BackThe Ombudsman Office of Latvia carried out an information campaign against human trafficking. The so-called project “Gards kumosiņš ("Crumpet") was co-sponsored by the IOI.
The comprehensive campaign was implemented in cooperation with the Latvian organization "Shelter Safe House", an NGO dedicated to protecting victims of human trafficking, as well as with the NGO "Union of the disabled and their friends" ("Apeirons"). A regional subsidy granted and provided by the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) furthermore supported this valuable project.
As a part of the project, a video clip - raising awareness and providing information on human trafficking - was published through various channels, which include amongst others the websites of the State Police of the Republic of Latvia, The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, the State Employment Agency of the Republic of Latvia, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, the NGO Society “Shelter Safe House” and the news portal kasjauns.lv.
A special section of the website of the Ombudsman office of Latvia was furthermore developed for this campaign. The newly launched section provides visual materials as well as essential information on the topic of human trafficking.
In addition, a Public Relations campaign was carried out to raise awareness on this highly important topic, especially amongst teenagers who are the most vulnerable to trafficking.
In a final project phase, an event on 18 October 2014 reached relevant stakeholders, including the media and state representatives. Through a "simulation game" developed by the Latvian NGO "Shelter Safe House" relevant stakeholders could get a glimpse of how it feels "to be in the shoes of a human trafficking victim". In a longer version of the game, teenagers were informed on how to avoid becoming a victim of human trafficking and how to react if they have become a victim.
Source: Ombudsman's Office of the Republic of Latvia, LATVIA
