Ukraine - On the occasion of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, IOM has opened a public art installation – DIMENSIONS3 – in Kiev, Ukraine. The installation aims to alert Ukrainians to the issue and motivate them to join the fight against human trafficking – a form of modern day slavery. Over the past 25 years, over 160 000 Ukrainians have been trafficked.

“Since 2000, IOM has provided over 12,500 victims of trafficking with comprehensive reintegration assistance, including legal aid, medical care, psychological counselling, financial support, vocational training and other types of assistance based on individual needs,” said IOM Ukraine Chief of Mission Manfred Profazi. “Crisis and protracted conflict are additional risk factors and heighten the vulnerability of Ukrainian men, women and children to false promises of recruiters and traffickers,” he added.

From January to September 2016, IOM Ukraine assisted 777 victims of trafficking, exploited mainly in Russia, Poland and internally in Ukraine. Some 90 percent suffered from exploitation in forced labour.

Roughly 60 percent of survivors assisted by IOM this year have been men. Some 80 percent have university or vocational school education and 72 percent come from cities and towns, which is a reflection of the deepening economic crisis in Ukraine.

DIMENSIONS3 provides people with useful information about the nature of human trafficking, real stories, safe travel and safe employment advice, and dedicated counter-trafficking hotlines.

The installation was produced by IOM, in cooperation with Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy, with funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and USAID. It will travel throughout Ukraine in 2017, raising awareness of the dangers of human trafficking.

For further information, please contact Varvara Zhluktenko at IOM Ukraine, Tel: +38 044 568 5015 or +38 067 447 97 92, Email: vzhluktenko@iom.int or IOMKievComm@iom.int.