The annual Information Campaign for Prevention of Human Trafficking and Cybercrime, organised by the LCCTHB Sliven was launched
The Local Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (LCCTHB) Sliven launched the annual Information Campaign, in the context of the use of new technologies by trafficking to recruit and exploit victims.
Partners in the initiative are Sliven Municipality, Initiative and Empathy Foundation Sliven, and European Information Centre "Europe Direct" Sliven.
According to an October 2020 European Commission report on progress in the fight against human trafficking, traffickers are becoming increasingly adept at using technology and the Internet to expand their criminal activities online, as well as to invest and hide the proceeds of such activities. In many Member States, the Internet and related social media are among the most commonly used tools for recruiting victims of trafficking, with children being particularly at risk. Information and communication technologies are used to recruit, organize the transport and accommodation of victims, advertise the services of victims, communicate between perpetrators and control victims, and transfer the proceeds of criminal activity,
For this reason, within the framework of the information campaign, to promote safer and more responsible use of the Internet, training sessions with students from the lower secondary stage of primary education are planned, as well as expanding the scope of prevention activities by building on the partnership between the LCCTHB Sliven and the European Information Centre "Europe Direct" Sliven and covering students from the upper secondary stage of secondary education in the municipality of Tvarditsa. In partnership with the Initiative and Empathy Foundation Sliven, targeted prevention activities are also planned, focusing on one of the most at-risk groups - persons with special needs.
During the campaign, the main focus will be on the Internet, and in particular social networks, as a means to engage in human trafficking and exploitation for forced prostitution, forced labor, servitude, exploitation for begging and pickpocketing, removal of body organs, tissues, and cells, trafficking of pregnant women to sell their newborns.
At the same time, the campaign will use the global network as s tool to counter and prevent human trafficking.
To provide information for possible reporting of threats on the Internet, the website www.cybercrime.bg of the Cybercrime Department of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime - the only specialized structure among the law enforcement agencies in the Republic of Bulgaria working on countering all different forms of sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse of children online - will be promoted.