Discussion Club: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Increased Vulnerability to Human Trafficking

Discussion Club: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Increased Vulnerability to Human Trafficking, continued a series of events in the format of expert discussions on various aspects related to the problem of human trafficking. This time - in remote format.

Experts discussed the challenges and risks of falling into a situation of human trafficking caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, factors that increase vulnerability, new trends that appear (in recruitment, involvement, types of exploitation), etc.
Government Commissioner for Gender Policy
Kateryna Levchenko noted the need to monitor changes and highlight indicators, use a wide range of possible sources of information.

The head of the Department for Combating Crimes Related to Human Trafficking, Artem Kryshchenko, noted a decrease in registered criminal proceedings, an increase in the number of identified cases of human trafficking in the middle of the country, and an expected increase in the number of cases of human trafficking after the lifting of quarantine restrictions.

Acute issues of surrogate motherhood and the related risks of human trafficking and exploitation were also not ignored. These are questions that require more study and further elaboration.

IOM representatives Oksana Gorbunova and Victoria Mazurenko noted the need for consolidation of efforts and close cooperation in order to effectively combat human trafficking.

The Vice-President of the NGO "La Strada-Ukraine", Kateryna Cherepaha, presented information about a number of initiatives of key international institutions (GRETA, OSCE, OHIDR) regarding the impact of the pandemic on human trafficking and called to join the inclusion of the experience of Ukrainian public organizations working in the field of combating human trafficking. in advocacy initiatives at the international level.

More about actual!

You can view the recording of the discussion club at link.