Helpline 800 290 290

The anti-trafficking toll-free number has been set up by the Department for Equal Opportunities in 2000 as part of action in favour of victims of trafficking provided for in art 18 of Legislative Decree 286/98. The toll-free number is anonymous and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. Anybody can turn to it: potential victims of trafficking or exploitation, but also private citizens, law enforcement agencies, representatives of public or private bodies and members of professional associations in job world who are aware of cases of exploitation and abuse and wish to report or have information on these issues. Currently, the national toll-free number to help victims of trafficking and / or severe exploitation is managed by the Veneto Region.

The operators are linguistic-cultural mediators. They cover all the required target languages (English, Spanish, Albanian, Romanian, Russian, Moldovan, Ukrainian, Nigerian, Chinese, Polish, Portuguese and Arabic) and thus empowering potential victims to express themselves in their mother tongue. This element is considered essential when considering the major factors that hinder the emersion of the victims. The fact that they do not speak Italian language hinder them from asking for help or have some information on how to get out from exploitation and to know their own rights..

The operators have the task to filter incoming calls and divert the calls to the competent territory. They are also responsible for the following activities:

• Assessment of the fulfillment of the conditions necessary to implement support measures provided for by Italian law on the subject of trafficking and serious exploitation;
• Reception and orientation of the potential victim on aid opportunities offered by the Italian system of protection. starting from the rights and information on the current legislation on immigration, trafficking and exploitation;
• The so-called “networking”(MIR) of requests for transfer of trafficked persons by the project implementing entities; the qualitative identification and quantitative indicators relating to the definition of the monitoring system;
• The development of data collection and detection system to be sent to the Department for Equal Opportunities;
• The promotion and diffusion of the toll free number on competent territory, through information campaigns and awareness raising, distribution of leaflets in the different languages and the display of advertising posters of services offered by toll free number;
• Offer of social mediation in the places where conflicts arise, especially in neighborhoods where committees of citizens are formed for insecurity because of the presence of begging or prostitution;
• The provision of information through well formulated phone calls to persons exercising prostitution indoors and in general in order to convey information about the network security services that are active in the territory;
• Organizing information and training seminars on related subjects.