THE GLOSSARY

The Glossary is a tool created to provide a clear understanding of specific concepts and terms related to our project's activities and objectives. It provides detailed explanations of key words and phrases used in the fight against human trafficking. It is an essential tool for ensuring clear and consistent communication within our project and for facilitating understanding of the challenges and solutions related to this important cause.

  • A

    • Reception: Activities and services guaranteed by the anti-trafficking system during the various stages of identification, assessment, and assistance for potential victims of trafficking and/or serious exploitation. These services enable them to exercise their rights and foster empowerment in a safe, dignified environment, far from the network of exploitation. Reception can take place in a protected residential facility or in a more widespread, local setting.
    • Reception in a protected residential facility: Protected residential facilities, with their unique characteristics, welcome people who have suffered serious forms of violence, exploitation, and trafficking. They are safe places that allow for a process of detachment from the context of danger, violence, exploitation, and trafficking. The educational work carried out in protected residential facilities involves the implementation of individualized interventions based on a multidisciplinary approach: through daily interaction, the individual, supported by anti-trafficking workers, progresses towards autonomy, strengthening their awareness and processing of experiences of violence, and developing the capacity for self-advocacy. These facilities can be differentiated by target audience (gender and age of beneficiaries, type of exploitation), program phase (initial and secondary reception, semi-autonomy), and gradual level of protection (high or low).
    • Proximity assistance: A set of activities not aimed, at least in the immediate term, at escaping conditions of exploitation, but at addressing the needs, both explicit and implicit, of those with whom they come into contact. These activities aim to improve a person's living conditions, increase empowerment and agency (self-determination), encourage them to emerge from situations of vulnerability, and limit the risk of re-victimization. Local assistance actions, as envisaged by SIRIT, include: orientation, assistance, and support in educational, legal, healthcare, social, and housing areas, as well as local and employment orientation. The definition of local assistance takes on full meaning when combined with the concepts of "proximity" and "local interventions."
    • Outreach activities: Activities aimed at raising awareness and informing citizens about trafficking and serious exploitation.
    • Autonomy: A desirable condition at the end of the care period and upon completion of the project implemented as part of the Single Program for the emergence, assistance, and social integration of victims of the crimes of enslavement, trafficking, and victims of violence or serious human exploitation. A person is considered autonomous when they are both financially independent and in terms of their ability to navigate their personal life, thus enabling them to manage relationships and work in the local area and context in which they live, also in order to mitigate the risk of possible re-victimization. Autonomy is the achievement of the capacity for self-determination.
    • Proactive action: Action aimed at promoting contact and the emergence of potential victims through the implementation of activities that can also be delivered in a multi-agency manner. Proactive action reaches not only individuals, but also the communities of reference of potential victims. The proactive dimension can be adopted from a preventative perspective when it "anticipates" the conditions that lead to the emergence of situations that undermine the dignity and rights of the person, with regard to the specific operational mandate of the Anti-Trafficking Projects.
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  • C

    • Case manager: The case manager is also the person who follows the individual's journey to achieve the objectives. They are therefore a point of reference who has a guiding role with respect to the actions to be taken to effectively maintain the project. Overall, the case manager defines the individual educational plan, monitors the process aimed at achieving the objectives, and coordinates and organizes available resources. They are responsible for the effective maintenance of the project, directs interventions, and activates formal and informal resources.
    • Interview: This is a tool that allows for targeted communication between one or more operators and the beneficiary, supported, if necessary, by linguistic and cultural mediation. The interview is aimed at building a relationship of trust that is functional to: - receiving any requests for help and assessing the risk the person faces in relation to serious exploitation; - analyzing the beneficiary's needs and supporting the beneficiary's agency, starting from a correct contextualization of the migration project within a framework of legality and self-determination. During the interview, various information is also provided about the services available in the area and the program for emergence, assistance, and social integration, as well as the conditions required for conscious participation.
    • Contact: Contact is a social intervention that, through monitoring, engagement, meeting, and listening, allows us to reach the population at risk of trafficking and/or serious exploitation. During this intervention, information is provided about the services and their availability, as well as about the existence of other measures that, with a view to harm reduction, mitigate the hardship and the resurgence of vulnerability to situations of trafficking and/or serious exploitation. The ultimate goal of contact actions is to identify needs and requests for assistance that may eventually converge in an assistance and social inclusion project within the Single Program.
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  • D

