Reintegration of victims of trafficking in Bulgaria: supporting social inclusion and economic empowerment

The legal rights of people who have been trafficked to reintegrate into society after their trafficking experience are stipulated in international legal instruments, such as the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women
and Children (UN Trafficking Protocol), Council of Europe (CoE) Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive 2011/36, as well as in Bulgarian national legislation. Many trafficked people face stigma and discrimination in their communities, which directly impacts their social inclusion and economic empowerment, such as having
positive social relationships, finding suitable employment or setting up financial stability, making reintegration even more important. The reintegration process includes living in a safe and stable environment, having access to a reasonable standard of
living, enjoying mental and physical well‐being, having opportunities for personal, social and economic development and having access to social and psychological support for a long-term period. This Policy Brief examines current practices on the reintegration of victims of trafficking in Bulgaria and provides a number of potential options for future policy actions. This Brief focuses on reintegration in general and looks at services for adults, while an accompanying Policy Brief specifically examines the reintegration of children. A wide range of reintegration services is provided in Bulgaria for trafficking victims during the reintegration process, such as employment counselling, vocational training, education, medical insurance and family counselling. Given the complexity of the reintegration process, it is particularly important that efforts are made to systematically monitor these programmes in order to assess whether reintegration has been achieved, as well as how to work more effectively in this regard.