World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

Resolution of the General Assembly of United Nations designated July 30 as the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, with the aim of raising awareness of this issue in the global public. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) created an initiative that seeks to boost people around the world, especially young persons, to express not only solidarity with the millions of victims of human trafficking, but also to provide support that would give them back what was stolen from them - hope. UNODC is committed to launching a mass activity on social networks using the hashtag #igivehope which should serve as a warning to society, but what is even more important as support for those who have survived the situation of human trafficking. 

Human trafficking is a global problem and one of the most perfidious forms of crime in the world, which affects lives of millions of people around the world and robs them of their dignity. According to the existing analysis of identified cases of human trafficking, potential traffickers may be: partners/family members, pimps, brothel owners and managers of massage parlors, mediators in finding jobs, factory and corporation owners, gangs and criminal networks and others. Traffickers may belong to a wide range of criminals, including individual pimps, family organizations, small businesses, criminal networks and international criminal organizations. Victims of human trafficking may be women, children and men who are forced, deceived or coerced into prostitution, as well as any other form of work or services, such as workers kept in homes or on farms who are forced to work against their will. According to the UN, about 600.000 women, children and men each year find themselves in the trafficking chain. 

Authorities are not the only ones responsible for the fight against human trafficking. Everyone can help solve this crime by launching an avalanche of small, but significant, actions that provide hope and help. There are many ways for you to help, and some of them are:

  • Give support: Join international #igivehope campaign on social networks, and thousands of others, in showing your solidarity with the victims of human trafficking. For the first time this year, survivors of trafficking situation will actively take part on this day, by tweeting and sending experiential messages of hope through NGO Atina’s account https://twitter.com/atinango
  • Be careful: If you notice anything that you believe could be related to human trafficking, report it to NGO Atina’s hotline +381 61 63 84 071. It may relate to the circumstances in your workplace or in private life - remember, the victim may be used in many ways. If you are unsure, it is better to be wrong than to allow the victims to remain in slavery. This goes for you as well! If you doubt the work conditions that are offered to you, or any circumstances resembling human trafficking, call the anti-trafficking line that can help you.
  • Join: Inform on what has been done in your community so far, see what you can do to encourage people close to you, and your acquaintances, in order for them to become more aware of human trafficking. This is a problem that concerns us all.
  • Volunteer: Become active through volunteer work that enables you to engage in socially useful work through active participation in solving the problems of vulnerable groups, in changing and improving local community and society.
  • Be aware: Join the campaign "Blue Heart" against human trafficking and find out more by visiting the website unodc.org/blueheart. This international initiative works on raising awareness about the suffering of the victims, and strengthens support in the fight against those responsible for human trafficking. Follow "Blue Heart" via Twitter (twitter.com/BlueheartHT) and Facebook (facebook.com/BlueheartHT) for updates and news on this issue.
  • Inform yourself: This is a serious social problem that requires continuous attention of the general public and only through constant informing we will be able to stand in the way of modern slavery which is a shame of modern society.
  • Be compassionate: You can donate to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking (www.unodc.org/humantraffickingfund) which also funds specialized civil society organizations working with survivors of this type of crime. In addition to global donation, you can donate by giving your time and energy through volunteer work, buy handmade jewelry created by the beneficiaries of NGO Atina, bring old clothes and books for the victims of human trafficking to NGO Atina, or buy bagels at the Bejgl shop, social enterprise which directs all profits towards programs for reintegration of the victims of human trafficking. There are many ways, you just need good will.
  • Be responsible: Be sure that your choices and actions as a consumer are ethical. You can commit not to buy goods and services that may be associated directly or indirectly with sexual exploitation, forced labor or other forms of exploitation.