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Kidnap and Detention Training
The chances of being kidnapped or taken hostage are small. If it does happen, the chances of survival are high. Kidnapping is a terrifying experience, but individuals possess more personal resources than they think to help avoid the situation, or in the worst case scenario, remain resilient through the ordeal.

Our virtual experience and training course has been designed to help reduce the risk of being kidnapped and to help build techniques and strategies to survive.

On commencing the course participants are immersed in a 360º scenario, followed by a structured lesson and a further case study, before a final interactive summary that highlights and reinforces the key learning points .

This training course, the first and best of its type, can be completed with a trainer present, carefully drawing out the desired learning outcomes, or can be entirely self led.

Start training here.

The Content
After a brief introduction, the participant is immersed into a fictional 360º dramatisation of a kidnap event. Using time lapses, this carefully scripted short film is anchored by a series of key learning points, which are subsequently developed later in the course.  This 25 minute experience takes the participant on a journey from pre trip to the successful resolution of the scenario.

The next phase is a presenter led lesson. This is a teaching session that takes a deep dive into how course participants can plan, prepare and operate in as safe a manner as they are able in areas of high threat. It also explores how to respond in a worst case scenario.  If a trainer is present, this is a facilitated session.

The third section is a case study. This encourages the course participants to consider the previous learning and how they could apply this in light of a real, lived and narrated experience.

The course summary highlights good practice and the most important learning from the course using the opening 360º experience as a reference point. It encourages participants to self reflect and, if a trainer is present, enables discussion about their own personal safety and future practice.

Finally, successfully completing the summative quiz will enable download of a certificate of completion that can be easily shared and, if the Silk Road Training app is downloaded, recorded within the app for future reference.

The Costs
Access to the kidnap and detention awareness and survival course is £55 per person and can be found here. This will give course access on the free to download Silk Road Training app and via the Silk Road Training website, a certificate of completion and a personal training record (on the app). If you would like the course to be faciliated by one of our training team, with 360º VR headsets included for up to 10 people (more by arrangement) this will cost £775 per day in addition to the costs associated with course access.

FAQ’s
Is a headset required to view the 360º content?
No. We have created options which allow the 360º scenario to be viewed from any angle using a touchpad or touchscreen to change the viewing angle instead of using a headset. We have made the content in this way so that the film can be viewed effectively with as few barriers to access as possible.

How long will access to the content be given for?
We will give access to the content for 1 year. This can be altered by arrangement.

Is it possible to buy multiple subscriptions to the course?
Yes. We can provide a code that will give access to a pre – agreed amount of learners. Please contact us to find out more.

When are the course dates?
The online content is entirely self led and so can be accessed at any time. If you would like a training session to be facilitated by one of our training team please contact us and we’ll arrange a time that suits you.

How do I access the course and get started? The course is available via our app and to purchase online. Alternatively get in touch and we’ll help you out.

Download our app

This update has 3 good reasons for you to carry on reading for the next 120 seconds. 1. Our new app is now live. 2. We have curated a new first aid kit which includes a digital link to lessons on how to use the kit as well as a visual aide memoir. 3. We have new hybrid (online and face to face) HEAT courses available. Plus, we include a very cool new bit of cyber security information to impress people by the pool with.

That’s 4 reasons really.

Reason 1. Our new app is now (a)live

On android and IOS, the (free to download) Silk Road Training app gives you full access to all our courses, layers of free content and integrates with any training you may be undertaking via our website. If we make any updates to the content, it appears quickly and for those of you who are on the go but may need to provide evidence of course completion there is also a training record within the app which logs the courses you have completed and the progress you have made.

Over the past few months we have seen our training audience needing to access key trauma first aid and security information on the move and within high risk situations. Having it within an app means that it can be quickly available and easy to consume. Plus, once you have completed a course, you’ll always be able to use the app to update and refresh your knowledge – building on any other training or practice you may have completed.

