Job advert: good opportunity or fraud?

19 August 2008 - In an initiative by Caritas of Bishops Conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this year's 14th Sarajevo Film Festival is airing an advert - "Job abroad, good opportunity or fraud?" - alerting young women to the dangers of human trafficking. Running for a week until 23 August, as many as 2,500 young people are expected to see the advert during the Festival's programme dedicated to teenagers, 'Teen Arena'.

Since 1990, trafficking of women for sexual exploitation has been a rising problem in Bosnia Herzegovina. The 1992-1995 Bosnian war in particular created great vulnerability among the population, taken advantage of by traffickers. Initially regarded as a country of transit and destination of victims from Central and Southeast Europe, Bosnia Herzegovina is now also a country of origin, with internal trafficking showing an upward trend. Of particular concern is the increasing number of underage victims.   

Traffickers often post false and deceiving job announcements in newspapers to lure young women in search of employment. For this reason, Caritas of BC adopted a similar advertising technique to warn potential victims against tempting job offers, particularly those abroad.

"Traffickers make promises to young and poor women of amazing jobs in larger cities or foreign countries," says Srdjan Vidackovic, National Coordinator at Caritas of BC. "We want to warn the public of the dangers of such newspaper adverts and urge them to be informed. They can contact embassies in the countries where the job is offered, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the State Coordinator for Anti-trafficking and Illegal Immigration or even Caritas."

Scripts of the clip have also been included in the Festival brochure distributed to all spectators, media representatives, and sponsors. The brochure is also being disseminated on Austrian Airlines flights between Sarajevo and Vienna.

"The Festival brochure has a large distribution and is a good way to arise awareness," says Vidackovic. "More information is needed to alert the public on the traps laid out by traffickers and how innocent people get caught up in the trafficking chain."

In a broader campaign earlier in June, Caritas of BC worked with different media outlets in the country to air the advert on radio and television as well as print it in newspapers. Screens in the cities of Brcko and East Sarajevo continue to display the video clip.