Stefan Coman

Stefan grew up in a city of 50,000 inhabitants in post-communist Romania. His parents, who worked in state-owned enterprises, struggled to adapt to the new system. Growing social inequality and the lack of prospects for the working class shaped his childhood. At school, Stefan also became aware of social injustice. He saw how his Roma classmates were disadvantaged and frequently dropped out of school.

He chose to study psychology, later volunteered in various non-profit organizations, and became involved in youth and anti-trafficking work. With increasing experience, he recognised that he needed to better understand systems and political structures to effect sustainable change.

When our partner organisation International Justice Mission (IJM) was able to open an office in Romania in 2019 through funding from the ChanceMaker Foundation, Stefan took the opportunity to become even more intensively involved in the fight against human trafficking and support for survivors.

In his role as Advocacy Lead, Stefan’s task is to take up the concerns of trafficking victims, professionals, and state actors and develop compelling arguments for political change. He works to build bridges between non-profit organizations and state institutions to strengthen their cooperation and capacities. His goal is to create an environment where experts, decision-makers, and affected individuals can work together to find the best possible solutions.

Romania is one of the EU countries most severely affected by human trafficking, a situation that has further intensified since the war in Ukraine. Through transnational cooperation and strengthening of the legal system, measures are being taken to combat human trafficking and protect vulnerable individuals. IJM specifically advocates for legal reforms, works closely with political and civil society actors, and promotes consistent prosecution of perpetrators as well as long-term protection of survivors.

End human trafficking in Europe.

IJM is actively engaged in Romania in strengthening legislation against human trafficking and improving protection for those affected. In cooperation with political decision-makers and civil society organisations, IJM advocates for legal reforms to hold perpetrators more consistently accountable and provide survivors with long-term security. As part of a comprehensive initiative with the parliamentary commission, legislative changes have already been passed that establish higher penalties for human trafficking, child trafficking, modern slavery, and online sexual exploitation of children, as well as excluding the possibility of probation in such cases.

To effectively combat international human trafficking, IJM also trains law enforcement agencies and partner organisations in professional interaction with victims and multidisciplinary cooperation. Simultaneously, IJM supports individual cases and existing programs to combat human trafficking and analyses cross-border and domestic cases.

Moreover, Stefan and his team’s efforts to help refugees from Ukraine have already benefited more than 6,100 women and children. IJM assists them with legal and logistical matters, as well as helping to arrange safe accommodation, transportation, and medical care. Additionally, the organisation supports job searches and vets potential employers to protect Ukrainian refugees from fraudulent offers.