Victims not Villains: a supportive approach to interviewing victims of human trrafficking

One of the most significant challenges that law enforcement faces in handling human-trafficking cases all over the world is the negative attitude among law enforcement officers toward human-trafficking victims. At the same time, victims of human trafficking are largely fearful of reporting these crimes and suffer a  number of trauma-related conditions that require significant support. Meanwhile, the successful investigation and prosecution of human-trafficking cases is largely dependent on the evidence received from victims of human trafficking.

In response, ROCA in cooperation with the UK Serious Organized Crime Agency produced a training film on interviewing vulnerable victims and witnesses of human trafficking "Victims not Villains". This training tool is based on the UN.GIFT Anti-human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners for the interviewing of victims of human trafficking. It demonstrates good and bad interviewing techniques with an expert commentary. The script has been drafted by Amanda Feldon, an award winning TV producer/director, who has also directed the film. The film has been presented at several UNODC ROCA training courses/workshops and highly evaluated by the criminal justice practitioners from Central Asia and main transit and destination countries, as well as OSCE, IOM and Interpol experts, The Demo versions of the film are expected to be available in English and Russian on the UNODC website soon. The film is also  available in the Uzbek language. ROCA plans to translate the film into other national languages of Central Asian counties and disseminate it among law enforcement agencies.