During a work meeting conducted in Center Maria’s office in April 2009, teachers, psychologists, social workers and other specialists working in different institutions in Veliko Turnovo District, united over the idea that the prevention of violence towards women and children is the most effective measure to combat this phenomenon. This is how the idea of Center Maria to develop a new project for prevention of women and child trafficking came into being. The project was to improve further upon already accomplished results from other projects on the prevention of violence in five municipalities in Veliko Turnovo District (Gorna Oryahovitsa, Lyaskovets, Zlataritsa, Polski Trumbesh, Svishtov)..

We specified the direct users and their needs – unemployed young women up to 30 years of age, listed in Labour Bureau Directorates; High School, Primary School, Elementary School students; youth social institutions; teachers, pedagogue counselors, psychologists, social workers from educational and social institutions in Veliko Turnovo District who need to develop their skills in working on traffic prevention and detecting vulnerable children and youth, thus protecting them from being involved in prostitution and traffic.

Project objective: To help alleviate the risks of being involved in women and child trafficking in five municipalities from Veliko Turnovo District.

Project goals:

1. Enriching the knowledge of children, youths and women at risk of their rights, and developing skills to resist the ways of being drawn into traffic schemes.

2. Enhancing the capacity of specialists in schools and institutions working on prevention of women and child trafficking.  

3. Raising the awareness and sensitivity of society on the human trafficking problem and engaging it in concrete activities on this issue.

Accomplished activities:

1. Work meetings of Center Maria’s team with representatives of local authorities and governmental institutions, the Local Commission for tackling antisocial behaviour of children, educational and social institutions interested in the problem and media representatives. During the meetings the results accomplished so far were discussed, opinions and attitudes on concrete problems that emerged were exchanged and feasible suggestions for their solution were provided.  

2. Trainings on prevention of women and child trafficking with the participation of children and youth from  High Schools, Primary Schools, Elementary Schools and social institutions, specialists from educational and social institutions, and unemployed young women. The trainings were delivered by two lecturers, members of the project team – a psychologist and a lawyer. They worked on a previously agreed schedule appropriate for the specific group by using contemporary interactive methods of training. The participants in the seminar were thoroughly introduced to the phenomenon of traffic and sexual exploitation, the ways of being drawn into traffic schemes, the dangers and the risks, the available resources for help, the legal basis, the state policy and strategies in combating human trafficking.

3.                  Information campaign under the motto „Be informed!” The main objective was to inform as many people as possible of the existing problem of women and child trafficking as a social phenomenon, to ensure publicity and transparency of the objectives, the progress, the implementation and the results achieved so far. The campaign stressed on the social aspect of human trafficking.  

In most municipalities we were assisted by volunteers who enthusiastically decided to take part in the campaign. In order to carry out the campaign, we prepared information and prevention materials: fliers „Human trafficking”, pamphlets “Women and child trafficking – useful information”, posters “Women and child trafficking – time for action” and a handbook “Let’s make it together”(used during the trainings for the unemployed). We also published five articles in local newspapers, produced a video on traffic prevention, containing information on counteraction to traffic and we secured its broadcast in the whole Veliko Turnovo District. In addition to this, we periodically updated Center Maria’s website with the newest information on the issue.

4. Closing round table: in this forum we were able to share and discuss the positive experience gained under this project with a wider circle of participants. We managed to discuss the possible ways and forms of improving the coordination between the child protection institutions. The focus of our work was on implementing a Coordination Mechanism of interaction in cases of children, victims or those at risk of violence, by using the accomplished results under the project. The suggestions that have been brought up (to update the curriculum by increasing the number of discussion classes and the topic of violence and traffic prevention to become mandatory; to train homeroom teachers, lecturers, school psychologists, police officers, and students for direct work on prevention of these phenomena; the need to also work with the parents themselves; to promote the National phone line for children 116 111; to examine the interests and the needs of the children; to rationalize the students’ free time; to use all available resources of institutions and NGOs; to activate a broader media campaign; to work on increasing the efficiency of the multidisciplinary teams on site in line with the Child Protection Act) will be used in our further work on prevention of violence and women and child trafficking.  

• Increased awareness of students, youth from social institutions and women at risk on the potential danger of being involved into traffic, established protection skills – we have trained 271 children from public schools, 33 boys and girls from social institutions and 18 unemployed young women from five municipalities from Veliko Turnovo District on prevention of women and child trafficking.
• Expanded and enriched capacity of teachers and social workers through contemporary teaching instruments of carrying out traffic prevention among groups at risk – we have trained 28 specialists (teachers, pedagogue counselors, psychologists and social workers from the five municipalities) who work directly with children and youths.  
• Increased public awareness and sensitivity on the issue of human trafficking; visible publicity and transparency of the objectives, progress, implementation and achievements under the project as well as the donor’s contribution; five articles in local newspapers were published; 3000 fliers, 600 pamphlets, 150 posters - published and disseminated; a video on counter reaction to women and child trafficking was produced and broadcasted.
• Enhanced professional and institutional capacity of Center Maria Association for dealing with significant social problems in cooperation with local authorities, state institutions and NGOs; increased influence of civil society in taking decisions on current problems at the local level; established effective system for monitoring the work on traffic prevention; engaging the local community’s attention in finding solutions to the problem, mobilizing the local resources for effective and constant preventive work among the groups at risk, securing social and institutional assistance.

Contact information

Lyudmila Tsvetanova, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees at Center Maria Association.

11 Tzar Osvoboditel Str., ІІІ floor, 5100 Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria

Tel./Fax: ++ 359 618 221 81

[email protected]