OSCE Special Representative meets Russian journalists to discuss media role in combating human trafficking

MOSCOW, 6 February 2012 - The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Maria Grazia Giammarinaro met prominent Russian journalists in Moscow today to discuss the role of the media in the fight against human trafficking in the OSCE region. The meeting was organized by the Russian Union of Journalists in co-operation with the Office of the Special Representative.

“Awareness raising is essential to inform and sensitize the public about the ever-changing forms of trafficking in human beings,” said Giammarinaro. “Victims are not always locked up in apartments or workplaces. Traffickers can also enslave them by taking advantage of their social isolation, dependency and destitution. The media can help by making their stories visible.”

Giammarinaro also stressed the importance of the media in preventing modern-day slavery: “The media can contribute to create a climate of zero tolerance towards exploitation and trafficking in any society.”

The Office of the Special Representative and the Russian Union of Journalists will soon launch a new project aimed at establishing a special course on “Trafficking in Human Beings: the Global Perspective and the Role of the Media” for students and postgraduates of the Moscow State University’s Faculty of Journalism.

Today’s meeting, which took place at the Moscow Central House of Journalists, was attended by representatives of TV channels, including VGTRK (Vesti, Vesti-24), Russia Today and MIR; radio station Ekho Moskvy; dailies Komsomolskaya Pravda, Delovoy Vtornik and newspapers from Moscow oblast; news agencies Interfax, RIA Novosti, ITAR-TASS and the Agency of Social Information; and quarterly magazine Mir i Soglasije. Participants also included representatives of the Federal Migration Service, the State Duma, IOM Moscow, UNHCR and the International Association of Journalists.

The discussion will continue tomorrow at the Moscow State University’s Faculty of Journalism, at an international roundtable event on journalistic investigations and the role of journalists in the fight against human trafficking as a transnational threat and gross human rights violation.