Preventing Human Trafficking Among Youth in Residential Care

Our work often brings us into contact with people facing increased risks of fraud and exploitation. Each year, around 200 young people leave alternative care – such as family-type accommodation centres or foster care. For many of them, this has been the only environment they have known. At the moment they reach adulthood, the support they relied on is significantly reduced or disappears altogether. This places them at heightened risk of various forms of exploitation, including human trafficking.

Through the project “Stronger Together: Access to Rights and Empowerment”, Dignita works precisely in this area – by combining direct work with young people, support for professionals, and advocacy for more effective systemic solutions.

This week, we began our work in family-type accommodation centres in Sofia. As part of the project, we will conduct five training sessions with young people aged 12–18. The sessions are interactive and based on real-life cases and situations. We discuss how exploitation begins, the most common methods of recruitment and manipulation, as well as the link between human trafficking and domestic violence. The focus is on helping young people recognise risks early and understand how to protect themselves.

As part of the project, we have also developed training materials that can be used by other professionals and organisations. We created a presentation that summarises the key topics and approaches, available here: https://canva.link/c6gic9zo1muy7wl

We have also developed short videos that explain key concepts in a clear and accessible way for young people. They address the challenges and risks of being drawn into schemes involving labour and sexual exploitation.

Every conversation, every meeting, and every timely piece of information can make a difference. We work so that more young people can recognise risks early and have a real opportunity to choose a safer path forward.

This project is implemented with the financial support of the Bulgarian Fund for Women. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the position of the Bulgarian Fund for Women, and the organisation is not responsible for its content.