IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has launched a campaign to raise awareness and to prevent victimization through human trafficking in Hungary where thousands of people are trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation each year.
Between 5,000 and 20,000 people are currently victims of sexual exploitation in Hungary, while twice as many are victims of labour exploitation.
The campaign is reaching out with direct preventive messages to vulnerable groups at immediate risk of human trafficking and to the general population living in the most affected areas, which include Baranya, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg and Nógrád counties.
Nationwide research conducted prior to the campaign activities ascertained a worryingly low level of awareness about human trafficking among the Hungarian population.
The survey also found that more than 80 per cent of the respondents believed that one can become a victim of human trafficking solely through violent crime and kidnapping.
The IOM campaign is targeting audiences in the most affected areas of Hungary through multiple channels such as social media, a dedicated website, awareness raising videos, flyers presenting the most crucial facts about trafficking in human beings in Hungary, and through national roadshows to the areas most affected by human trafficking in Hungary.
During the roadshow stops, counter-trafficking experts from IOM and the Hungarian Police will visit schools and child-care institutions to raise awareness about the dangers of trafficking as the population living in these areas are most at risk.
