Active Schools Against Human Trafficking
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<img alt="2014-05-21_13.32.46-1489154851" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/401354/2014-05-21_13.32.46-1489154851.jpg"></p>
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Our aim is to launch a program in Portuguese schools in order to prevent human trafficking through awareness raising and training.</p>
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Through the training of teachers, awareness campaigns for students and parents and creation of Active Communities against Trafficking (persons of the community that work on campaigning), we believe that we can reduce the number of children that are recruited, manipulated, and/or forced into human trafficking.</p>
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IT and social networks play a major role in the targeting, solicitation, manipulation, marketing and exploitation of children. Children are bought, sold and advertised online every day. Mobile phones, social media, messaging apps and other digital forms of communication enable traffickers to target and investigate children around the clock and from almost anywhere.</p>
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<img alt="Img_3727-1489165158" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/401421/IMG_3727-1489165158.JPG"></p>
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The "Active Schools Against Trafficking" project aims at preventing trafficking, especially amongst children, teenagers and young adults, who are recruited via social networks/internet, sports clubs and at the doorsteps of their schools, with false promises of relationships or employment, often glamorous, inviting them to become international models or football players. </p>
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Please follow the link below to some videos about this topic that were created, acted and directed by students of a Portuguese school where NSIS has implemented a similar project: </p>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/206227781" target="_blank">Be aware of potential recruitment by traffickers - sexual exploitation</a></p>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/207800315" target="_blank">Be aware of potential recruitment by traffickers - labor exploitation</a></p>
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Training the teachers to use the various classes they teach as a platform for awareness raising, blending it in their own curricula (history, economics, geography, maths etc), and at the same time how to identify indicators of potential recruitment from traffickers is one of the key elements of our project. The schools is also a pathway for reaching the community, namely through the parents of the children who are enticed by teachers to organise activities that will bring the community to the school (plays, cinema, exhibitions).</p>
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By encouraging people in the community to play an active role in preventing trafficking, the project helps create Active Anti-Trafficking Communities, mobilized citizens' groups that carry out public awareness activities. The basic idea of the project is that an informed community is a hostile community for traffickers, successfully managing to prevent new victims from falling into trafficking networks.</p>
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<img alt="Img_4334-1489163078" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/401411/IMG_4334-1489163078.jpg"></p>
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<img alt="Img_2270-1489154909" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/401355/IMG_2270-1489154909.JPG"></p>
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This project is a follow-up of similar projects we have already conducted in other two communities of Portugal: Pontinha-Famões and S. Teotónio. As a result of our initial projects dozens of teachers were trained, trafficking of human beings was included in subjects such as Geography, History and Portuguese, hundreds of students and parents were made aware of trafficking issues and prevention campaigns and videos were carried out, reaching thousands of people. We have also helped prevent cases of human trafficking.</p>
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The more active schools against trafficking are implemented, the more active communities against trafficking are implemented, the more hostile community for traffickers is established, thus, significantly reducing the possibilities for recruitment of our children, teenagers and young adults into human trafficking.</p>
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The amount collected will be delivered to the Network of Strategic and International Studies (NSIS) and will allow the NSIS to:</p>
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- train teachers - 3500€</p>
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- carry out awareness raising campaigns amongst students and at schools - 300€</p>
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- create new anti-trafficking materials - 900€</p>
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- organise community events - 300€</p>
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If your generous contributions go beyond the goal of this campaign we will be able to implement similar campaigns in more schools in different places of the country. We are ready to do it!</p>
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The project may start immediately (May 2017) but the majority of activities can take place after July 2017, as training of teachers can only take place after this date. This is a 12 month project. </p>
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<img alt="Img_3786-1489163173" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/401413/IMG_3786-1489163173.JPG"></p>
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