On the implementation of the Awareness Raising Campaign on Human Trafficking in Sarajevo Canton and Zenica Doboj Canton in the period February 1 – October 18, 2018

The Association “Novi put” signed a Project Agreement with the Swiss Caritas on 1 February 2018 for the implementation of the Awareness Raising Campaign on Human Trafficking in Sarajevo Canton (SC) and Zenica Doboj Canton (ZDC).

Implementation of an awareness campaign on human trafficking among students at following 14 elementary and 2 secondary schools in Canton Sarajevo and Zenica-Doboj Canton:

• Elementary School (E.S.) “Hasan Kikić”, Centar, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Porodica ef. Ramić”, Vogošća, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Hašim Spahić”, Ilijaš, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Stari Ilijaš”, Ilijaš, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Grbavica II”, Novo Sarajevo, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Osman Nakaš”, Novi Grad, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Avdo Smailović”, Novi Grad, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Treća osnovna škola”, Ilidža, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Deseta osnovna škola”, Ilidža, Sarajevo
• E.S. “9.maj”Pazarić, Hadžići, Sarajevo
• Secondary School for Environment and Wood Design, Sarajevo
• E.S. “Hamdija Kreševljaković”, Kakanj
• E.S. “Hasan Kikić”, Zenica
• E.S. “Miroslav Krleža”, Zenica
• E.S. “Prva osnovna škola”, Zavidovići
• Mixed Secondary School Zenica

Due to increased interest of school staff and students during the reporting period “Novi put” implemented 35 lectures instead of 32 planned ones for a total of 1131 students of elementary and secondary schools in two Cantons.  Each lecture was also attended by the school representatives, i.e.  their respective teachers, school councillors and social workers. During the lectures “Novi put” prevention and education staff provided students with information about the current situation re. human trafficking in B&H, forms of exploitation with a special focus on recruitment of victims for the purpose of sexual, labour exploitation, forced begging, child marriages and production of pornographic materials, methods of recruitment used by human traffickers; characteristics of human trafficking (e.g. blackmailing by using explicit photos and videos, making threats to family members, physical punishment, forced use of drugs, staying with a tourist visa and illegal work during such a stay, lower salary than previously agreed, suspension of payment, long working hours, restriction of freedom of movement, absence of adequate medical care and assistance after possible accidents at work, involvement of private employment agencies, seizure of travel documents, illegal stay abroad, indebtedness as a method of control, use of interest increasing debt, punishment for violation of rules, punishment for behaviour after working hours, billing unrealistically increased costs for accommodation, food, transportation); how to detect a situation of human trafficking;

The students were informed about treatment of victims of human trafficking using real cases of HT “Novi put” has worked at, how they could detect and protect themselves from and how to react in a situation of human trafficking. Information about the Help line and the Counselling Centre run by “Novi put” were shared with all students aimed to empower them to ask for assistance in case of being exposed to HT. The videos featuring most prevailing forms of exploitation in BiH were played. During each lecture the students were encouraged to share any experiences with human trafficking they or someone they know had been exposed to and as a result discussions were held with students during all lectures.  

The anti-trafficking materials (leaflets, pens, posters) with the logo of CaCh were distributed at the schools aimed at reaching to as many potential beneficiaries as possible.

It was interesting to note that all the elementary and secondary students who were asked to give a definition of HT stated it was kidnapping and sale of human organs, whereas they were not familiar with other forms of human trafficking present in BiH.

However, the projections of „Novi put“ have been justified and the issue of online child abuse seems to be a growing problem. During the implementation of lectures Novi put staff learned about numerous cases of attempted/successful cases of recruitment of children through internet for production of pornographic materials. Many children stated they were contacted by online friends whom they mostly did not know in the real life and they were either sent explicit photos or they were asked to take nude photos and send it to the „online friend“. It is also worrying that children as young as 13-14 already have more than 600 online friends who follow them, have access to all their photos and posts they publish and in most of the cases they maintain private communication with them without being sure about the real identity of their online friends.

After each lecture „Novi put“ discussed the feedback from students with the relevant school staff aimed at prevention and possible future abuse and providing assistance to identified victims.

Progress towards closing the gender gap in news media content has almost come to a standstill, according to the 2015 Global Media Monitoring Project research. While women are 50% of the world population, they remain only 1 in 4 of the people seen, heard or read about in the news since 2010.

Representative of the Association “Novi put” participated at the La Strada International NGO Platform that was held from 25 – 27th of October,2017 in Skopje, Macedonia. The focus of the platform debates, comprising plenary sessions and workshops was placed on the role of NGOs in the anti-trafficking field. During the NGO Platform discussions were held on common strategies aimed at preventing and combating human trafficking across Europe

Association „Novi put“ has become a member of the Global Aliance against Traffic in Women GAATW.http://gaatw.org/members/europe/125-membership/europe/875-ngo-novi-put
 

 

 

Turkish Agency for International Cooperation and Coordination (TIKA) donated technical equipment to the Association "Novi put". The equipment will significantly facilitate the  anti-trafficking efforts of Novi put and provision of direct assistance to potential and genuine victims of human trafficking and child abuse.
Picture: Ayse Selcan Sanli, Consul General of the Republic of Turkey in Mostar and the staff of the Turkish Agency for International Cooperation and Coordination at the office of "Novi put" 

MEDIA RELEASE

10 DECEMBER 2016

WACC Launches “End News Media Sexism” Campaign


Today the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) Network and other partners have launched a campaign to end news media sexism by 2020.

The campaign start date coincides with Human Rights Day to underline gender equality in the media as a human rights issue.

The “End News Media Sexism” campaign will encourage and assist national advocacy to change media policy and journalistic practice.

The campaign aims to support and highlight intensive efforts in several countries with the hope that new evidence will emerge on strategies that work to bring about fair and equal representation of women and men in the news media.

“This is a call for action to all those who are committed to gender equality. Media have a significant impact on how we perceive our reality” comments Rev. Dr Karin Achtelstetter, General Secretary of WACC. “The campaign will tackle these issues and challenge media outlets to take professional ethics for gender-fair practice seriously.”

WACC is the General Secretary of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG), a global network of media organisations, civil society and other actors interested in gender equality in and through the media.

The campaign follows on the heels of the launch of the Step It Up for Gender Equality Media Compact by the UN agency responsible for gender equality UN Women to urge media organisations to play their part in advancing gender equality and women’s rights.

The campaign is informed by the results of media monitoring research by the GMMP network in 114 countries.

Conducted over a 20-year period, the research found persistent severe disparity between news media portrayal and representation of women and men. On several key indicators of gender equality in the media, the research revealed that progress had either slowed down or ground to a halt.
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 DECEMBER 2016


The “End News Media Sexism” campaign takes a variety of approaches to bring about news media accountability for gender equality.

Various tools are provided for audiences to gain a critical awareness of gender issues in media content and to engage with their local media. The tools available at http://whomakesthenews.org/advocacy/end-news-media-sexism-by-2020 include a scorecard on which media will be rated on their performance on key indicators of gender-sensitive reporting.



For more information, please visit the campaign website at http://whomakesthenews.org/advocacy/end-news-media-sexism-by-2020 or contact Sara Speicher, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +44 7821 860 723 or +44 7985 276 515.























The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) promotes communication as a basic human right, essential to people’s dignity and community. WACC works with all denied the right to communicate because of status, identity, or gender. Read more at www.whomakesthenews.org and www.waccglobal.org.