World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (30/07)

World Day against Trafficking in Persons, celebrated annually on July 30, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in resolution A/RES/68/192 in 2013 to raise awareness of the situation of victims of trafficking in persons and promote and protect their rights«.

Trafficking in human beings is a serious crime and a gross violation of human rights. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers both at home and abroad. All countries of the world, whether they are countries of origin, transit or destination, suffer from trafficking.

A slave – is a person completely deprived of rights, dependent on another individual. In fact, slave – is a thing that is property. These concepts are kept in the memory of a person from school, when history lessons studied the period of slave societies. The slave's disenfranchisement resulted in the slave owner being able to treat him as his property. This gave rise to the right to use: free labor, and also allowed the slave owner to buy, sell, exchange or free his slave.

Although the era of slave societies has long sunk into oblivion, and slavery and the slave trade have long been recognized by the whole world as inhumane and criminal, today this problem of human trafficking remains acute. This criminal activity, having lost its legal basis, moved into the shadow criminal sphere.

The use of forced labor has now become widespread in a number of world regions, which is confirmed by UN statistics. The International Labor Organization estimates that 21 million people are victims of forced labor worldwide. Most often, the least protected categories of people become victims of the slave trade: women and children.

The use of forced labor is most widespread in the Middle East and Africa. Often in these regions people from Europe and the states of the post-Soviet space find themselves in slavery. The instability of the political situation in the Middle East also contributes to the fact that it is here that hostage-taking, captivity or kidnapping become the norm, and control over the situation is extremely difficult.

Even before the proclamation of World Day against Trafficking in Persons, the UN General Assembly developed a special action plan to eradicate this scourge. This plan is designed to unite the efforts of the whole world to identify and combat slavery and the slave trade, and also provides for the provision of assistance to victims of slavery.

Particular attention is paid to the rehabilitation of women and children who are victims of sexual exploitation, as well as people who have suffered from the terrible practice of forced organ removal. For these purposes, a Trust Fund was established, where states make contributions that understand the severity of the problem and are ready to take an active part in the implementation of the UN Global Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

To raise awareness among people, the UN launched the «Blue Heart » global initiative to combat human trafficking. Its goal is to mobilize people to support anti-trafficking actions taken by international organizations, governments, civil society, the private sector and individuals. Every year, the blue heart becomes more and more recognized as an international symbol of the fight against human trafficking, symbolizing the sadness of the victims and reminiscent of human callousness.

The annual message of the UN Secretary-General on July 30 appeals to the whole world to combat slavery and human trafficking. Seminars and conferences are held in different countries, the topics of which are devoted to the problem of forced labor and the slave trade. Photo exhibitions allow people to see the victims of slavery with their own eyes, and journalists and photojournalists to raise the severity of the problem. This is very relevant. After all, despite the fact that centers for the use of forced labor may be far away, the risk of becoming a victim of the slave trade is very high, and security today cannot be guaranteed even in states that have always been considered the quietest and calmest«.



Postcard «July 30 — World Day Against Trafficking in Persons»

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