    • Drop In: Places where maximum accessibility and informality are guaranteed for welcoming, listening, and initial needs assessment. These locations provide low-threshold services and orientation to the local service network.
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  • AND

    • Empowerment: The term e-trafficking refers to the use of digital technologies in the circuits of trafficking and serious exploitation, such as: a computer system, an Internet service, a mobile device or a channel, a bulletin board service or any other device capable of storing or transmitting electronic data, including social networks, to coerce, deceive or achieve the purpose of exploitation.
    • E-traffic: The term e-trafficking refers to the use of digital technologies in the circuits of trafficking and serious exploitation, such as: a computer system, an Internet service, a mobile device or a channel, a bulletin board service or any other device capable of storing or transmitting electronic data, including social networks, to coerce, deceive or achieve the purpose of exploitation.
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  • F

    • Follow-up: Determining the beneficiary's condition at the conclusion of the individualized project and monitoring the degree of autonomy, both formal and informal, and the results achieved after the conclusion of the emergence, assistance, and social integration program. This action requires the individual to be available for an interview at the conclusion of the support program and to be available to be contacted again for the same interview 6 and 12 months after the project's conclusion.
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  • I

    • Identification: The identification of potential victims of trafficking or other forms of serious exploitation is a multi-stage process (preliminary and formal), aimed at understanding the individual's circumstances through analysis of their narrative and, more generally, of the elements (e.g., so-called "trafficking indicators") that emerge from interviews with the individual. Further evidence may come from various stakeholders in the individual's local area, as well as from analysis and observation of the context in which they operate. Preliminary identification can be carried out by various entities (e.g., law enforcement agencies) specifically within their area of expertise, while formal identification is carried out by the relevant anti-trafficking agency. The identification process requires the individual's consent.
    • Active inclusion: Active inclusion is a multidimensional process supported by the project as a specific, dynamic, and continuously evolving intervention. This process is based on participatory practices and policies in which the beneficiary of the interventions is the protagonist of the actions for change. Active inclusion aims to combat any form of discrimination, with a view to playing a leading role in one's own social integration journey, while respecting diversity.
    • Information: This activity is carried out primarily during the initial contact or initial assessment interview, where the operator, hopefully with the support of a linguistic-cultural mediator, provides the individual with information on the purpose of the meeting in light of the mandate of the Anti-Trafficking Projects.
    • Integration: Integration is understood as a dynamic and multifaceted process aimed at promoting coexistence, in compliance with the values enshrined in the Italian Constitution, with everyone's commitment to participate in the community, economic, social, and cultural life of society.
    • Health care interventions: A wide range of activities to promote, support, and facilitate access to health services, with a view to protecting the right to health of individuals and the community. These activities also serve a preventive function for pathologies related to the specific conditions that may be present in people exposed to situations of serious exploitation.
    • Proximity interventions: Actions carried out in various contexts (streets, workplaces, informal settlements, CPIs, clinics, etc.) characterized by immediate, adequate, and constant proximity to the beneficiaries. They use relationships as the primary operational tool, aimed at reducing and/or eliminating the distance between the person's place of residence and the places where the services they need are provided. For certain population groups with particular social vulnerabilities, or difficulty accessing existing programs and/or services in the area, targeted interventions tailored to their specific needs are necessary to achieve greater effectiveness. The sustainability of these interventions may require organizational changes to services to offer targeted pathways, and also include "low-threshold" solutions. Proximity interventions enhance the integration of various community resources into project actions. These interventions are also available to people who have already benefited from anti-trafficking services. The definition of proximity interventions acquires full meaning when related to the concepts of “proximity” and “proximity assistance”.
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  • L

    • Networking: It is a set of methodologies and skills aimed at promoting connections and synergies between formal and informal resources, the activation of multidisciplinary figures to support the individual, the Project and the community
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  • M

