Children’s vulnerability to trafficking is recognised in the Baltic Sea Region. National Contact Points for unaccompanied and trafficked children are functional in almost all countries in the region and police and law enforcement regularly investigate on suspected cases of child trafficking. Legislation has moved forward so as to protect child victims and prosecute those exploiting them.
The conference which produced this report was organised as a part of the Norwegian presidency to the Council of the Baltic Sea States 2010–2011. The fight against trafficking in human beings was one of the priorities of the presidency.
The conference was organised by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion together with the CBSS Expert Group on Children at Risk. The event attracted over 100 experts from all over the region with backgrounds in law enforcement, prosecution, child protection, outreach work, research, as well as governmental and non-governmental services aimed specifically at supporting child victims of trafficking. The results and conclusions of the conference will guide further work within the CBSS in this challenging field.
A series of 5 consecutive seminars for 50 professionals working with child victims of trafficking as well as expert seminars on emerging trends were held in the lead up to this conference. Additionally, information management has been addressed through a project focused specifically on identifying sources and credibility of information, holders of information and its management.