Our work
Services
Counseling
Contact us!
Telephone Consultation:
+43 676 8969 2203 (Bosnian, Serbian, English, German)
+43 676 8969 2204 (English, German, Spanish)
+43 676 8969 2222 (English, German)
Our professional team is here for you, if you...
» Are currently working in prostitution and have questions.
» Have been or are working in prostitution and would like to talk about it.
» Are working in prostitution and are looking for a different occupation.
» Are forced to do your work or know someone who is.
» Have never worked in prostitution, but you see no other path for your future, or you feel forced by someone to start working in prostitution.
Support
What kind of help do we offer?
» As individual as every life story.
» Free medical help, or someone to accompany you to the right place - (AmberMED, Barmherzige Brüder, a gynecologist, who will treat you free of charge)
» Someone to accompany you and translate for you during official visits
» Help when searching for a flat
» Help when searching for a job
» Advice on residency rights, applications for financial aid, and referrals to other organizations
» Help with setting up health insurance
» Referrals to German courses and work training
» Support with debt settlement and referral to debt counseling
» A listening ear
» Support to overcome problems from the past, and/ or pastoral counseling, if desired
How to find us:
Beheimgasse 1, 1170 Vienna (near the U6 station Alserstraße)
Treffpunkt (Meeting Point)
The Heart Works "Treffpunkt” is a place where you can just relax. We meet in a cozy setting (in summer we are outside in a beautiful garden), we have lunch together, drink a cup of coffee or tea, eat a piece of cake and talk. Occasionally there is also a special offer, such as a visit to the zoo or painting together. You are warmly invited to come!
» Thursdays, current dates: 01.12. & 15.12.
» You would like to come or have questions about our Meeting Point? Then please contact us at +43 676 8969 2203 (Bosnian, Serbian, English, German)
Emergency Numbers
Are you experiencing an emergency and need immediate help or advice?
If you are unable to reach anyone at Heart Works, you can get help here:
» 24-Hour Victim’s Emergency Number: 0800 112 112
(Counseling for those experiencing violence)
» 24-Hour Women’s Emergency Number: 01 71 71 9
(Counseling when experiencing violence against girls and women)
» Crisis Intervention Center: 01 406 95 95
(Help for acute crises, acute trauma, or suicidal thoughts)
» European Emergency Number: 112
(Reach the police, the fire department, and the rescue squad throughout Europe from landlines and cell phones)
Research
Heart Works has been actively involved in the field of research since 2017.
In 2017, Heart Works launched their research work, together with organizations from Italy, Spain and Malta on the project “Best Practices in Tackling Trafficking Nigerian Route” (BINIs), which focuses on the trafficking of Nigerian women to Europe. The Austrian report, which was published in English in 2018, examines how Nigerian women in Austria are exploited in prostitution, where they show up in the system, and how they can be identified as victims of human trafficking.
The “International Approach to the Process of Integration in Europe for Survivor of Human Trafficking” (INTAP) project was launched in 2019 together with organizations from Italy and Germany. It focused on both Nigerian and Chinese victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation and collected experiences on how to best support the integration of both groups.
The findings of this research project are presented in a research report on the integration of Nigerian victims of human trafficking, a handbook for practitioners, a research report on trafficking of Chinese women and their integration, and also a handbook for practitioners who come into contact with this target group.
All materials are available to download on the project website.
Political Work
Our political involvement began in 2009 with our first participation and presentation given at an OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) conference in Vienna.
In our outreach work, our staff regularly directly confronts the suffering and concerns of people affected by human trafficking. They seek to counteract the injustice that has been experienced and to accompany individuals on their difficult journey. From this experience, the desire to be a "voice for those whose voice has been forcibly silenced” arose. We want to make a difference on the level where decisions are being made and where situations can be improved.
Our staff are politically active on both a national level and international or EU level and are involved in various platforms. Since 2013, this includes participation in the biannual meetings of “The EU-Civil Society Platform against Trafficking in Human Beings" in Brussels, where over 100 organizations from across the EU meet together with law makers.
Through the co-founding and membership in the Austrian Platform against Exploitation and Trafficking in Human Beings, we come together with other NGOs from Austria and specifically Vienna, and participate at regular intervals as a guest at the meetings of the Austrian Task Force to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings.
Public Relations Work
We especially want to sensitize and inform people in general about the issues of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual exploitation—especially as it relates to Austria and Vienna—via our public relations work.
For this purpose, our team gives presentations and leads workshops at conferences, in the education sector, as well as in churches and in youth groups. Among other things, we explain the “Loverboy” manipulation tactic by which German and Austrian underage girls also can get pulled into prostitution.
Are you interested in a presentation, or would you like to organize a workshop with us? If so, please contact us at: office@herzwerk-wien.at
Would you like to get involved but you don’t know how? Then please contact us via email at: office@herzwerk-wien.at