Representative of international public organization “A21” Kateryna YAKOVENKO who joined an event spoke about the most common forms of modern slavery and advised young people how to act in case not to fall into traffickers trap. In return, young scientists presented their own research on combating human trafficking.
Despite the fact that the meeting took place remotely, participants discussed a lot and shared their own opinions on this extremely important issue.
LvSUIA Vice-Rector Olha BALYNSKA congratulated all participants of discussion and noted that Scientific Society meeting is traditionally held monthly. This time an event was timed to coincide with the European Day against Human Trafficking, which was launched in 2007.
Kateryna YAKOVENKO spoke about the scale of modern slavery in Ukraine and the world, as well as online exploitation, which became especially widespread during quarantine. “Although slavery was officially abolished, statistics show that, in fact, human trafficking last till our days. According to international experts, between 21 and 40 million people are in slavery at one time”.
This problem is especially relevant for Ukraine, because our country is both a supplier of “living goods” and a country of destination and transit.
Kateryna YAKOVENKO stressed that “Ukrainians fall into labor exploitation quite often. Mostly they have to work in agriculture, construction and so-called rehabilitation centers. According to statistics, literally one percent of those who find themselves in this situation manage to escape”.
That is why for as many people as possible, awareness about this problem and know how to protect themselves and their families is important.
Kateryna YAKOVENKO said that the number of cases of online exploitation had significantly increased during the quarantine and it worries, because children often become victims of criminals. Internet Watch Foundation has recently found 57,000 links to child sexual abuse content. And 60% of this content was created in Europe, including Ukraine. Most of this content was made in a selfie format, which indicates a very successful manipulation and intimidation.
“And it all starts with ordinary communication” explains Kateryna YAKOVENKO.A virtual friend appears in the child's life and becomes the closest person. In fact, on the other side of the screen is not a peer with an exhibited attractive photo. Most often it is an adult who is well versed in adolescent psychology and knows how to manipulate. Therefore, it is not difficult for manipulator to build a relationship with a child even in a week, from which last one will not be able to give up on its own and gradually falls into the trap of blackmail.
Neither age, nor gender, nor social status protects against modern slavery. Only awareness and ability to recognize this problem will help to preserve it.”
