“An arrest for human trafficking and mediation in prostitution” - not a month goes by without newspaper columns being filled with articles about the exploitation of people, workers, women for the purpose of human trafficking. “Blic” has been exploring this phenomenon, who the most common victims are, but also how we can deal with it as a society.

After drug and arms trafficking, human trafficking is one of the most lucrative illegal businesses. The most common victims are children and women. The number of people globally at risk of falling prey to this crime ranges between tens of thousands to several millions. Since the beginning of the year, 25 victims of human trafficking have been identified in Serbia. On European Anti-Trafficking Day, a message is sent to all the citizens that they are obliged to report this criminal offense.

Photograph: Vesti Online

Jelena Hrnjak, Programme Manager of Citizens’ Association for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and All Forms of Gender-Based Violence Atina, points out that the greatest challenge lies in the fact that this position of victims before the court depends on judicial discretion. That is, whether a person has the status of a particularly sensitive witness that can provide them with a lower degree of stress and secondary victimization, depends solely on the judge's decision.

The international seminar “Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labor exploitation” was held in Belgrade, on June 21, 2017, organized through the joint program of European Union and the Council of Europe, within the program “Horizontal Facility”, and the project “Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in Serbia”, and Citizens’ Association Atina was one of the participants.