Protection

Human Trafficking occurs everywhere and there are not a lot of resources on how to protect yourself. Safety Planning is important to avoid situations like these and increase your overall safety. There are three steps to sufficient safety planning:

1. Assess the current risk

2. Create strategies

3. Outline concrete options to respond

With these steps, you cannot only avoid being trafficked, but victims can also use these steps in dangerous situations they do not know how to get out of. Unfortunately, your safety is not guaranteed when using these suggestions, but they can help increase your chances of survival and protection.

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The cycle of human trafficking cannot be broken without acknowledging the rights and needs of the victims.

To protect survivors we need to [1]

1. Provide safe and adequate shelters to the victims

2. Give counseling and healthcare to the victims

3. Ensure that the victims know their rights

4. Provide victims with legal assistance

5. Ensure persons are protected from harm

6. Ensure the safe and voluntary return of victims to their origin country and then provide them with the resources needed to get back to “normal” life

Child Trafficking victims have to receive extra care and attention and have to be treated differently than adult trafficking persons do, due to their increased vulnerability to exploitation and the trauma suffered at such a young age

To protect children these steps have to be considered

1. Victims can be identified rapidly

2. Take steps to identify family members

3. If a safe return to the family is not possible, establish adequate and safe arrangements

4. Provide counseling

To learn more about each step, read this article by UNODC “Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking”.