Dr. Maia Rusakova Director Regional NGO “Stellit” Combating exploitation and trafficking of unacompanied children: Best practices from governmental organizations and NGOs Dr. Maia Rusakova Director Regional NGO “Stellit”

Statistics: Center for Temporary Stay of Minors who Committed Crimes, 2015* There is no data on if there were children from Baltic countries 43 children from CIS countries: * Statistics from the official website of Child Ombudsman in St. Petersburg

Statistics: Shelter “Transit”, January – November 2016 299 children from:

Statistics: Shelter “Transit”, January – November 2016 (continue) Average age – 14 years old Every tenth is orphan, others have parents (mostly families with low income) 63% males and 37% females 91 children out of 299 are victims of trafficking, others have suffered at least psychological and/or physical abuse

Statistics: Shelter “Transit” (end) For children coming to Transit from non-CIS countries main destination is not St. Petersburg but EU countries Latest cases where Baltic countries were involved: Boy from Syria, 17 y.o., came to Russia legally and got visa, after that went to Norway was deported back to Russia, received an asylum in Russia Girl from Riga, 15 y.o., got in touch via Internet with the citizen of Uzbekistan living in St. Petersburg, came to St. Petersburg to him alone and almost found herself in brothel, was sent to Transit by police and given back to her mother who came to Russia 6 boys from Vietnam, from 14 to 17 y.o., were accompanied by 1 adult, came to St. Petersburg via Moscow, tried to cross Estonian boarder illegally to reach brothel in one of EU countries, were identified by frontier guards, sent to Transit and than back to Vietnam

Best practices: researches and data collection Research on child trafficking from Eastern to Western Europe within the project coordinated by ECPAT Netherlands, supported by Oak, 2004 (in Russia it was done by Regional NGO Stellit, Norway was twin country) Research on unaccompanied children coming from Moldova to St. Petersburg, Regional NGO “Stellit” in cooperation with Terra des Hommes in Moldova, with the support from OSCE and the Principality of Monaco 2011 Cooperation of Regional NGO “Stellit” and Shelter “Transit” in collection of data on unaccompanied minors

Best practices: prevention and raising public awareness The Body Shop & ECPAT Campaign Exhibition “Lightning! Children, beware” Youth Volunteer Movement “Do You Know the Way? Do it Your Own Way…” Two Little Girls campaign Trainings and toolkits on trafficking prevention for stakeholders in different Russian cities (mostly implemented by Russian NGOs) Thematic websites on trafficking prevention targeted at young people at risk Empowerment programs targeted at children and young people at risk

Best practices: protection of child victims Children who committed criminal offenses are divided from other unaccompanied children (Transit Shelters and Departments vs Centers for Temporary Stay of Minors Who Committed Crimes) Transit Shelter in St. Petersburg as a sample and resource center for NW Russia and wider Jewel Girls program implemented by Safe House Foundation in several Russian cities Transit shelters/ departments in different Russian cities have been provided with assistance in work with unaccompanied minors including trafficking victims (trainings, toolkits, thematic websites, equipment)

Challenges Level of staff qualification and equipment in organizations working with unaccompanied children especially in remote Russian cities Initiatives on trafficking prevention and raising public awareness are mostly implemented by NGOs Work with unaccompanied children is mostly focused on identification of their personality, region/country of origin and after that in most cases they are sent to this country/region No money for professional interpreters in transit centers, students do not understand the dialect foreign children speak In some case children over 14 y.o. might be put to the Centers for Temporary Stay of Minors Who Committed Crimes even in case they haven’t committed criminal offenses Young adults (18-25 y.o.) are not protected in a proper way

Recommendations That is important to collect data on the current situation and use them as evidence to develop interventions Trainings, toolkits, webinars for stakeholders are important to exchange best practices and ensure children are protected in a proper way Further development of intergovernmental and international cooperation in the field of identification and protection of unaccompanied children (not only within Baltic Region but wider as well as children are coming from other regions as well) Children should be meaningfully involved into the development of interventions

Thanks a lot for your attention! Regional NGO Stellit www.ngostellit.ru Russia, St. Petersburg, Mira st., 3, of. 521-B Tel. +7 (812) 493-52-38 Rusakova.maia@yandex.ru