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In June 2025 Caritas Ukraine summarizes results of the annual project “Prevention, protection and
assistance to vulnerable survivors of human trafficking in Ukraine, 2024-2025” supported by CAFOD, Caritas Spain and Caritas Korea. The quantitative results speak for themselves:
219 potential victims of human trafficking were screened by Caritas workers;
- 157 of them were identified as survivors and included into the project;
- They received 288 psychological / psychotherapeutic services, 282 different other services, 10
grants for micro-business and/or medical treatment; - 218 preventive and informational activities, 150 outreach activities, 32 advocacy events at national
and international level, 29 raising awareness events were held;
But behind the numbers there are real stories of people who were trafficked and exploited and with the
assistance of Caritas could restart their lives. Here are some stories of Caritas Ukraine’s beneficiaries.
Galya (born in 2011) and Sofia (born in 2013) are sisters. After their parents divorced in 2019, the
girls lived with their grandparents in the village in Mykolaiv region. Their mother remarried and lived with
her new husband in the city of Voznesensk. She often took her daughters to her home, bought them
sweets, and indulged their every whim.
Taking advantage of the children’s trust and gratitude, the mother and stepfather photographed the girls naked and also filmed pornographic videos. They distributed these videos by sending them to another people via Internet. The stepfather committed sexual acts against one of his stepdaughters in the presence and with the participation of his wife, who filmed the acts. The filmed
content, which contained child pornography, was then distributed on the Internet.
The video footage was discovered in November 2023 by a senior inspector of the Kyiv Regional
Department of Internal Affairs while monitoring the web application “IcacCops” (used to prevent
cybercrimes against children). After identifying children in the video, a criminal case was opened against
their mother and stepfather. In December 2024, the Voznesensk City District Court of the Mykolaiv region sentenced the two defendants to 15 years in prison for producing and distributing child pornography, child molestation, rape, by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, and human trafficking.
The sisters currently live with their father, his common-law wife, and three other children in the
village. The family is poor, and the father is renovating the old house with his own hands, trying to make
the children comfortable. There is no central water supply in the village, so water has to be brought in. The family cannot afford to drill a well, so they cannot grow vegetables or run a household. They have to buy all the food for their large family.
The girls were referred to Caritas Odesa at the end of March 2025 by the officials of Mykolaiv
Regional State Administration. In April of 2025, the girls were granted the status of victims of human
trafficking.
After establishing contact with the father and assessing the needs of the children and their family,
comprehensive assistance was provided to them as part of the project. The girls received psychological
counseling, counseling and coaching was also provided to their father. Tablets and other school equipment were purchased for the sisters to improve their access to online education (during times of unrest and heavy shelling). The family was also provided with cleaning and hygiene products.
After getting married, Oleg couldn’t find a steady job for a long time, only odd jobs. Due to his
instability, he began to abuse alcohol. They didn’t have children, so his wife packed her things and left him.
Oleg didn’t know what to do, and because of this addiction, vulnerability and instability, he ended up in
prison. After his release from prison, he moved in with his sister. But his drinking habit didn’t go away, so
his sister was always arguing with him. Oleg packed his things and left for the capital.
In October 2024, while at the train station in Kyiv, Oleg accepted an offer from a stranger named
Alexander. The man offered Oleg treatment for alcohol addiction at a “rehabilitation center” in Kyiv region. The center was known for providing free accommodation and meals. Oleg got into Alexander’s car and they drove off. They didn’t drive for long, about an hour. When the man got out of the car, he saw a two-story building with a large fence. Instead of the promised treatment, the man and other men who were already there were locked up in a rented house – a “rehabilitation center” – where their phones, documents, and other valuables were taken away. Oleg lived in unsanitary conditions (in a basement).
There were 31 people living in the premises, 25 men and 6 women. Every day, a bus arrived and took the men to work. They were forced to work on construction sites for 10-11 hours a day. In the evening, they were picked up from the site and taken back to the center, and so it went every day. The women who were there were forced to clean the house and cook meals for the center’s staff using expired food products.
The men were paid 100 hryvnia on weekdays and 200 hryvnia (less than 5 Euro) on weekends for their work. Oleg was allowed to keep 100-200 hryvnia, depending on the day of the week.
When Oleg and other victims attempted to escape, they were subjected to physical and
psychological violence, false promises and deception, deprivation of freedom of movement, and denial of access to medical care. If a man did not obey, he was deprived of food. At the center, Oleg was made
addicted to psychotropic drugs.
Law enforcement agencies and police exposed this criminal group and released the man and other
survivors. Colleagues from Caritas Kyiv were engaged to this raid and referred Oleg to Caritas Drohobych
center. Oleg officially received the status of a victim of human trafficking from the state.
Currently, Caritas takes care and treats Oleg, taking into account his desire to receive rehabilitation from alcohol and drugs. The charitable foundation helped him to settle at Caritas rehabilitation center, where he is undergoing treatment and rehabilitation. He visits a therapist and receives psychological
counseling. Oleg is very satisfied with the treatment and is already on the mend. Now the man has new goals in his life and desire to live a full and happy life.
Prepared by Natalia Holynska,
Caritas Ukraine counter trafficking project manager
https://caritas.ua/