No! - For human trafficking

The School of Equal Opportunities began with the All-Ukrainian Summer School - 2000 for teenage girls to prevent the trafficking of women and young girls, and in the following years, takes preventive work in this direction in Kyiv and regions of Ukraine.

The Equal Opportunities School curriculum covers a wide range of acute problems that are of concern to society today, among which the problem of trafficking in people is important. The work is conducted using the "equal to equal" method in various forms and directions. First of all, this is the All-Ukrainian summer and winter gender schools, where the problem of preventing human trafficking is central. Young leaders from different parts of Ukraine are going to exchange experience and find innovative forms of work.

The number of children trained in summer and winter schools is over 700 people, and the number of volunteers involved in work during this time reaches 10,000. They conduct informational work on the prevention of trafficking in persons, in particular children, in preventing violence and countering the commercial sexual exploitation of children in all regions of Ukraine. There are lectures, conversations, thematic discos, the issue of walls, participation in information campaigns, holding press conferences, round tables. The most widespread direction of preventive work is the peer-to-peer training method, as this method provides trusting relationship between the participants in the training and the trainer / coach, as well as making the information accessible and easy to master.

The techniques developed by the Shanghai Municipalities are constantly being improved, included in the textbooks used to train many NGOs. The preventive work of young trainers was highly appreciated by USAID, the International Organization for Migration, the Academy for the Promotion of Education (AID), the Ministry of Family and Youth Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science, ECPAT organizations, etc. Continuing training of young trainers is provided by professional international trainers who are part of the team of School trainers.

In search of new forms of work, the participants turned to the possibilities of the theater of street action. In 2002, the Gender Interactive Theatre (GIT) was created. In the same year, school volunteers prepared a presentation about the prevention of trafficking in children: a theatrical miniature, in a symbolic style, in which the role of victims of trafficking is rude white chicks who, in search of the earthly paradise, fall into the net of slavery.

The show is accompanied by an interactive program that includes many different improvisations and encourages viewers to be active participants in the stage action. The game format provides information that enables young people to understand how the problem of trafficking in children is relevant to Ukraine and the world as a whole.

The All-Ukrainian Summer School 2003 on the prevention of trafficking in children, where young trainers presented their own trainings on this problem, was the start of the creation of unique guide for young traffickers on the prevention of the sale of children by young people, which included the personal experience of young boys and girls. Illustrations to him are also invented and executed by WRM volunteers. The trainings of this manual at the end of the Summer School have been tested in general secondary schools of Ukraine and are constantly used in the work.

In 2003, the participants of the School of Equal Opportunities created an anti-crisis mobile youth center "MAYAK", which was deployed on the basis of several secondary schools in Kyiv. The uniqueness of the idea behind this center is that counseling provides teenagers with adolescents on a "peer to peer" basis and based on gender sensitivity. This volunteer project was recognized as the best project of the year in Kyiv.

Since 2005, School experts have been studying, exploring and developing the forum-theatre theory in social work in Ukraine, in particular on preventing trafficking in people/ children. This technique came to Ukraine thanks to the British Council, which provided the arrival of specialists with many years of experience, who provided their knowledge and experience to our trainers. The essence of the forum-theatre is that after the presentation of a small drama, viewers are invited to comment on the main ideas of the performance and to suggest other ways to solve the problems discussed in the play. Offer makers, are then invited to play a role, and the drama is put in a new way, with other solutions. This process involves discussions and debates over the issues raised, thereby actively attracting viewers. The method is tested by the School of Equal Opportunities in various social groups, including colonies, vocational schools, boarding schools, a network of IOM organizations working with victims of trafficking in people.

In the same year, the School of Equal Opportunities, with the support of the OSCE, IOM, the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports and a number of other organizations and structures, launched the annual "Do not Sell!" Mass-media education campaign in Ukraine, which during the two years passed simultaneously in Kyiv and several regions of Ukraine with the involvement of mass media and a wide range of creative groups. New content "Don’t sell!" acquired in 2007. According to the decision of the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports on September 29, under the slogan "Stop the trafficking of people!" it has been held in all regions of Ukraine.