World Day Against Trafficking 2022: Theme, history and why the day is marked

World Day Against Trafficking is marked annually on 30 July to make people aware of who are being trafficked and taken away without consent. The day aims to educate people that trafficking in persons is considered to be a crime, including exploitation of women and children for tragic jobs of forced labour and sex. This day is an opportunity for people to understand the harms of human trafficking and its impact on people’s life.

History

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly had adopted the Global Plan of Action to deal with trafficking in persons, urging governments all around the world to take coordinated and consistent efforts to defeat this scourge. The plan is aimed at integrating the fight against human trafficking into the broader programmes of the United Nations in order to stimulate development and strengthen the security all over the world. One of the important provisions in the plan is to establish a UN Voluntary Trust Fund for victims of trafficking including women and children.

In 2013, the UN General Assembly organised a high-level meeting to work on the Global Plan of Action. The member states adopted a resolution A/RES/68/192 and designated 30 July as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. This resolution emphasised that the day was important to “raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights.”

Significance

Human trafficking is a crime that involves exploitation of women, children and men for a number of purposes like forced labour and sex. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has collected information on around 225,000 victims of trafficking detected worldwide. This information has been collected since 2003. 

Globally, more cases of trafficking are being detected and more traffickers are being convicted. This can be due to increased capacity to identify victims and/or an increase in the number of trafficked victims.

Theme

The theme for the year 2022 is “Use and abuse of technology”. It focuses on the role of technology that acts as a tool to enable and impede human trafficking.

With the global increase in the use of technology intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic and our shift towards usage of online platforms, the crime of human trafficking is dominating cyberspace, which is why the theme assumes greater importance.

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