World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 30 July 2023 - Theme
World Day against Trafficking in Persons is an international awareness event observed on the 30th of July every year for the past decade, commemorating the awareness of human trafficking and celebrating the counteractions made to dismantle it. On this day, various local and global organisations and communities gather around, stressing the racket of trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
Human trafficking is a heinous offence and a grave violation of human rights. Each year, thousands of men, women, and children are sold into slavery either in their own nations or elsewhere. Almost every nation is involved in human trafficking, either as a destination country, transit, or the country of origin for victims. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in collaboration with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), helps nations implement the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons (Trafficking in Persons Protocol).
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2023 theme
This year 2023, the World Day against Trafficking in Persons theme is "Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind". Through this theme the awareness of the hurdles the victims is raised who either manage to escape from traffickers on their own initiative or are brought out of their ordeal by the authorities. This theme also symbolises the call of the governments, public services, and civil society to strengthen the efforts for the identification and support of victims.
Year-by-Year Themes for World Day against Trafficking in Persons are:
- World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2022 theme - "Use and abuse of technology"
- World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2021 theme - "Victims' Voices Lead the Way”
- World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2020 theme - "Committed to the Cause”
- World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2019 theme - "Human Trafficking: Call Your Government To Action"
- World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2018 theme - "Responding to the trafficking of children and young people”
Importance of World Day against Trafficking in Persons
A 15,000-crore dollar global industry, human trafficking is the prime enablement of modern slavery, were estimated to be at least 4.03 crore people according to the 2016 report of the International Labour Organization (ILO), accounting for 5.4 victims per thousand people. Of these 4.03 crore people -
- 2.9 crore (72%) were women and girls.
- 50 lakh people were the victims of forced sexual exploitation, with children accounting for more than 20%.
The loss of freedom is the common string that connects them. Due to the hidden nature of the rapidly developing disease and public health emergency, determining the actual number of victims of human trafficking is truly challenging.
The depravity in these cases is necessary to understand the importance in the establishment of a dedicated worldwide event to bring the horrors of human trafficking upfront, thus reminding the authorities about the much-needed counteractions for thwarting human trafficking.
History of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
The commencement of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons did not start within a single day. It has years of process in its making. Reiterating the value of human lives, the world leaders at the Millennium Summit, the World Summit in 2005 and the high-level plenary congregation of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, held in 2010, committed themselves to arrest the plague of human trafficking. Through devising effective measures and strict enforcement of the same, they strengthened their stand to end the racket of trafficking in persons.
In 2013, through its resolution A/RES/68/192, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed World Day against Trafficking in Persons, and it has been in effect since then.
The root causes of human trafficking
While the root causes of human trafficking are numerous, which are often country-specific, being influenced by social, economic, cultural, and other factors. Some of the common factors which entrap people into victims of human trafficking are:
- Poverty
- Oppression
- Lack of human rights
- Inadequate economic or social opportunity
- Dangers from conflict or similar conditions
- Political instability
- Militarism
- Civil unrest
- Internal armed conflict
- Natural disasters
The need of potential victims to migrate is often exploited by the human traffickers to groom them and gain initial control usually through cooperation, but only to be replaced by more coercive measures once the victims have been immigrated to another country, which usually may not always be the one to which they had intended in the first place, to migrate.
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