    • Mapping: Systematic and structured observation aimed at monitoring phenomena related to trafficking and severe exploitation and their transformations, taking into account the specificities of each territory. An action-research approach is adopted with the aim of rethinking interventions.
    • Cultural-linguistic mediator: A professional trained in the field of trafficking and severe exploitation who can facilitate communication between the anti-trafficking worker and the beneficiaries of the intervention in languages they understand. The cultural-linguistic mediator is able to convey both cultural codes, social ethics, and the specificities of migration phenomena because he or she is familiar with their characteristics. The mediator suspends judgment by listening empathetically to the individual and shares approaches and objectives, acting as a bridge between operators to foster contact, engagement, and the building of a relationship of trust. Networking: Request forwarded by Projects to the Toll-Free Number in cases where a victim of trafficking and/or serious exploitation requires shelter in a different area than their current location. This request may be made for, for example, security reasons, lack of space in the facilities of the requesting project, incompatibility with the facility where the person is being hosted, or to find a job. The request is submitted with an information sheet and a report to allow the national network Projects to evaluate the possibility of shelter. In practice, a distinction is made between the Start of the Program, which refers to a person who has been assessed but is not yet receiving assistance, and a Networking, where the person has already begun their journey and is in reception.
    • Monitoring: Periodic and systematic collection of certain elements/indicators/parameters that allow observation of the progress of the care with respect to the educational component, i.e., the response the beneficiary develops with respect to needs and the making of informed choices in relation to their life plan and full social integration. Monitoring is aimed at examining the ability of the implemented actions to achieve the established goals. Monitoring also involves periodic observation of the targets with which anti-trafficking projects work – e.g., street prostitution – aimed at a quantitative survey and a qualitative description of the elements that this activity allows to highlight.
    • Multi-agency: This is an operational methodology that involves institutions, local authorities, and third sector entities that cooperate to implement shared interventions, inspired by a multidisciplinary and integrated approach. It is effective if all stakeholders operate equally, that is, according to a horizontal working logic, respecting the role of others, recognizing different professional skills and operational mandates. This definition describes collaboration with agencies and individuals involved in preventing, combating, and protecting people involved in trafficking and other forms of serious exploitation, with the aim of ensuring the emergence, identification, and protection of victims.
    • Multidimensionality: Operational dimension that characterizes the definition and implementation of the Emergence, Assistance, and Social Integration Program, placing the individual and their unique journey at the center. Diversified activities are therefore carried out with the individual, taking into account their specific needs and a series of dimensions related to the characteristics of the projects, including: the socio-cultural context of origin, the family context, the spiritual dimension, linguistic and computer literacy, the healthcare dimension, the psychological/psychiatric dimension, the socio-legal dimension, social inclusion, the housing dimension, the socio-professional dimension, and the economic dimension. The peculiarities that emerge during the evaluation lead to interactions with the various local stakeholders who are consequently involved in the implementation of the individualised project.
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  • THE

    • Orientation: Orientation is an intervention aimed at enabling individuals to make informed, autonomous, effective, and context-appropriate choices about their personal goals. Orientation aims to foster autonomy as a fundamental skill for individuals to navigate society and the world of services, activating and facilitating self-determination processes. Orientation means guiding individuals through an understanding of all available options in various sectors (training, employment, regularization, social security, etc.) and helping them develop sustainable and satisfying career paths in the short, medium, and long term. The intervention always focuses on at least two aspects: the individual receiving guidance (personal characteristics, expectations, aptitudes, strengths, weaknesses, etc.) and the context (services, opportunities, access methods, etc.).
    • Career Guidance: A structured support program through motivational interviews and simulations, aimed at assessing skills (existing, to be acquired, or strengthened) and orienting and understanding the world of work. This process is conducted by qualified personnel (educators, counselors, tutors, linguistic and cultural mediators) taking into account the local and historical context, as well as the characteristics of the beneficiary. It can be considered an initial phase, but it can also extend throughout the entire process, leading up to employment. Career guidance also aims to raise and/or strengthen awareness of workers' rights and responsibilities in the Italian context, also to reduce the risk of re-victimization.
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  • P

