Hotline Helps Local Woman Protect Herself
Lyudmyla, a second-year law student, attended a seminar on trafficking in persons held at her university. During the workshop, the organizers – the Rivne-based NGO, Chayka, explained all the aspects of trafficking, including how to avoid getting sucked into human slavery, and provided its hotline number, which offers advice to people who are considering going abroad on how to protect themselves.
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A poster of Vyacheslav Vakarchuk, an Okean Elzy front man, urges youth to get more information before traveling abroad
Photo Credit: Ukrainiska Reklama |
Chayka is part of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ukraine Counter-Trafficking NGO Network, funded by the USAID project, Combating Trafficking in Persons in Ukraine. In addition to educating people in the Rivne oblast about trafficking, Chayka also provides reintegration assistance to returned victims of trafficking.
Lyudmyla was looking for a job to pay for her education and living costs. While searching, she found a job agency that offered her a job in the Czech Republic at a higher-paying level than in Ukraine.
However, the agency pushed Lyudmyla to sign a contract in the Czech language stating that the agency would pass her power of attorney to an unknown man, who would act on her behalf in the Czech Republic. The agency also said that she could reimburse the cost for its services after she began working there.
Lyudmyla grew suspicious. Remembering what she had heard at the trafficking education seminar, she decided to call Chayka’s hotline to get advice about this job offer.
A Chayka attorney agreed to meet with Lyudmyla, and after discussing the situation, the two concluded that this offer might be a risky one. Lyudmyla decided to reject the Czech job.
Looking back, Lyudmyla says, “Thanks to the seminar I attended at the university, I knew where to go to get a consultation. Only now I realize how close I was to getting into trouble. I'm happy that Chayka helped me. Now I will try to find a job in Ukraine to pay for my University.”
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