Over half a million people, mainly women and
children, fall victim to trafficking every year. This problem particularly hits
the Balkans, owing to the militarization of the region in the previous decade,
its geographical position and the difficult economic situation. Today, Republic
of Serbia is a country of
destination, transit and origin of the trafficked victims.
ASTRA is a Belgrade-based local grass-root anti-trafficking organization
established in 2000 as the first actor to raise the issue of human trafficking
in Serbia. As a
leader in the counter-trafficking effort in Serbia, since it was founded, ASTRA
has applied holistic approach to the human trafficking problem, i.e. it has
been dealing with all forms of human trafficking and all categories of
survivors – women, children and men, focusing its activities concurrently on
prevention, education, public awareness raising, direct victim assistance and
reintegration, research and networking. ASTRA runs the first SOS hotline
service in Serbia
specialized for the problem of human trafficking, i.e. for preventive support
and for assistance and support to victims of trafficking.