World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
The World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is observed each year on 30th July. The theme for 2024 is Leave no child behind in the fight against human trafficking. Large numbers of children continue to be exploited and trafficked due to inequitable social, economic, environmental and political factors. The 2022 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons Report indicates children accounted for 35% of detected victims in 2020 and children are twice as likely as adults to experience violence during the trafficking process.
This year marks the 10th World Day Against Trafficking in Persons and calls on us to raise awareness of the causes and vulnerabilities associated with child trafficking. It emphasizes the critical need for dedicated support for child victims of trafficking and urges the public and policymakers to address the current shortcomings and accelerate action to #EndHumanTrafficking.
So how can we support the campaign to leave no child behind? Being an ethical consumer and speaking to others about the choices we make is a start. A 2020 Macquarie University report, Not so sweet: chocolate, slavery and complicit corporations, found that, “More than two million children under the age of 15 years old work in the cocoa industry in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Many are the children of farm labourers, but others are also sold to farms as bonded labourers from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali”. Use the Chocolate Scorecard to make informed choices about the chocolate you purchase.
Call the Australian Federal Police on 131 237 or contact one of our community partners: Anti-Slavery Australia, Australian Red Cross or The Salvation Army Australia. If you have immediate safety concerns, call 000.