    • Peer Educator: A peer educator is a trained individual who has experienced a similar experience to the person they are working with and has developed an adequate understanding of their own personal experience. This professional can support professionals in more complex interventions during certain phases of the individual's journey, and aims to create a non-judgmental, supportive space and concrete demonstration of an alternative to shared experiences. The peer educator is a positive role model who, through a mirror relationship, instills self-esteem and skills in a person, often of the same gender.
    • Reflection Period: A reflection period is a time given to victims and/or alleged victims of trafficking and/or serious exploitation to recover and free themselves from the influence of their exploiters. This also allows them to consciously evaluate whether or not to cooperate with the authorities and to consciously continue the process of care they have begun. Assistance and support measures are provided on a consensual and informed basis, ensuring the fulfillment of certain minimum standards, such as adequate and safe housing, material assistance, access to medical care, including psychological support, counseling and social services, and, if necessary, cultural and linguistic mediation services. In the case of residential care, the place where the reflection period is spent does not necessarily have to be an accredited facility, as long as it is a context capable of guaranteeing similar safety standards. According to European instruments, the reflection period lasts approximately three months, varying depending on the individual's specific needs and circumstances. Population at risk: The population at risk is a group of people potentially exposed to exclusion and/or hardship. Social vulnerabilities, including those related to the implementation of the migration project, a state of need, isolation, and human rights violations, increase the risk of being subjected to situations of trafficking and/or serious exploitation.
    • Potential victim: A person, adult or minor, who, based on an initial analysis of the circumstances narrated and collected, as well as the presence of typical indicators of trafficking or other forms of serious exploitation, can reasonably be considered a victim of trafficking and/or serious exploitation. Potential victims may include both individuals belonging to the target population at risk (see definition) and those experiencing a potential situation of re-victimization (see definition). Determining these conditions requires a formal assessment conducted by the Projects.
    • Care: Care refers to the activation of a protection and social inclusion program that requires the formal signing of a shared plan with the beneficiary: the individualized project. Care includes short-, medium-, and long-term actions aimed at social inclusion and building a path to independence that restores the individual's dignity that serious exploitation has damaged. Project monitoring is the responsibility of the individual who assumes responsibility for the project.
    • Local care: Local care is characterized by the reception of the individual in a location other than accredited facilities, as the individual independently finds safe and adequate housing solutions in accordance with the standards of the anti-trafficking system. Local care involves enrollment in the protection program and the activation of a personalized process for escaping trafficking and/or exploitation and violence. For the purposes of clear administrative reporting, monitoring of the local care is the responsibility of the individual who signed the individualized project with the individual.
    • Initial assistance: A set of services designed to meet the individual's primary needs, such as food, housing, healthcare, and legal counseling. Initial assistance is provided to the potential or presumed victim before or during the identification process; It aims to free the individual from the control of exploiters, to allow them to recover and regain their mental and physical strength, to support them in achieving full awareness of their rights and the care process, and to consciously evaluate the opportunity to collaborate with the judicial authorities.
    • Individualized Educational Plan (IEP): A complex and flexible social tool developed specifically by the relevant team and shared with the beneficiary participating in the project, in order to define short-, medium-, and long-term objectives, as well as the various resources needed for self-determination. The project focuses on the individual, according to the principle of intentionality. It includes implementation timeframes, tools, and assessment, verification, and evaluation sessions.
    • Proximity: Contact and assistance activities characterized by immediate and adequate proximity to the population at risk of trafficking and/or serious exploitation. Proximity activities and spaces foster engagement and the building of trust with potential victims, eliminating the distance separating individuals from the places where they receive the services they need. These activities involve work deferred over time for a potential care and/or escape from trafficking and/or severe exploitation and/or violence. The definition of proximity takes on full meaning when combined with the concepts of "proximity interventions" and "proximity assistance."
    • (Social) protection: A series of actions and interventions to which the beneficiary formally adheres, allowing the individual to escape conditions of exploitation and the control of those who exercise it. The intervention must be defined and implemented based on the risk conditions and level of subjugation, addressing the beneficiary's specific vulnerability factors. Protection can also be achieved through placement in a secret facility that ensures adequate standards of basic needs and the presence of specialized personnel.
    • Escape point: A temporary, protected, and safe reception area where potential victims of trafficking and/or serious exploitation, following their emergence, have the space and time to recover and choose a possible path of change proposed by the operators, who have the opportunity to continue assessing the case.
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  • R

