ABOUT US
Disrupting modern slavery’s profitability.
Step Up Stop Slavery is a registered, Cyprus-based NGO disrupting trafficking and modern slavery through multi-disciplinary collaboration, trauma-informed education and
survivor support.
A three-pillar approach
Step Up supports the Cyprus government’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to combat human trafficking through a three-pillar approach:
● Multi-agency collaboration
● Education as prevention
● Survivor support
Multi-agency collaboration
Based on the four ‘P’ paradigm – Prevention, Prosecution, Protection, Partnership - to combat modern slavery, we collaborate with leading organisations and individual experts
to implement victim detection, identification and support mechanisms. In this way, we assist and amplify the efforts of stakeholders across sectors.
We work with survivor leaders, in line with the recommendations of the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, ODHIR and ISTAC (International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory
Council). We also collaborate with the offices of EU Human Trafficking National Rapporteurs, as well as with Cyprus front-line responders and field experts.
Education as prevention
To counter trafficking and exploitation, we provide training in early identification, prevention and proactive responses, to:
● Schools, teachers and students
● Airport and airline staff,
● Hospitality professionals
● Finance sector professionals
● Law enforcers
● Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
● Social welfare services
● Health professionals
● Immigration officers
● Labour officers
Programmes for schools
We are collaborating with the Cyprus Education Ministry to offer trauma-informed training to public and private schools, teachers and students,
while empowering school administrators, educators and children to prevent, respond to and report incidences of online grooming, child exploitation and trafficking.
Programs for Businesses
Given how slavery and trafficking are a growing ESG concern for businesses and financial institutions we provide comprehensive consultation
services of risk analysis and training to audit, identify, report and eliminate organisations’ exposure to forced labour in their supply chains, partnerships and markets.
Survivor support
In a first for the island, Step Up Stop Slavery’s upcoming Survivors Support Centre will provide holistic professional support to adult victims of human trafficking. Services will
include: legal assistance, psychological support, social welfare services, and reintegration assistance.
To learn more about the Centre and to collaborate with us, Civil Society Organisation representatives and related stakeholders should click here.
What we offer
Bespoke workshops: To promote understanding and identification of Human Trafficking (HT) and modern slavery among front-line responders, in line with the
relevant targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Discussion forums & expert roundtables: Organised to share counter trafficking and modern slavery best practices between international experts and local stakeholders
HT training: Equipping legal, criminal justice and law enforcement professionals with the most up-to-date counter-trafficking protocols and practices
Modern slavery compliance: Risk assessment, supply-chain audits and strategies to identify and mitigate businesses’ and financial institutions’ exposure to modern slavery
HT prevention education: For public and private schools, educators and school-age children, to identify and pre-empt exploitation of minors and instill HT awareness
Holistic support services: Legal, psycho-social and reintegration assistance for trafficking survivors, in collaboration with other stakeholders
Public-private networks: Fostering ties between global experts, local stakeholders, front-line responders and NGOs, to transmit and deploy counter-trafficking best practices
Tech-based monitoring: Pioneering data-driven initiatives to track, pre-empt and disrupt modern slavery and HT across the region
How you can help
Keen to work with us, promote, donate or fundraise in support of our mission ? We would love to hear from you.
Who we are
Our team includes survivor leaders, veterans from the fields of law, compliance and AML, clinical counseling, social work, research and strategic communication, and expert
advisers focused on mental health, conflict zones and business activism.
Meet the Team
Our team of experts implements a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach to combating this global epidemic – which is needed if we are to truly disrupt the trafficking business model.
United in our commitment to bringing about global change, together we bring professional experience in law, law enforcement, anti-financial crime compliance and corporate governance, as well as supply chain management, psychotherapy and communications.
We also have the great honour of incorporating the powerful voices of trafficking survivors in our work. Their unique perspectives on the issue, offers invaluable insight into how best to support survivors, prevent future victims and disrupt the model.
Together with the survivor-leader voice, we also focus on implementing a trauma informed approach to all of our education programmes, trainings and activities.
