Recognise and react! Protect yourself from human trafficking!

Photo: Piroshki photography

Child Rights Centre and NGO Atina Begin Implementing the Project “Empowering Children to Recognise and Report Trafficking in Human Beings in the Republic of Serbia”

In the period from January to the end of October of this year, 38 victims of trafficking in human beings, including 10 girls, were officially identified in Serbia. Professionals dealing with this topic warn that the number of victims is much bigger because the statistics include only the ones detected and identified.

Photo: Stojne Atanasovska Dimishkovska

Child trafficking in the Western Balkans region is still on the rise, despite a number of legislative and practical measures taken in previous years.

The coronavirus pandemic has further increased the vulnerability of children, due to the growing economic insecurity, unemployment and restrictions of movement.

The hidden form of labor exploitation: domestic servitude during COVID-19

Illustration: https://umdgenderandglobalization.wordpress.com/

The pandemic had unforeseen impacts in many countries and different groups of people experience it differently. One of the most impacted groups were domestic workers, especially those who are being exploited in domestic servitude.

More than 30 million people are currently exploited in labor; children are also affected by this phenomenon, and the most common type of labor exploitation is that of children living and working on the streets, said the Prosecutor of the State Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sena Uzunović, at the Specialized Mentoring Session for Representatives of Local Teams implemented by Citizens’ Association Atina in five cities of the Republic of Serbia - Šabac, Niš, Vranje, Sremska Mitrovica and Subotica.

Exploited workers in Europe’s slaughterhouses

Photograph: https://www.canva.com/

Meat factories in Europe have been exposed as one of the most infections hotspots for COVID-19. Researchers, journalists, and activists are concerned that this is related to exploitative working conditions, which were made worse by the pandemic. Inadequate housing and low wages in the leading European meat producing countries, such as Germany, are the likeliest explanation for the outbreaks.

Labor exploitation of truck drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Photograph: www.ttnews.com

International federation of trade unions recently released a report about how contracted foreign drivers from low-wage countries were being exploited by the transport industry.

Impact of COVID-19 on labor exploitation of migrants at Europe’s farmlands

The pandemic and child labor