    • Referral: The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) defines a National Referral Mechanism as a national-level cooperative infrastructure through which state actors coordinate their efforts in a strategic partnership with civil society to identify, protect, and assist victims of human trafficking and ensure the protection of human rights. Regarding the national context, the Action Plan against Trafficking approved by the Council of Ministers on 26 February 2016 provided for the adoption of the NRM, defining it as a set of recommendations, measures, and practices that will guide all actors involved throughout all necessary phases in the fight against trafficking, in line with existing human rights standards. Referral is therefore a fundamental mechanism for reporting suspected trafficking victims to qualified personnel, a working tool and a system of cooperation that supports the stakeholders involved, step by step, at every stage of the process of identification, assistance, protection, voluntary return, social inclusion, and employment of potential trafficking victims.
    • Regularization: A process that guides the beneficiary, informed by their migration plans and current circumstances, to obtain a residence permit for legal residence in the country. This process also includes the acquisition of all documents necessary for exercising their rights and therefore for accessing various services.
    • Harm reduction: Harm reduction is an intervention strategy designed to stem the spread of infectious diseases among users of illicit substances. Subsequently, given its effectiveness, it was extended to areas beyond drug use and became a set of structured practices for intervening in the world of prostitution (with a focus on health prevention and not on facilitating escape from the conditions in which the individual finds himself). In the experience of the work of the Anti-Trafficking Projects, with respect to the various targets, harm reduction is structured through: the distribution of materials, the promotion of prevention, and the mediation of conflicts between citizens and individuals. These practices are usually carried out in designated fixed facilities (called "drop-ins") or through mobile units. The specific way in which these interventions engage with individuals is based on the concept of community work. Harm reduction interventions vary depending on the social phenomena addressed, the types of exploitation, the specific local context, and specific historical circumstances (e.g., interventions related to Covid). The intervention therefore has a dual objective: the individual, mitigating the impact of behaviors perceived as socially problematic, and the distress experienced by the general public, in direct contact with the targets of harm reduction work. The operational logic of harm reduction is therefore based on the relationship between the individual and their environment, and on the pursuit of the "well-being" of both the individual and the community. Risk reduction is another matter, which, however, is part of the practice of Anti-Trafficking Projects.
    • Re-victimization: A condition denoting exposure to the risk of being subjected to criminally relevant acts, even those similar to those already experienced by the individual. This condition is especially found in people with situational vulnerabilities, for whom complete removal—materially and psychologically—from conditions of serious exploitation is weak or potentially so, because the person's journey toward autonomy has nevertheless revealed some elements of fragility. Re-victimization in people involved in situations of serious exploitation can, of course, also emerge in relation to the recurrence of various critical issues, even significantly after the conclusion of the social inclusion project. Re-victimization is also understood as causing an abused person to relive their own traumas. Also known as secondary victimization, it can be defined as a state of further suffering and outrage experienced by the victim due to insufficient attention or negligence on the part of formal enforcement agencies during their intervention. This manifests itself in the further negative psychological consequences the victim suffers as a result of the worsening effects of the crime and their subsequent criminal prosecution.
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  • S

