In the process of work with trafficked children, employees of non-governmental organizations run into difficulties, which complicate assistance and the process of rehabilitation and psychosocial reintegration of children. Participants to the workshop have repeatedly mentioned the most stringent challenges both psycho-medico-social, and procedural/administrative in the process of rendering assistance to trafficked children.

Psychological, Medical, and Social Challenges

1. Psychological

• derivations of psychical and physical development;
• post-traumatic stress;
• reduced self-assessment;
• lack of social abilities/habits;
• underdeveloped cognitive abilities;
• alteration of biological rhythm (during exploitation children were obliged to render services 10-12 hours per day);
• physical underdevelopment (rachitism, malnutrition).

2. Medical

• psychiatric assistance (urgent and long-term);
• medical assistance (ophthalmologic, gynecological);
• narcologic assistance (dependence on drugs, alcohol, etc.).

3. Family-related

• coming from one-parent families, often from families in which parents are alcoholics (assistance to parent);
• lack of parents/guardians (establishment of guardians, placement of children in specialized institutions);
• domestic violence (assessment of risks, associated with child’s coming back to family);

4. Social

• socializations/relations with social environment;
• disturbed relations with adults;
• lack of desire to communicate with the like;
• joining asocial groups;
• difficulty with (re)-schooling;
• difficulty with finding a job (lack of compulsory secondary education, which is necessary for getting a profession).

Procedural/Administrative Challenges

1. Legal Protection

• observance of procedure of examination of children-witnesses: mandatory psychosocial assistance to a child before giving evidence, presence of a psychopedagogue during the procedure of examination, associated psychosocial assistance to child;
• physical protection of children-witnesses;
• preparation of documents, in tight timeframes, necessary for repatriation of children born outside the Republic of Moldova;
• urgent issue of travel documents to the under-aged;
• accompanying children to the country of origin.

2. Involvement of Governmental Organizations

• passive role of mayoralties, local governments in identification and social protection of children-witnesses and children would-be victims;
• on-going passive role of governmental authorities in the National Mechanism for Referral of Trafficked Persons, particularly children (including because of restructure of these authorities);
• limited medical assistance at the place of residence of the under-aged (free of charge package of medical services does not cover the majority of children’s needs);
• lack of social dwellings.

3. Collaboration between NGOs

• lack of standardized operation procedures, as well as lack of guaranteed complete package of assistance in the framework of the National Referral Mechanism.

4. Procedure of Assistance/Prophylaxis

• short period of monitoring of children, who get assistance from the involved organizations (lack of regulation on period of monitoring of the under-aged cases);
• bad awareness-raising/prophylaxis of community with regard to trafficking in children (particularly, internal trafficking in children).

These categories of identified challenges, associated with the program of assistance, can serve as target spheres of intervention with a view of improving the quality of rendered assistance.