The future of reporting on human trafficking from the perspective of journalism students

A Seminar on international humanitarian law and prevention of human trafficking for journalism students of the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, took place in Zlatibor, in the period from July 8-11, 2019, in the organization of the Red Cross Serbia. Through numerous presentations, videos, and workshops, participants were discussing about the role of media in reporting on migrant crisis, abuse of children in war, and human trafficking victims. One part of the lecture was dedicated to migrant crisis and legal, economic, and safety challenges many European countries, including Serbia, are facing in the attempt to resolve this issue. Mitar Djuraskovic, National Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking, spoke about institutional response to combating this issue. Jelena Hrnjak, a representative of NGO Atina, shared her extensive experience in working with human trafficking victims. During the session with her, students discussed about proper manners of reporting on such delicate topics, what is the motivation of journalists who write about human trafficking victims, and what consequences those victims experience due to inadequate media approach.  

The students have been up to the task, having in mind our deep concern over the manner in which media depict lives of women who are human trafficking victims in Serbia. These young people have a significant task ahead, to do their best to alter this public discourse that undermines women who cannot stand up for themselves. They seemed courageous and eager to tackle it! We in NGO Atina sincerely hope that we will meet them soon in their professional roles. They were wonderful while defending the colors of  "the holy journalism profession"!