NGO Atina re-licensed to provide assisted housing services - Continuity that saves lives

Photo: Freepick

NGO Atina has received a new license to provide the assisted housing service for women and girls who have survived human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The license is valid from December 2025 to December 2031 and marks the second consecutive six-year license for this service.

This is not merely an administrative confirmation of quality. It is a confirmation of continuity: what we do is not a “project” but a systemic safeguard against the recurrence of violence. A confirmation that specialized support is not a luxury, but a basic precondition for a person to recover, regain independence, and breathe again.

A service born out of necessity - and still open every single day.

Atina’s safe housing is our first service, established on 1 February 2003. From that day to this one, it has been open every day for women and girls aged 15 and above, a space where safety is not a phrase, but a practice: doors that open, a team that does not ask “why didn’t you leave earlier,” but “how can you be safe now?”

Over the years, this space has provided refuge to more than 500 women and girls who survived human trafficking and various forms of exploitation. For many, it was the first moment of safety after a long period of control, threats, and isolation.

What licensing means

The first licensing of the assisted housing service, issued by the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, was granted in 2018 and represented a historic step: the first licensed service for victims of human trafficking in Serbia.

Today, the renewed license confirms that what was recognized as quality then still holds, through standards, methodology, safety protocols, the expertise of our team, and outcomes we measure not only in “numbers” but in lives that have been given another chance. But it is important to say this clearly: a license is recognition of quality, yet it is not, in itself, a guarantee of sustainability.

When the state does not ensure stable, predictable funding, the burden of continuity falls on donors and the organization that, despite risks and crises, keeps its doors open.

Unfortunately, Serbia is the only country in the region where licensed social services provided by organizations such as Atina and ASTRA are not funded through the state budget. In contrast, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and North Macedonia, the state partially funds these services. This situation in Serbia, which has persisted for 23 years, has left civil society service providers in a state of constant exhaustion and has hindered the further development of support programs. Across the region, shelters run by civil society organizations still form the backbone of protection systems, as highlighted in the regional report “Is There a Safe Haven for Victims of Human Trafficking in the Western Balkans?”

“Tailored Housing for Women”: what the evaluation shows (2018-2024)

The report “Tailored Housing for Women: Continuity, Quality, Community, a six-year evaluation of the supported housing service (2018–2024), records that during this period 61 beneficiaries used the service, including Serbian nationals, migrant women, refugees, and asylum seekers, with a total of 78 admissions. The service provided access to safe accommodation, health and psychological support, education, employment, and other essential services for independent living.

One quote from the report captures the essence of what we do: “I felt at Atina that I wasn’t alone, that I had a right to my own space, to my peace. That someone cared enough to ask me: ‘What do you want?’ In fact, here I met myself,” Stanislava Š., 18.

12 key areas of support - because recovery is not a single “intervention”

Support is planned individually and covers 12 key areas: legal status, safety, health, psychological support, education, employment, finances, family and intimate relationships, parenting, social connections, everyday life skills, and self-relationship. Of particular importance is continuous psychological support, available every day, which beneficiaries recognize as a decisive factor in recovery.

The evaluation confirms what we know from practice: the service’s core values are a sense of safety, the availability and dedication of professional staff, respect for beneficiaries’ perspectives, and their inclusion in decision-making. Many women described this space as “the only real home they have ever had.”

Continuity in times of crisis: when the system stops, women must not be left without protection

In years when the state-run shelter repeatedly interrupted its work, this service remained the only specialized and accessible option for women with lived experience of trafficking. In those moments, Atina assumed full responsibility to ensure that support did not break, because interruption of support often means a risk return.

The service is delivered in accordance with legal standards, consistently adhering to trauma-informed principles and a gender perspective. Because women who have survived trafficking do not enter a “neutral” system, they enter a system that has often already failed them once.

Why are we publishing this now?

Because the renewed license is not an endpoint, it is an obligation. An obligation to continue what we have been doing for 23 years: to create a space where it is possible to say “no,” possible to say “I want,” possible to say “I am ready.” And because the question of sustainability remains urgent. The evaluation is clear: the service is irreplaceable, but without stable, predictable funding, such support models remain exposed to significant risk despite their proven value.

Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your support.

We thank everyone who has stood with this service over the years: donors, partners, professionals, allies, and all those who understand that safety is a right, not a privilege.

Stay with us. Because continuity is not just a word; it saves lives.

Your Atina’s team