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Katerina Stephanou
FOUNDER, CEO
Katerina is a pioneer and change maker, with over 20 years of corporate experience as a Solicitor, CAMS-certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and the Head of Global Compliance at a multinational organisation.
Katerina’s personal commitment to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking, was the driving force behind the establishment of Step Up Stop Slavery. Her high level Compliance experience gives her the unique perspective to approach the problem of human slavery from a holistic angle, appreciating the multi-disciplined element and the need for a co-ordinated approach to creating and implementing solutions.
Katerina uses her background in financial crimes compliance and holistic corporate governance structures to support corporations and financial institutions identify and report proceeds emanating from human slavery. Uniting all elements needed to effectively fight trafficking, Katerina also bring the survivors’ voices into the conversation.
Katerina is also a speaker, writer and a mentor.
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Pia Rendic
CONSULTANT
Pia is an expert in the field of human trafficking, pornography, sex and porn addiction, and sexual education. She offers comprehensive courses for target groups such as authorities, social and healthcare staff, students, and other interested individuals. Her training provides a deep understanding of the phenomena and offers practical strategies for addressing these issues.
Pia’s expertise is based on over ten years of working experience at the grassroots level with the victims of human trafficking, as well as on her academic research work and publications. Pia is the founder of Vapauta Uhri ry and Room of Hope, which offer holistic support to the victims of trafficking. She is also one of the founders and a leading expert of Toivu riippuvuudesta -project, which provides peer support groups for sex and porn addicts and their partners.
Pia is a Sexual therapist, Evangelical-Lutheran Priest, PhD researcher, Author, and Trainer offering therapeutic and training services. As a Sexual therapist, she is focusing in the areas of sex and porn addiction, sexual abuse and healthy relationships, and intimacy. Her research and research-based books focus on sexual behavior, human trafficking, porn addiction, infidelity, and sexual intimacy. Her goal is to create evidence-based research to help inform the public, policymakers, and professionals in the field.
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Artemis Evangelidi
DIRECTOR
Artemis is a Holistic Business Lawyer and Conscious Business Change Agent. Through her company Aipeia Consulting, she has developed the necessary tools to help people integrate and innovate as they expand their consciousness in the world of business.
With +20 years of experience working across four continents and with some of the world’s largest investment companies, CEOs and government bodies, Artemis is dedicated to helping create Conscious Leaders, by expanding mindsets and empowering people to ‘Be The Change’.
Artemis is passionate about raising global consciousness through ethical and transparent business practices; and at Step Up Stop Slavery, she brings this expertise and commitment, to help companies across a broad spectrum of industries run their businesses consciously.
Xenia Papandreou
Head of Psychological Support Team
Xenia is a licensed Counselling Psychologist working in private practice with adults & adolescents struggling with anxiety, depression, addiction, relationship difficulties, childhood trauma, domestic violence, physical & sexual abuse, stress and confidence issues.
She completed her BSc in Psychology at City University in London, and her MSc in Counselling Psychology at the University of Nicosia. As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II), a registered member of the Cyprus Association of Psychologists (CYPSA), and a graduate member of the British Psychological Society (BPS), Xenia will use her experience and knowledge to head up the psychological support team at the Step Up Support Centre.
The team will provide culturally appropriate, trauma-informed mental health treatment, aiming to offer survivors a kind, personalised, evidence-based treatment plan which follows a three-staged process:
1) Stabilisation, helping clients manage acute symptoms such as flashbacks, dissociation, depression and anxiety.
2) Therapeutic intervention, helping clients come to terms with their experiences.
3) Integration support, helping clients learn to become more independent and live on their own terms.
Tina Pavlou
Expert Advisor
Tina Pavlou is a licenced clinical psychotherapist specialising in substance abuse, addiction and family therapy.
After completing a Masters in Clinical Social Work and Family Therapy, as well as a BA in Psychology and Sociology, Tina’s worked as a Counsellor at the National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute, and as a Clinical Social Worker for the Washington DC Government’s Department of Human Services, Child and Family Services, providing psychosocial counselling, case management and crisis intervention for children of drug addicted families, as well as the parents themselves.
