Anti-trafficking practitioners meet in Italy for first Mediterranean regional simulation-based training exercise

The first Mediterranean regional simulation-based training exercise for anti-trafficking practitioners from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation concluded today in Vicenza, Italy, at the premises of the Centre of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU).

In the framework of this week-long training, more than 50 anti-trafficking practitioners from Italy, Malta, Spain, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia came together to solve complex cases of human trafficking. The training scenario incorporated complex and diverse migratory flows across multiple States, demonstrating how criminal groups exploit the vulnerability of migrants and displaced persons to traffic them into labour exploitation, sexual exploitation or forced criminality. The training brought together a wide range of professionals from across the anti-trafficking ecosystem, including prosecutors, labour inspectors, social workers, criminal and financial investigators, lawyers, NGO workers and migration officers. Participants were trained on their individual roles, as well as on how to effectively co-operate with their counterparts in the identification of trafficking victims and detection, investigation and prosecution of human trafficking crimes. In this context, the practitioners had the chance to practice and master their skills in multi-agency collaboration, applying victim-centred and trauma-informed approaches.

“With Mediterranean security indivisible from security within the OSCE region at large, the Mediterranean regional simulation-based training exercise demonstrated the lasting value and continued collaboration between the OSCE, participating States, and Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, and how strengthening efforts to combat trafficking in human beings contributes to improved security across the wider region,” said Dr. Kari Johnstone, the OSCE’s Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, in her closing remarks.   

First implemented in 2016, the OSCE’s simulation-based trainings remain a highly relevant training tool to enhance the capacity of OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation to promptly identify and assist presumed victims of trafficking in human beings as well as investigate and prosecute perpetrators through the use of a multi-agency, victim-centred, trauma-informed, gender-sensitive and human rights-based approach. 

This activity was implemented with the financial support from the Governments of France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Switzerland and the US, as well as the Republic of Italy, which also provided in kind contributions.

For more information on simulation-based trainings, please visit Simulation-based training | OSCE