In October 2018 femLENS ran a series of documentary photography workshops in the city of Zhytomy, Ukraine.

According to the research commissioned by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) mission in Ukraine and conducted by GfK Ukraine in 2015, over 230,000 Ukrainians have become victims of human trafficking since 1991.

The cited report shows that Ukraine is one of the main countries of origin of trafficking of human beings in Europe, and working on prevention measures is an important aspect of fighting TIP globally.

According to a more recent report by the IOM, 69% of population of the Zhytomyr region is vulnerable to human trafficking.

The photographs below together with the information from the research visually explore some of the core issues that make people vulnerable to human trafficking in the Zhytomyr region.