IOM campaign helping identify victims of human trafficking

The 'Don't Become a Slave!' campaign of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Slovakia helped to identify two victims of human trafficking between October-December 2014, IOM office head in Slovakia Zuzana Vatráľová told TASR on Tuesday. Vatráľová added that the anti-trafficking campaign also helped to promote a Slovak National Helpline for Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings (0800 800 818). According to her, the number of people calling the contact line has increased during the campaign. "Callers were interested in learning more about the services and assistance provided by the line; they needed to check a job agency and requested information on protection from human traffickers", she said, adding that although the information-preventive campaign was at its peak in the final quarter of 2014, it will continue to inform the public about trafficking in human beings and of the dangers of modern-day slavery until mid-February. The IOM launched the 'Don't Become a Slave!' information campaign in Slovakia in mid-October 2014, focusing especially on towns in the Košice region. Posters have been placed in bus stations in Košice, Trebišov and Michalovce. The campaign also involves information on travel tickets, regional buses and buses heading to Great Britain, specifically to Bradford, Sheffield, Birmingham and Leeds, which are frequent destinations for victims of trafficking. In cooperation with La Strada organisations, the campaign is also taking place in the Czech Republic and Poland.