Returning to Cyprus, Tina designed the inaugural clinical programme for Agia Skepi Therapeutic Community – a rehabilitation centre for people struggling with long-term substance abuse. Today she is the centre’s Clinical Director, assisting patients to recover from substance abuse and reintegrate into society. Since 2013, Tina has also run her own private practice, conducting clinical psychotherapy with individuals, couples and families.
Tina is a certified HIV and AIDS counsellor, a member of the Parole Board of Cyprus and the Cyprus Prison Board. She has also been a member of the Anti-Drug Council of Cyprus and a Lecturer of Clinical Treatment of Addictions and Family Therapy at the University of Nicosia.
Dr. Shawn Bhimani
Director
Shawn is a researcher, lecturer and leading voice in global supply chain corporate social responsibility. His research is focused on mitigating the supply chain risk of human trafficking, by implementing social responsibility programmes and deeply understanding how human trafficking works as a business.
With a background in the supply chain division of a leading Fortune 500 company, Shawn has taught undergraduate and MBA supply chain courses across top tier universities and presents his research at global business conferences. Today, he also engages with multi-sector partners to apply real word supply chain knowledge to protect government and corporate supply chains combat trafficking and limit its ability to operate.
Bringing all this expertise to the Step Up Stop Slavery table, Shawn will be running workshops and training to support corporations to spot and eradicate slavery in their supply chains.
Timea Nagy Payne
Expert Advisor
Best-selling author, international keynote speaker, expert trainer and award-winning social advocate Timea Nagy is also a survivor of sex trafficking, who uses her experience for good. Following her escape, Timea founded the first victim’s safe house in Canada, as well as the world's first survivor-led global education and awareness organisation, Timea’s Cause.
Timea also played a key role in setting up the Canadian National Financial Human Trafficking Task Force, Project Protect, and has helped change several human trafficking laws in Canada.
The first survivor of human trafficking to train banks and financial institutions on human trafficking detection through transactions, today Timea is a sitting member of the UN Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. She continues to be active in encouraging all levels of government to implement effective and systematic changes.
With Step Up Stop Slavery, Timea draws on her life experiences to help advise the team on the best ways to support survivors. In her capacity as an expert trainer, she will also help to spearhead training workshops for the Cyprus police, to help them better understand how to detect human trafficking activity and victims.
Jerome Elam
Expert Advisor
As a survivor of child abuse, child sex trafficking and child pornography, Jerome Elam has dedicated much of his adult life to saving others from the fate he suffered as a child. He is a member of the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council at OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), as well as the President and CEO of Trafficking in America Task Force - an NGO which stands in the gap for male victims of sex trafficking.
Jerome’s work as an anti-trafficking activist, focuses on being a voice for the men and boys who are also victims of trafficking, but who often get overlooked within the conversation. There is an element of shame that comes with male victims, which can often cause them to not speak out. Jerome is sharing his own story to help others feel empowered to tell theirs.
For Jerome, human trafficking activism has become a way to survive the struggles he has faced in his life. He is also passionate about writing, and his inspiring way with words has seen him take the stage at multiple public speaking engagements, where he raises awareness and advocates for against these heinous crimes.
Alexia Kountouri
Head of Legal Team
Alexia is a public law lawyer with over 20 years of experience. A partner at one of the oldest and most esteemed law firms in Cyprus, Alexia is an expert in administrative law, public procurement law, data protection law, constitutional law and regulations drafting. She has extensive experience appearing before the Supreme Court of Cyprus and is a member of the Disciplinary Board of the Cyprus Bar Association.
Alexia is also a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and has earned the ANSI-accredited Certified Information Privacy Professional / Europe credential. A speaker and panellist at various Data Privacy conferences and events in Cyprus and abroad, Alexia has also authored articles for local and international publications. She was invited by World Bank Group to be one of a select group of public procurement experts and practitioners from Cyprus to participate in the global Benchmarking Public Procurement project. She is a member of Wiras Verbund International and the UK Procurement Lawyers Association.
