Caritas organized training for experts on stopping human trafficking
During the period November 23-27, 2015, Caritas of the Archdiocese of Prague organized training sessions for specialists devoted to stopping human trafficking. The event took place in Prague and brought together Romanian, Spanish and Czech experts.
Participants included psychologists, lawyers, and social workers, along with Czech guests from the Ministry of the Interior, the Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection (OSPOD), and the international network of Christian organizations against human trafficking (COATNET).
Within the training sessions, a wide range of vital issues were addressed. These concerned the legal framework of the human trafficking phenomenon, the specific nature of this phenomenon in the Czech Republic, the national and international collaboration between organizations and public institutions, and the structure of an intervention plan. The methods and techniques used in assisting survivors of human trafficking were presented by case studies, practical exercises, and a study visit to a women’s shelter where survivors of domestic violence and trafficking, adult women, and mothers with children are assisted and accommodated.
The discussions regarding the legal and social aspects, statistics, and the forms of exploitation were needed to help participants from the three countries (Romania, Spain, Czech Republic) to gain a comprehensive understanding on the specific nature of the trafficking phenomenon in the Czech Republic. The discussions also aided understanding the stages through which these trafficking survivors go through. This information is equally useful and applicable in finding the optimal ways of providing support to this category of beneficiaries by the specialists.
The study tour undertaken at the center run by the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Prague, as part of the Magdala project, benefitted the participants in terms of obtaining a more detailed understanding of how trafficking victims are assisted in this shelter. The presentation of the center (accommodation rooms, playgrounds, dining halls, common areas and those designed for individual sessions) and of the instruments used in providing assistance helped explain how survivors are aided.
The central topic of the joint staff training sessions - coaching used as an innovative technique in providing assistance to child and youth victims of trafficking - was presented in a lecture as well as in practical exercises that have helped shape the skills needed to implement this technique in assisting trafficking survivors.
This technique was received with interest by the participants, who consider it useful and practical in the context of the victim’s life. A training manual presenting the coaching method was introduced during the event. This manual is meant to be shared with other specialists working in the field of trafficking or related fields.
The training took place within the Project Chance and Challenge - Improve assistance services for child and youth victims by developing innovative support programs, a project funded by the European Commission, through the Erasmus Plus Program, Strategic Partnerships, implemented from September 2014 - August 2016 by the Association Pro Refugiu, Romania, as coordinator, alongside its partners Caritas Prague, Czech Republic and TRABE – Iniciativas para la economia social y solidaria, Spain.
