“Children and youth as victims of exploitation and trafficking – challenges for child-welfare in Austria”: Viennese Symposium, together with CARITAS and Youth One World and Platform Against Exploitation and Human Trafficking, June 20th.

On June 20^th, 2023, the Platform Against Exploitation and Human Trafficking, Vienna, along with CARITAS and Youth One World, organised a symposium, the theme of which focused on “Children and youth as victims of exploitation and trafficking – challenges for child welfare in Austria”. 

The morning sessions were attended by quite some students with their teachers, highlighting short inputs on working exploitation, child trafficking, refugee-children and loverboys, as well as children’s rights and victim protection. This was then followed by a “world café” with different tables in the room, around which some of the participants were invited to gather, to talk in smaller groups and in some more depth about one or two of these topics, and present a short report afterwards.

During noon, there was a “reverse graffiti” action outside on St. Stephans place (the area around St. Stephans’s church in the city-center), on “Stop child-labour”.

The afternoon was targeted more to adults, and started with two video-interviews with victims, followed by two presentations on “Children’s rights and victim-protection: theory and reality/practice”, and a panel discussion on the topic.

The photos below show many of the participants of the reverse-graffiti action, as well as Dr. Beclin, Chair of the Platform and professor of the University Institute on Criminal Law and Criminology, presenting at the symposium.