    • Semi-autonomy: Indicates the phase in which the person, within the framework of the Individualized Project agreed upon with the team, demonstrates skills for managing daily life and gradually demonstrates the ability to self-determine, but still requires socio-educational and possibly financial support.
    • Awareness-raising: Activities aimed at implementing interventions to raise awareness among those involved (at-risk or target groups potentially in contact with individuals at risk of serious exploitation, dissemination of information for internal communication, along networks in target groups) by acting preventatively, that is, anticipating a potential event, in order to avoid involvement in situations of exploitation or facilitate their emergence. Awareness-raising can be oriented proactively. These are actions aimed at monitoring and implementing various interventions/initiatives aimed at "anticipating" the occurrence or adaptation to a situation that harms the dignity and rights of the person within the framework of conditions that refer to the operational mandate of the Anti-Trafficking Projects. Awareness-raising activities often overlap with outreach initiatives aimed at contexts outside the anti-trafficking system (citizens, schools, institutions, the Third Sector, etc.).
    • Sextortion: This involves forcing someone to do something, particularly sexual acts, by threatening to publish nude images/videos and/or sexual information about them. Minors are particularly at risk of becoming victims of sextortion. Regarding the recruitment of victims of trafficking and/or serious exploitation, sextortion can be used as a method of blackmail and forced recruitment. Regarding victim control, physical proximity is no longer necessary, and physical violence/restraints are no longer a necessary element to ensure the exploitation phase. Digital tools and applications, including the practice of sextortion, can be used to prevent the victim from rebelling.
    • Release: Release refers to a specific phase of the emergence, assistance, and social integration program that occurs when the person has already achieved a certain degree of autonomy and can continue their independent living within the social fabric, with supervision and support from the Project operators. This is a sort of "testing" of the beneficiary with respect to the levels of empowerment and awareness acquired.
    • Socialization: A process that promotes inclusion, integration, and interaction in the new host environment, aimed at acquiring awareness of the rights and duties of coexistence through a process of active citizenship.
    • Psychological Support: Ethnopsychological and psycho-educational support and/or care activities, carried out as part of the emergence, assistance, and social integration program, particularly in the presence of conditions of severe subjugation, traumatic experiences, and/or physical/psychological and/or sexual violence.
    • Protected Residential Facility: Protected residential facilities, with their unique characteristics, welcome people who suffer serious forms of violence, exploitation, and trafficking. They are safe places that allow a process of detachment from the context of danger, violence, exploitation, and trafficking. The educational work carried out in protected residential facilities involves the implementation of individualized interventions based on a multidisciplinary approach: through daily interaction, individuals, supported by anti-trafficking workers, progress toward autonomy, strengthening their awareness and processing of experiences of violence, and developing their capacity for self-advocacy. Facilities can be differentiated by target audience (gender and age of beneficiaries, type of exploitation), program phase (initial and secondary reception, semi-independent care), and degree of protection (high or low).
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  • IN

    • Street Unit/Contact Unit: A service active in the community, operating in a destructured setting, in places where social phenomena occur. It is composed of a specialized, multi-professional team, possibly equipped with a mobile unit. Its goal is to establish constructive contact, a non-judgmental, trusting relationship, providing information on rights and facilitating access to services, starting with low-threshold services, in order to connect with the individual and serve as a point of contact for the needs and requests expressed by those they encounter, with the aim of improving their living conditions.
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  • In

    • Evaluation: Evaluation – initial phase: A process that involves the use of various tools to determine the factors attributable to trafficking and/or serious exploitation (formal identification). This phase also verifies the existence of the requirements and motivation for inclusion in the Single Program or possible referral to other services. Evaluation – ongoing: An action that the team/operator, together with the individual, uses to verify the results achieved and plan the empowerment, growth, and exit process from trafficking. One of the key elements of the evaluation, both initial and ongoing, is the individual's sustained motivation and level of compliance with the protection program and their cooperation in the evaluation process.
    • Skills assessment: An activity aimed at identifying and enhancing personal resources and potential, assessing their employability in terms of skills with the aim of promoting active job search. Skills assessment is a shared guidance process that project operators conduct with the beneficiary to assess their progress and jointly plan a job placement, re-entry, or professional retraining. It highlights skills acquired in non-formal, informal, and formal contexts, identifying areas of expertise and knowledge as guidance and support tools aimed at socio-occupational inclusion. Guidance requires the guidance counselor's ability to assess the individual's aptitudes, resources, skills, immigration plans, and motivation, in order to strengthen their skills and abilities, thus advancing the intake phase.
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source "From the reading of phenomena to a common language. The practices in the "words" of the work of the Anti-Trafficking Projects - Trafficking Interventions Observatory