The "Professional Training and Tools for Fighting Trafficking in Human Beings in EU" project is STARTING.
Trafficking in human beings is a serious crime and a grave violation of fundamental rights. In Europe, it affects hundreds of thousands of people every year: women, men and children exploited for labour, sexual purposes, or other forms of coercion.
The professionals who encounter potential victims every day — social workers, police officers, healthcare and education staff, NGO workers — often operate without a shared framework. National responses vary. Training is inconsistent. Protocols diverge.
TRAFFICKING addresses this gap.
What the project does
TRAFFICKING is a 26-month European cooperation project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. Eight organisations from six countries are working together to define a common professional profile for anti-trafficking work: a trained, recognised practitioner who can identify, refer and support victims, wherever in Europe they are encountered.
The project responds to the requirements of Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, currently under revision by the European Parliament. Its findings will inform that process directly.
Project Stages
WP1
Project Management
Coordination, financial management and quality assurance across all eight partner organisations throughout the 26-month project. This work package ensures that activities are delivered on time, in compliance with Erasmus+ requirements, and that lessons learned are shared systematically across the partnership.
WP2
Understanding the Landscape
A comparative analysis of how trafficking in human beings is addressed across the six partner countries: the legal framework in each context, the professional roles involved, existing training provision, and identified gaps. The survey produces a shared evidence base and a portrait of national practices that directly informs the design of the training programme.
WP3
Building the Training Programme
The core of the project. Drawing on the survey findings, the partnership designs and pilots a joint training programme for front-line professionals. The programme is structured in modular learning units, tested with practitioners in each partner country, and refined on the basis of their feedback. The result is a curriculum that is transferable across borders and adaptable to national vocational training systems.
WP4
From Project to Policy
Dissemination of results across Europe, production of a practical training manual for practitioners, and preparation of a position paper submitted to the European Parliament during the revision of Directive 2011/36/EU. This work package ensures that the project’s findings reach the institutions and organisations with the capacity to act on them.
