On 20 October, OSR/CTHB in co-operation with the Austrian Task Force on Combating Human Trafficking and IOM, organized an international conference “Human Trafficking in Conflict and Crisis Situations” in Vienna. Around 400 participants from the participating States, Partners for Co-operation and countries outside of the OSCE area, representatives of international organizations, nongovernmental entities, the private sector, and academia took part to discuss complex challenges of trafficking in persons stemming from conflict and post-conflict areas, as well as in humanitarian settings and crisis situations. On 20 October, the OSR/CTHB contributed to the roundtable discussion on “Internet Trafficking in Human Beings: Mechanisms, Counteraction, and Prevention”, organized by the Bulgarian National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in Sofia. On 26 October, the OSR/CTHB participated in the conference “Beside the Victims: Knowledge Sharing, Cooperation and Crime Investigation across Europe against THB”, organized by the Institute of Social-Economic Research in Piedmont, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Turin and Council of Europe in Italy. The conference, attended by some 200 participants, including magistrates, jurists, investigators, social workers, representatives of national and international bodies, NGOs, provided an opportunity to discuss new forms of exploitation resulting from trafficking in human beings and underlined the need for international collaboration to fight THB. On 8 and 9 November, the OSR/CTHB contributed to the regional expert workshop on enhancing international legal co-operation in the fight against trafficking in human beings and the protection of victims’ rights, organized by Council of Europe in Sofia, Bulgaria. Experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Italy, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as international organizations, discussed information 40 exchange, mutual legal assistance, use of joint investigation teams, confiscation of criminal assets, and victims’ rights for compensation and legal redress. On 6 December, the OSR/CTHB contributed to a closing workshop of the ICMPD project “Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings and Organised Crime”, held in Istanbul, Turkey. The participants of the workshop were briefed about three OSR/CTHB-led live simulation exercises which helped to enhance the capacity of the anti-trafficking stakeholders, including law enforcement practitioners, to combat trafficking in human beings as an organized crime and violation of human rights. On 7 December, the OSR/CTHB took part in the conference on the position of THB victims in Serbia in light of their right to reflection, organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, with the participation of law enforcement practitioners from the Western Balkans. The participants discussed the position of THB victims in the legal systems of the region, the notion of the reflection period as a part of comprehensive protection of victims, the risks of possible secondary victimization during criminal proceedings, the impact of trauma and needs of victims as well as ways to balance potential conflict of interest between protection and prosecutorial needs. In December, the OSR/CTHB published a report entitled “From Reception to Recognition: Identifying and Protecting Human Trafficking Victims in Mixed Migration Flows - A Focus on First Identification and Reception Facilities for Refugees and Migrants in the OSCE Region”. Based on 2016-2017 fact-finding field missions and ad hoc expert research at grass-roots level in countries most impacted by mixed-migration flows, the report contains targeted recommendations on how first responders, including law enforcement officials, can best be supported in identifying potential victims of trafficking among large flows of migrants and refugees.