The issue of keeping the broadest public informed about the concept and the problem of human trafficking has always been the focal point of ASTRA, because it sets the principal guidelines for the development of other activities. In that sense, the children and the young are the most interesting, as a heterogeneous group, being the most common target of human traffickers. In the period March 2002 – 2012, by means of ASTRA SOS Hotline, a total of 395 victims of human trafficking were identified, 140 (37%) of whom were children. Out of the total number of identified female victims of human trafficking, 133 (38.89%) accounted for girls who were underage at the time the exploitation occurred. Over 70% of the children who were involved in the chain of human trafficking were exposed to sexual exploitation, as the most widespread form of exploitation both in Serbia and globbally. The child victims of human trafficking are being recruited by persons trusted by the child (62.69%), usually by persons who should be their caretakers (35.23%). Serbia is by far the most frequent country of origin for the child victims of human trafficking, with 91% (131 children) identified victims originating from Serbia. More than a half of the identified children were exploited in Serbia, whereas in 47% of the cases the entire process, from recruiting to exploitation of a minor, took place in Serbia. The average age of the child victims identified over the past ten years is approximately 15 years (14.83 %).
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