The action on “Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in North Macedonia” in co-operation with the Bureau for Development of Education, delivered a hybrid training on conducting interviews with potential child trafficking victims amongst high school students. The key objective is to highlight the importance of well-trained educational professionals in identifying potential child trafficking victims and helping to save them from the vicious circle of exploitation created and perpetuated by the traffickers in human beings. The training was attended by 25 school psychologists and pedagogues from Skopje, Tetovo, Vinica, Kumanovo and St. Nikole.
“In 2021, 6 domestic child trafficking victims were identified in North Macedonia. They were mostly trafficked for forced marriages and sexual exploitation. The strategy to prevent and combat gender-based violence contains a part on resocialization of the victims that is applicable to trafficking victims.”- said Svetlana Cvetkovska, the Chair of the Sub Group on Preventing and Combating Child Trafficking of the National Commission to Fight Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Migration and Coordinator of the National Referral Mechanism.
“It is useful to continue the good practice of educating school students about the risks and perils of human trafficking by using education films and prompting discussion about trafficking in children for effective prevention of child trafficking” – asserted Professor Verica Trajkova, one of the trainers.
The participants learnt about the indicators for education professionals and about methods for interviewing a child trafficking victims amongst high school students through practical exercises, analysis of a model video for interviewing child victims and in-depth discussions with the skilled trainers and professors of psychology Verica Trajkova and Sofija Arnaudova. Both trainers are NGO activists with a long-term experience in providing psychological assistance to child trafficking victims. Furthermore, the participants shared their experience with assisting potential child victims from among students of their educational institutions.
This hybrid training was organised within the framework of the action on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in North Macedonia, which is part of the European Union / Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II aiming at assisting beneficiaries in the Western Balkans and Turkey to comply with the Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process.
A hybrid training on conducting interviews with potential child trafficking victims amongst high school students was conducted in Skopje with school psychologists and pedagougues from Skopje, Tetovo, Vinica, Kumanovo and St. Nikole.
It will help them in the efforts to identify potential child trafficking victims and save them from the vicious circle of exploitation.