With Step Up Stop Slavery, Alexia uses her experience liaising with central- and semi-governmental organisations, as well as her deep knowledge of drafting rules and setting up procedure protocols, to contribute to the founding of the Survivor Support Centre.
Panayiota Christodoulou
Head of Social Work Unit
Dr. Panayiota Christodoulou has been a licensed social worker since 2001 and holds a BA in Social Work and Gerontology (USA), an MA in Social Research (UK) and a PhD in Social Work and Social Policy (UK). She is the President of the Cyprus Registry of Professional Social Workers and a member of the Cyprus Association of Social Workers. Her extensive work experience includes counselling individuals, couples, families, and trauma victims such as trafficking survivors. Panayiota also does programme planning and development of social services in NGOs, as well as delivering workshops on human trafficking issues.
Within the academia space, Panayiota is a Lecturer of Social Work at Frederick University. Her teaching revolves around domestic violence, family therapy, social work with individuals and families, as well as administration of social services. She also conducts research on various issues surrounding gender, including sexual harassment of women in the workplace, trafficking of women for sexual exploitation and palliative care.
Panayiota brings her knowledge and experience to Step Up Stop Slavery to contribute to the design and running of the Social Services unit of the Support Centre, ensuring that it operates in compliance with the respective guidelines and regulations for the wellbeing of the social workers and survivors.
Maria Diomidous
Legal Researcher and Translator
Maria Diomidous has been working in the legal sector since 2008, holding a variety of positions within the fields of commercial law, compliance, AML and corporate governance, as well as legal research and teaching at university level.
During her studies at University College London (UCL), Maria spent time volunteering for a London based NGO, conducting legal research in the field of corruption and resource exploitation during armed conflicts. She was awarded an LL.M with merit in Public International Law from UCL in 2007,
On returning to Cyprus in 2008, Maria was admitted to the Cyprus Bar with merit, and pursued a career within the corporate and financial services sphere. Throughout her career, Maria has also continued to feed her passion for legal research and learning, with roles teaching Public International Law at a UK university based in Cyprus, as well as in the online educational sector, tutoring university students and developing material for online law modules.
Using this experience and expertise, Maria is responsible for conducting legal research at Step Up Stop Slavery, pertaining to human trafficking and modern slavery in Cyprus.
Hendrik Jan Harbers
Expert Advisor
Hendrik is a leader who likes to start things. Having studied in three languages, he holds degrees in civil engineering (NL), construction management (DE) and a MBA in International Management (UK). Hendrik has two decades of experience with international NGOs, working with various diverse causes at field level, as well as in several management and leadership roles. He also has extensive experience working with the world’s most dangerous places, known as fragile contexts. These places are the places fraught with chronic instability, conflict and violence, where large portions of the population live in a cycle of poverty and uncertainty
His NGO roles include directing Global Health, while he also established the Cyprus offices for War Child – a Dutch NGO specialised in mental health care for children living in conflict zones. In addition to mental health, Hendrik has also worked in humanitarian assistance, as well as water and sanitation support.
Hendrik has seen first-hand how ordinary people like you and me can become vulnerable to trafficking and slavery after a disaster or a dire economic situation. To his role at Step Up Stop Slavery, Hendrik brings extensive experience in setting up, managing and leading an NGO.
Elena Tanou
Expert Advisor
Elena Tanou has worked in the tourism industry since she first graduated with a BA (Hons) in Travel and Tourism Management from the University of Nancy, in France. Today, she can count 37 years working in the sector in Cyprus, including two decades in her current role as Vice President of one of Cyprus’ leading travel companies – Top Kinisis Travel.
A prominent and highly respected business professional, Elena’s illustrious career has seen her take on numerous additional roles including President of the Nicosia Tourism Board; Vice President of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and President of the Cyprus Federation of Business and Professional Women. She also serves on the board of Transparency International (Cyprus), World Vision, the Business Advisory Council of the University of Cyprus, the University of Nicosia and the European University. In 2012 she was the recipient of the prestigious Madam Figaro Business Woman of the Year Award.
A highly respected activist and mentor, Elena will use her extensive experience to helping Step Up Stop Slavery navigate the strong links between human trafficking and the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors.