stigma, discrimination and xenophobia 30. Escaping from trafficking is a critical moment for victims. Yet, returning to “normal” life is an even more complex, long and challenging process for trafficked persons, who, in some cases, were already marginalized prior to their trafficking experience. In many contexts, the first steps following trafficking are accompanied by a set of challenges that directly affect victims’ dignity and reputation. Victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, mainly women and girls, may face stigma related to the nature of the experience they went through. Others may have been exposed to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, which may increase their marginalization. It is frequent for 9