On the 30th of July, IOM Belarus and its partners traditionally gather to celebrate the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. This year is noteworthy – the world marks the 20th Anniversary of the Palermo protocol and the 10th Anniversary of Global action plan, which is especially significant for Belarus – the country was among initiators of the idea to establish the thematic day and to develop a global action plan to fight human trafficking.

To remind everyone about the problem, IOM Belarus and partners encourage to spread the word and raise awareness of modern-day slavery and victims of human trafficking. They offer a very easy tool -- a thematic frame with a blue heart on Facebook and an Instagram mask with the symbol of the day as well. Just by a click, one can make a difference by raising awareness.

Among other matters in focus, today is the second phase of the campaign “Teach Children to See Lies”, aimed to educate parents and all specialists working with children – from teachers to doctors – on sexual exploitation. The Ministry of the Interior continues to warn that sexual exploitation and abuse towards children remains the key trend and needs to be addressed.

“Out of all human trafficking-related crimes, 13-15 per cent are sexual exploitation towards children. The most dangerous thing here is that a criminal doesn’t have an average or typical profile – it can be anyone. Another danger is the Internet that criminals use very successfully to establish contact with children, pretending to be their peers”, commented Dmitry Tsayun from the Ministry of the Interior.

The second phase of the campaign will be digital and will use bright and catchy visual “hooks”, offering the target audience to try or do something, e.g. send a selfie, or try an ice cream, by clicking on a picture. A curious click takes a person to a dedicated page – smartparent.by – with the information on the matter. By the way, the page offers a test for parents to assess how well they know their children.

“We are truly happy to have an opportunity to continue the campaign and give a response to an alarming trend. Besides, the first phase of the campaign clearly showed the demand for information on the topic. We believe it will be a strong preventive intervention allowing to decrease not only sexual exploitation cases but sexual abuse as a root cause”, says Tatiana Verigo, Head of MPA Unit at IOM Belarus.

The campaign is carried out by IOM Belarus together with the Ministry of the Interior of Belarus with the support of USAID and the Norwegian MFA.

City of Dispatch: Minsk