Our Help

 

   

One of the wards in the RC                                            

IOM Rehabilitation Center (RC) was opened in April 2007 for the purpose of provision of medical, social and psychological assistance to trafficking victims. The facility is the first of its kind in Russia. Similar centers providing assistance to victims of trafficking exist in many developed countries. However, as Russia started focusing on this issue since rather recent time, the creation of such center is quite a unique experience.

 

The IOM Rehabilitation Center is a facility providing complex assistance and temporary safe accommodation.

In order to prevent re-trafficking and to ensure a fast reinsertion in the human’s society the provision of the full range of assistance is crucial. Rehabilitation Center provides assistance to individuals of legal adult age (18), and /or minors accompanied by adults. Assistance is offered regardless gender, nationality, type of exploitation, age or religion of the VoT.

 

Upon arrival, each victim of trafficking is offered the standard package of services:

· Airport reception or point of arrival

· Temporary housing/accommodation at the Rehabilitation center

· Qualified medical, psychological and social assistance

· Legal consultations

· Issue of travel documents

· Organization of repatriation to region of residence in Russia or country of residence abroad

· Development of individual reintegration plans

· Reintegration assistance and monitoring of reintegration process

· Reinstallation and reintegration grants

· Referral to regional NGOs/or IOM Missions in the region/countries of origin for follow-up assistance and monitoring of reintegration.

 

All victims who stay in the Center get high-qualified medical assistance which includes general physical assessment, gynecological examination, consultations of different medical specialists, series of laboratory tests, icluding HIV-test, hepatitis-test, RW-test, tests for STIs (sexually transmitted infections), general blood and urine tests. All medical checks are done on voluntary basis. IOM insures absolute confidentiality of any medical interventions done in the Rehabilitation Center. After the completion of medical examinations victims are provided with necessary medical treatment. If needed, victims can also undergo additional checks and treatment, which may be provided by psychiatrists, narcologists, dermatologists, dentists and other specialists on the hospital base, or in other specialized medical institutions.

 

Based on statistics of provision of assistance during 3 years of the project implementation the IOM Moscow has established a model of provision of assistance to the victims of trafficking. The personnel of the RC have received special trainings on the specifics of provision of direct assistance to victims of trafficking according to international standards and the IOM practice. The specialists of the project based their work on methodologies developed by IOM worldwide. (The IOM Handbook on Direct Assistance for Victims of Trafficking, 2007, IOM).

 

By the end of October 2009 IOM Moscow has assisted more then 415 victims of human trafficking. 38,3% of victims were referred to IOM Moscow from other IOM missions located in other countries; 22,2% were referred by law enforcement units of Russia, 3,1%  - were released in course of joint operations of LE units and IOM and NGOs; 1,2% - by state structures of Moscow city; 21,5% were referred by NGOs; 4,8% - by the "hot line" of the project; 8,1% were referred by foreign diplomatic missions.

 

Types of exploitation of trafficking victims determine further medical treatment needed to cure certain health conditions. Thus, individuals exploited for forced labour, usually suffer from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, eye problems, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, bronchitis, pneumonia, urological and otolaryngological problems. Such consequences are caused by bad working and living conditions during the period of exploitation. Women who were in sexual exploitation are often suffer from sexually transmitted diseases (more then 60% of assisted cases), inflammatory diseases of the female reproductive organs (56% of assisted cases), ectoparasitical skin diseases (incl. pediculosis). All victims suffer from disorders of the nervous system (PTSD - post-traumatic stress disorder, osteochondrosis, asthenic syndrome).

IOM experience shows that the health conditions of victims improve considerably after the completion of the treatment course, in some cases full recovery is achieved. Whenever a long-term and continuous medical treatment is required, the beneficiaries are referred to the respective medical institution located in the region of their residence.  

Without an adequate psychological assistance and support the former victims of human trafficking would not be able to start a new life and overcome the consequences of trafficking experience.

 

 

IOM Moscow has established victims referral system for government authorities, law enforcement agencies, public health officials and social support institutions, NGOs, and international organizations.

Based on IOM’s best practices in the European region, the reintegration assistance component is best handled by the partner NGOs operating in the victims’ regions of residence. To this end, this project pays special attention to the capacity building of the non-governmental organizations and their network development. In the project regions in cooperation with NGOs IOM has organize series of thematic seminars and trainings in the area of identification of human trafficking victims, their referral to the relevant structures for assistance, development of individual reintegration plans, counseling and other services during the entire period of rehabilitation and reintegration and also the monitoring of the reintegration.