Information about each victim of the criminal business is important in the fight against human trafficking - the prosecutor's office

Having comprehensive information about victims of human trafficking can significantly increase the effectiveness of combating organizers of criminal business. This opinion was expressed by the Deputy Prosecutor of the Vitebsk region, Vladimir Guk.

"The trade in human beings is characterized by high latency. Periodically, individuals or even groups are identified who organize the departure of our citizens abroad. Victims include both girls who face sexual slavery and men who fall into labor exploitation," stated Vladimir Guk. At the same time, he noted that the number of cases where organizers are brought to justice is, unfortunately, not very large yet. One of the reasons is that victims of exploitation are reluctant to share information. Some believe they are solely to blame for what happened, while others fear retaliation. "The task is to identify everyone who has become a victim of human traffickers, and using the information collected from them, to identify the organizers of criminal business, to bring criminal cases against human traffickers to completion, using international cooperation, and to seek opportunities to influence unscrupulous employers," said the Deputy Prosecutor of the region.

Yesterday, a meeting of the multidisciplinary working group responsible for the identification, referral, and reintegration of victims of human trafficking in the region was held in Vitebsk at the regional prosecutor's office. The meeting was attended by prosecutors, representatives of the International Organization for Migration in Belarus, the Belarusian Red Cross Society, law enforcement agencies, regional departments of education and healthcare, the committee for labor and social protection, the Polotsk border guard detachment, and the regional bar association.

Alena Tikhonova - BELTA.