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Serbia is a country of origin,
transit and destination of victims of trafficking (VoTs).
Factors that contribute to such situation are the past
conflicts in the region, restrictive migration politics of
western countries, social and economical crisis, high
unemployment rate, poverty, and gender inequality. Accurate
number of VoTs in Serbia is unknown, and estimation is that
only 1% to 10% of all victims are identified. The Office for
Coordination of Protection of VoTs in Serbia has recorded 89
VoTs in 2010. Of that number, half has been identified in
Vojvodina. According to UNHCR data, there were 32 VoTs
identified in Novi Sad in 2010.
There are only a few actors
dealing with social re-integration of victims in
Serbia. Capacities for shelter and
accommodation of victims are very low in
Novi Sad and other cities in Vojvodina.
Victims often
do not have access to services in their local
communities (material, legal, medical, psychological,
assistance in resolving civil status, and representation
before the governmental institutions).
In partnership with the Centre
for Social Welfare of Novi Sad, NSHC has started
implementation of the project "Protection and Integration of
Victims of Human Trafficking in Vojvodina", with the support
from the Joint Programme of UNHCR, UNODC and IOM to Combat
Human Trafficking in Serbia.
Specific project objectives are:
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To improve the quality,
diversity, adequacy and availability of protection and
support services for victims of trafficking in AP
Vojvodina;
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To establish inter-sector
cooperation on identification, protection and support of
victims of trafficking.
Within the
project, part of the Safe house for victims of domestic
violence in Novi Sad will be adapted, so that it could serve
for adequate primary care and assistance to victims of human
trafficking. NSHC is going to provide services of
psychological and legal assistance to victims in Vojvodina,
as well as support in social re-integration, employment,
etc. |
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Novi Sad has
opened its first shelter for trafficked women, on 4 October
2011, as part of
the "Protection and Integration of Victims of Trafficking
in AP Vojvodina" project, which NSHC and Centre for
Social Welfare implement in partnership. Opening of the
shelter has been supported by the Joint Programme of
UNHCR, IOM, and UNODC to combat human trafficking in Serbia.
The project was created under the auspices of the United
Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT),
and funded by the governments of Belgium and Switzerland, as
well as UN.GIFT.
Speakers at
the press conference organized on this occasion were Mr.
Rasim Ljajic, Minister of Labour and Social Policy;
Mr. Gregoire Goodstein, Head of Mission at International
Organization for Migration (IOM); Mr. Aleksandar
Jovanovic, President of the Assembly of Novi Sad; Mr.
Gojko Vujnović, director of the Center for Social Work
of Novi Sad; Mr. Sinisa Hrgić, Head of the
Anti-Trafficking Police Department Novi Sad; and Mr.
Dejan Zivkovic, project coordinator of the Novi Sad
humanitarian Centre. Mr. Ljajic said that
there is a growing number of Serbian citizens who are
victims of trafficking. "This year there were 284 cases, of
which 206 women and 78 men. Women and girls are victims of
sexual exploitation while men and boys usually are the
victims of labor exploitation", he said.
Each year in
Serbia hundreds of victims of trafficking are discovered,
mostly women and children. Most of them ends up in the
chains of sexual exploitation, and they are often forced to
beg and become engaged in criminal activities. Factors
contributing to this situation are the militarization of the
region in recent decades, restrictive immigration policies
of Western Europe, the general socio-economic crisis, high
unemployment rate, poverty, and the unequal position of
women.
Siniša Hrgić,
Head of the
Anti-Trafficking Police Department Novi Sad;
Mitar Đurašković, Coordinator of the Anti-Trafficking
Department of the Ministry of Interior; Saša Valadžija,
UNHCR |
Research shows that
most of the victims are discovered in Vojvodina, because
there is a good system of identification established
here. On the occasion of the beginning of the Month
Against Human Trafficking, the shelter for female
victims has been opened. The project is implemented by
the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Center for
Social Work, and the Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre.
"The
most vulnerable are minors
and young women,
street children and children from special institutions.
In the absence of an adequate system of social
assistance and support, it is not unusual for persons
who are out of the trafficking chain, to go back to the
chain again. |
There is
an evident increase in the number of Roma children among the
victims, who are mainly exploited through forced begging,
and sometimes exposed to sexual exploitation and abuse. In
the case of the Roma population, it is important to mention
juvenile forced marriages, which are often not sufficiently
recognized as human trafficking"-
said
Dejan Zivkovic, project coordinator in NSHC.
The exact
number of victims of human trafficking is not known.
Department for Coordination of Protection of Human
Trafficking in Serbia has recorded 89 such cases in 2010. Of
these, about half were identified in Vojvodina. According to
UNHCR data, only in Novi Sad 32 trafficking victims were
identified during last year and the 2011, as of August 26.
Only a few actors in Serbia are involved in social
reintegration of victims, due to which assistance programs
are available almost exclusively in Belgrade. The capacities
for reception and accommodation of the victims are scarce.
"In
addition to the Temporary Home, run by 'Atina' in Belgrade,
currently there are no shelters for trafficking victims.
Services that respond to the specific needs of victims are
not available in their communities. Under this project,
premises are adapted to serve as a shelter to accomodate and
provide primary care to the victims. These facilities will
serve as a shelter for women identified as victims of human
trafficking from the territory of Vojvodina. The mobile
team of NSHC will provide psychological and legal
assistance, and support in employment and social
reintegration, to trafficking victims. Trained professionals
in the field of psychology and social work will work with
the victims, and their stay will be determined on the
basis of individual needs"-
says Zivkovic.
The victims
often fall for the story to go abroad and work as
waitresses, nannies, models, dancers ... But they are
generally forced to prostitution and begging. Physical abuse
includes food and water deprivation, rape, drugging and
torture in the cruelest ways. When the police suspects
that someone is a victim of trafficking, it addresses the
Service for Coordination of Protection that works 24 hours
per day and it is obligated to go to the field, make
interviews and assessment. If it is determined that the
person is a victim of human trafficking, the opportunity to
go to the shelter is offered.
"Strengthening
of the victim to regain control and personal dignity takes
time and provision of various support programs. Upon
returning home, the same situation from which she fled
awaits the victim: bad financial situation, unemployment,
family who expects income, judgmental environment and, of
course, the same people who had recruited the victim before,
who are again promising them an employment"-
told
us in the Department for Coordination of Protection of
Victims of Human Trafficking.
(Text: Gorana Labudović,
taken from www.nacionalnigradjanski.com) |
