Human trafficking: Chernihiv youth will be taught how to avoid falling into the trap

How not to fall into modern slavery when going to work, and how to teach your students to do so – teachers of dormitories of vocational and technical educational institutions of Chernihiv region learned as part of a 3-day training. The event was held on October 5-7, 2016 at the Educational House of Human Rights in Chernihiv and was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the assistance of the Department of Education and Science of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Representative Office in Ukraine with financial support from the Ministry of International Affairs of Canada.

The main component of the course was devoted to the basics of coaching. Dormitory teachers and specialized employees of the Department of Education and Science of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration learned to be persuasive, conduct group exercises, and organize educational quests to help students of vocational and technical educational institutions (VTSEs) better absorb the material.

During the classes, future trainers mastered the methodology of coaching work, mastered the causes and consequences of the problem of human trafficking, interactively refuted common myths about employment abroad, and learned to prepare their own information events, which they will then present to students and residents of VTS dormitories. Each graduate of the program, having received the appropriate certificate, must organize at least one educational and information event in their educational institution or dormitory.

“The idea is to initiate a dialogue between dormitory teachers and students of vocational schools about safe employment and preventing them from falling into a situation of human trafficking, so that the teachers themselves can conduct mini-trainings for young people,” explains the head of programs of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights

Iryna Biryuk

. – Since September 2016, with the support of the International Organization for Migration, we have been implementing a project aimed at raising awareness among students of vocational schools in Chernihiv, in particular those living in dormitories, about combating human trafficking and safe migration, since this category is the highest risk group. In particular, the program provides for the training of a group of trainers from among dormitory teachers who will convey information to students of vocational schools about the scale and relevance of human trafficking in Ukraine and the world.”

The simplest rules, outlined to the participants of the training by specially invited trainers of the Ternopil City Women’s Club “Rebirth of the Nation”

Zoryana Barchuk

and

Oksana Shlyusar

: when getting a job with unverified employers, carefully review the terms of the contract, make a copy of the documents and do not give them to anyone, and also inform relatives and loved ones about your whereabouts.

The participants of the training admit that it has greatly changed their attitude to the problem. “I could not even imagine that it is so close, in our country,” says

Olga Dremlyuga

, a dormitory teacher at the Degtyariv Vocational Agrarian Lyceum (Sribnyanskyi district). Her colleague from Mryn Vocational School No. 33 (Nosivskyi district)

Valentina Ikalchyk

adds: “Perhaps our students are already in such danger, and we must prevent this. Or even me personally – anyone can get into such trouble. But for us this danger is less, because we are aware.” After completing the training, they hope that they will be able to present the material to their students in an unconventional and interesting way.

Chernihiv region ranks among the first in Ukraine in terms of the number of people who have been granted the official status of victims of human trafficking by the state. As practice shows, residents of agrarian and economically depressed areas with a high level of unemployment, in particular among young people, are primarily at risk. Therefore, the practical goal of developing a network of volunteer trainers is to monitor their campaigns and initiatives, promote preventive, preventive and advocacy ideas in the youth environment.