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Description
International mechanisms such as the European Commission Report and the US State Department Report show that Romania is one of the top source countries for victims of human trafficking in the EU. Almost half of the victims of human trafficking in Romania are minors, most of them girls and women. The phenomenon of trafficking in human beings is a complex one that requires a joint effort at the level of responsible institutions, non-governmental organizations and citizens. The project addresses the involvement of citizens in key areas where they may encounter possible victims of trafficking, empowering them to recognise the indicators and warning signs and how to act. The project proposes the creation of tailor-made resources that will be distributed to targeted socio-professional categories (priests, beauty industry workers, tourism workers, psycho-educational counsellors), as well as the creation of a resource platform to be used by all citizens who want to get involved and take action. A model of local involvement of traditional actors (people in institutions) in collaboration with non-formal actors in the sense defined by the project (people in related fields) will be piloted and a Policy Guide will be produced to recognise the importance of citizen involvement in the detection and notification of trafficking cases. 240 persons will participate in training sessions on detection and notification of trafficking cases and 30 persons will benefit from direct services of psychological assistance, counselling, access to specialised services, etc. In the long term, the aim is to increase the involvement of citizens in the identification and notification of trafficking situations and to recognise their contribution to the prevention of trafficking. Partners have a key role in developing a model of local involvement, with the support of trafficking survivors and piloting this model in 2 communities.
Summary of project results
The project approached the need to involve nonformal (e.g workers from tourism, beauty industry, priests) in detecting and reporting potential cases of human trafficking. The context of the project is that of high incidence of human trafficking that put Romania among the top countries - source for victims of human trafficking in the European Union, with almost half of victims being minors.
In response to these issues, within the project there were developed resources and training for various professional categories in order to create the ability to recognize indicators and alarm signals and take adequate action, there was conducted a pilot model of local involvement of traditional actors (people from institutions) in collaboration with non-formal actors (people working in key areas of intervention) in two communities with risk of trafficking and there was developefd a Policy Guide recognizing the importance of all citizens and nonformal actors in detecting and notifying cases of human trafficking.
As a result of project activities, a research analysis was elaborated describing the main related areas in which non-traditional actors interact with (potential) victims of human trafficking; there were organized 12 training sessions with 380 participants from different fields of activity; there was created a website with resources https://eliberare.com/detect/ ; a local participatory model was created with the support of partners and survivors of human trafficking focused on the involvement of relevant local organizations and institutions; there were organized 10 activities and meetings with local public authorities and other institutional actors, as well as individuals, in Giarmata and 10 activities in Tinca village, both for people at risk and for local stakeholders - children, teenagers and parents. A practical guide for identifying and reporting cases of human trafficking for actors in the community was also developed.