Contributed by: Agnieszka Mrozik, Poland National VAW Monitor

On December 18, the Stefan Batory Foundation organized in Warsaw a conference on trafficking in human beings. The participants of the conference stressed the need to protect women – the most frequent victims of this practice – as well as more decisive prevention of trafficking in persons.

On October 1, 2005, Poland adopted an amendment to the law on foreigners. Thanks to the new regulations, a person who became a victim of human trafficking may get a residence permit or a visa for a temporary stay in Poland, if he or she decides to cooperate with the police and prosecutor’s office. In 2006, the new Polish program for the support and protection of victims of human trafficking came into effect.

Compiled from: Konferencja: Handel ludźmi – wyzwanie dla społeczeństwa obywatelskiego, Niebieska Linia.pl, last access December 21, 2006; unofficial translation by Agnieszka Mrozik