Reason 2. Our curated first aid kit and aide memoir 

It is common sense to make a first aid kit, reflecting the tools used in our training content, available to those who complete our training. So…that’s what we have done and they are now ready to go.

Uniquely brilliant to these kits though is the aide memoir that accompanies them. Each of the key processes comes with a succinct visual aide memoir (linguistically agnostic) and a QR code that links directly to the lessons running you through the key skills required. This means that if you need to refresh your own knowledge you can, or if you want to share a kit with a colleague you can hand it over and they can then access the really critical information to learn how to use it quickly and easily.

Everyone who attends our hybrid course (details below) will be given one of these first aid kits totally free of charge.

Reason 3. New hybrid (online and face to face) courses available

Combining online learning with one, two or three days of practical workshops and immersive scenario training our courses are characterised by our relentless focus on the quality of the learning and the ability to apply life saving skills. Plus, we will include for all attendees a free, specially curated first aid kit and give access to our new app. This is an amazing opportunity. Contact us for details and booking.

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A Cyber Second

It’s quite unusual for Apple to launch a feature that lacks mass appeal, but this is exactly what they have done with the new ‘Lockdown mode’. This limits certain functionalities and connectivity, making your device perhaps a little less fun, but should significantly reduce your exposure to attacks as InfoSecurity explains. Built for journalists, civil activists and world leaders the introduction of this feature may significantly improve your security. Always remember though, that if you are talking to sources and contacts on the ground then the security of their own devices and personal practice is also a potential vulnerability you’ll need to risk assess and consider.

 

The days are few and there is much to do. This update is going to let you know what we’ve been doing and what’s coming down the track. Read on to find out more about our first UK hybrid course, our work internationally and progress on a new website and app – plus our need to know cyber second.

What’s coming up

On July 7 and 8 we’ll be hosting our first UK based Hostile Environment and First Aid course. This will combine remote, online learning with two days of practical workshops and immersive scenario training. With a relentless focus on the quality of the learning and the application of life saving skills this will be an amazing learning experience. Find out more here.

We’ve also been busy building a new website and a new app to accompany it. The new web platform will enable an easier ‘on board’ system for those who want to buy for lots of people at one time and better account management for those who have existing registrations with us – it also looks pretty neat too. The app is going to provide a unique portal into our courses, helping to support training on the go and quick access to first aid and security update content. It’s never easy to do these things, but as we do it all ourselves we can be really flexible according to what you want – so if you want to feed into the design process there is still time!

We’re also looking forward to supporting the one – to – one safety sessions that will occur in New York’s hot summertime Photoville festival  These offer an opportunity for freelance journalists to receive free, expert, safety advice on risk assessment, digital security or trauma management. Sign up here.

And what we have been doing

We hugely enjoyed presenting at the Global Interagency Security Forum . It was brilliant to meet the security leaders from some of the most effective INGO’s in the world.

We also translated some concise content into Ukrainian and made this freely available to a selected audience – those who did not choose to report on war or be aid workers, but those who found they had to. This course, along with our Burmese translation, have been the most widely used of any of our courses. We could not do this kind of work without the support of all of you – so thank you.

We’ve also been on the road and in the air delivering training for one of our most long standing clients, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in Iraq and Nigeria. They are now beginning the long and complex de – mining task that will be required in Ukraine, working with local partners. Check out this to find out more.

A Cyber Second

The blue badge verification on Twitter can be a blessing and a curse; whilst showing that an account is authentic is could be a set up for some of the most sophisticated phishing accounts you will come across. Read this from Malwarebytes to find out more!

We are here to help with all things cyber and info sec, so do get in touch if we can help you out.

This update will tell you about what’s coming up and what we’ve been doing; some amazing work that has caught our eye and finally we’ll take a really important cyber second of your time (the amount of time it takes to read 139 words apparently) to wrap up. This includes really, really important security information. All in one minute – if you read really, really fast.

What’s coming up

Over the next few weeks we’ll be providing up to 150 funded places to provide training to media workers and human rights defenders in Myanmar. We’ll also be running really exciting collaborative training projects in Iraq and the UK!

