Children at high risk of human trafficking: participation in the decision-making process Vladlena Avdeeva

Consultations with children as experts

• Purpose of consultation with children and teenagers is collecting their ideas and recommendations on where to look for help and support in situations of abuse, exploitation and human trafficking, as well as on the components of an ideal shelter for children.
• Place: Shelter “Transit”(Saint Petersburg).
• Dates: 8 and 11 September 2017.
• Facilitators: psychologists of the shelter “Transit”.
• Participants:

Group 1. 2 girls and 1 boy aged from 15 to 17, from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and from Russia

Group 2. 3 boys aged from 9 to 11, 1 from Russia, 2 from Tajikistan

Methods

• Participants were asked to continue the story of a child who is separated from his or her parents, is living in a difficult and risky situation and is trying to leave this situation.
• Children were asked to draw a picture of a “safety map” of a shelter for children: to discuss and define the main elements of the ideal shelter for children where children could feel safe, comfortable and so that they could find resources to overcome negative consequences of their past experience.

Results: Who can child talk to in order to get help?

• Parents
• Friends
• Other exploited children
• People in similar situation (e.g. those working at the same factory with the child)
• Police
• Shelter staff
• Medical workers
• Metro staff
• Taxi drivers
• Track drivers
• Strangers at the street (40-50 years olds)
• Clients of the factory shop
• Mass media
• Exploiter

Results: Where can a child seek help?

• Police
• Shelter
• Hospital
• Sleeping district of the city
• Park
• Shopping Center
• Church
• Metro station

Results: How the child could take care about him/herself?

• Ask someone for food
• Runaway and get home by foot/ hitch-hiking
• Find a job, earn the money, buy phone and get in touch with relatives
• Do something to attract attention of the police
• Runaway and sleep at cellars
• Team up with other children ask the exploiter to take them back home
• Hide the documents from exploiters or run away without documents
• Wait until parents find the child