We are crafting the content of a new app. We want to build something that can cue the recall of key first aid and security skills on the go. Let us know what you would want to see included in the training update app of your dreams and we’ll see what we can do!

And what we have been doing

Over the past 6 months we had the greatest volume of users we’ve ever seen. Our training has been used in locations as diverse as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Cambodia and South Sudan. Our greatest user base is the UK, where the shift to blending online and in person learning continues to gain momentum for professional organisations across multiple sectors. A real highlight has been a collaborative project providing 50 fully funded training places to Arabic speaking journalists across the Middle East.

Elsewhere we have been supporting NGO’s and individuals as the situation changes so swiftly in Afghanistan and visited New York’s Photoville, virtually, helping to deliver 30 one-to-one safety sessions benefiting freelancers from Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Uruguay, Hong Kong, Slovakia, Portugal, Spain, Venezuela and the US. Huge thanks to the other security experts, ACOS Alliance, Committee to Protect Journalists, Frontline Freelance Register and of course Photoville for doing a wonderful job of putting it all together.

Stare and Listen

One body of work that has really stood out to us has been from Sacca Photo. The work featured on here is beautiful and insightful visual storytelling from Myanmar. It is sublime.

Some of you will have started work in Afghanistan again, whilst concurrently trying to safeguard those you care about and work with. What a difficult and amazing task. For analysis really worth reading, check out Afghan Analysts Network and Lyse Doucet’s BBC podcast series  is well worth a listen to give a sense of what people hope for in the future.

A Cyber Second

For anyone working with organisations in Myanmar, we caution that it is likely that Pegasus spyware is being used to target NGO’s and media workers.There is a history of spyware being used in the region, and we’ve received reports indicating Pegasus has been detected.

Facebook says Pakistani hackers set up a fake Android app store to target individuals connected to the former Afghan government, both before and after it was ousted by the Taliban.

A new modem in iPhone 13s will support satellite text messages. Earlier reports of satellite voice calls proved groundless (as expected), but the support for communication with Low Earth Orbit satellites could provide a valuable emergency tool for those working in remote and austere environments – without the need for an additional device and the impact this can have on your security profile.

We are here to help with all things cyber and info sec, so do get in touch if we can help you out.

By Chris Lawton, April 2021

During these past few months we’ve loved working with you all to deliver training in the face of repression, intimidation, conflicts old and new and the ever shrinking civic space our international community shares. We’ve also been through some of the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic and have shared in the loss and sadness this has brought to many.

Yet you have all kept going, all over the world. We have seen course participants in Syria, Myanmar, Yemen, the US, the UK, Lebanon and many other countries. Some of you are journalism, film and documentary students, some of you have been working in conflict zones for years and years, and some of you are telling stories about our planet and our climate. Thank you all for the work that you do.

At Silk Road Training HQ with (l-r) Chris Lawton, Shahida Yakub & Grant Wootton

A new training partnership
Silk Road Training has been chosen by the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) to provide hostile environment and first aid training to their teams across East and Southern Africa and the Middle East. MAG takes a humanitarian approach to landmine action with an impact focused on local communities and recognising the crippling effect landmines can have on a community. This is the kind of partner we are so proud to have the opportunity to work with. For a sample of the amazing work check out this article on a de-mining project with the Yazidi community in Sinjar, north western Iraq.

Going live and virtual in Cambodia
We have been busy preparing for a live, virtual hostile environment and first aid course for a cohort of journalists in Cambodia. We are part of a project designed to improve the environment for online freedom of expression in the country after the crackdown on independent media outlets in 2017. To do this, we’ve sent out the training equipment and we have been hard at work putting together a new studio approach, using fixed presentation areas, demonstration cams and live scenario cameras. This is going to take virtual training to the next level and we cannot wait! 

Stay safe – the Silk Road Training team. 

by Chris Lawton, November 2020

This quarter has seen two great training innovations and some brilliant training delivered all over the world to our growing community and with our partners. Let me tell you about those:

Safety and First Aid Training in Arabic
It has always troubled me that sometimes those who need training the most face the highest barriers to participation. Sometimes this is cost, logistics or availability. Sometimes this is also due to language. To help fix this we partnered with the Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom and the ACOS Alliance to build and deliver a security and first aid course in Arabic for use across the Middle East and North Africa. We enrolled our first 50 participants in this course on November 14. It’s already been wonderful to see the focused approach to learning some of the participants have demonstrated so far and the real development of skills and knowledge that they have shown to us in our live events. This has been a real highlight to us and it has been a brilliant experience working with the Skeyes Center. We’d love to see more Arabic speakers completing the training in the future!

Check out our Safety Training courses for Arabic journalists.


Kidnap Training in 360 VR
We have built an immersive 360 degree VR kidnap experience to use as a training aid for those who face this serious and potentially high cost risk. It is visceral and has a great impact, as well as, in the hands of a competent trainer, giving the opportunity to clearly illustrate important training points and learning objectives. Training for this kind of scenario can increase resilience and the ability to survive in the face of this threat, both physically and psychologically, and so can be hugely important, but only if done well. We think we have a solution to democratise this knowledge, and enable safe, consistent practice, but are still in the process of finalising our approach to this. We’d love to speak with anyone who thinks they may be able to help. Contact us here. 

A still from our 360 VR kidnap experience. With a headset on it has a highly visceral impact

Training All Over the World
Together with our partners we have been able to deliver training across the planet in the past three months. This has included Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Nepal, India, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt, the US, the UK, Sri Lanka, Spain, Oman and Turkey. Seriously, wow. Thank you everyone and well done. Let’s keep it going and get as many people trained as we can.

 

Up and running!
by Chris Lawton, August 2020 

“Silk Road provides a valuable course that could be a life saver for so many around the world” – Ana Caroline de Lima @antropologiavisual, Brazil 

We’re up and running! When we were early testing in January we predicted that it would be at least a year before we got an actual, real, customer. We planned to use this time to test some more and work out what kind of thing worked, what didn’t, what people would pay for our training and whether they’d pay at all. We even wondered if it might take up to three years for buyers to get used to the idea that technology really could deliver quality security and first aid training. But we were wrong. We’ve had some amazing endorsements, like the one above from Ana, a journalist and documentary photographer based in Brazil, and this has encouraged us to offer our courses while we continue with our development.

In the past few months we’ve provided our courses to the Orhan Dzhemal Media Security Academy which were translated into Russian. This brilliant initiative is open to professional and citizen journalists, freelancers, bloggers and online activists who use Russian as one of their working languages. I love this because it is designed for an under served community (on the use of languages, I should let you know that we can provide subtitled content in almost any language typically within 48 – 72 hours of your request).

We’ve also provided online hostile environment training and live events for Sveriges Radio and for the ACOS Alliance, who awarded 54 bursaries to freelance journalists who have been covering civil unrest in the US, Brazil and Bangladesh and for whom we created a purpose built course. Our training helped ACOS to continue their important work strengthening the safety skills and knowledge of freelance journalists who wouldn’t normally have access to this kind of training. 

We were also really pleased to provide a refresher hostile environment and first aid course online to the UK government as they sought to solve the question of how to provide life saving training for their personnel working overseas. We’ve delivered the solution to them and look forward to building this relationship in the future.

One of the best things for me about the past few months has been seeing the rise towards the mainstream of new and disruptive ideas. The discover.film VR Film Fest was the first of its kind. It was a film festival held entirely in VR for one day this month. We were delighted to partner with discover.film to sponsor and support this event. We are committed to the possibilities this technology can offer in our training and it was an amazing, crazy evening finding out where the creative community is already taking it!

• Links:
  – Check out our Hostile Environment Training courses 
  – Email for information about our bespoke immersive training
  – See our Travel Safety & First Aid courses