National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2022: History, significance, facts- all you need to know

Regarded as a modern pattern of slavery, human trafficking is an illicit act that pertains to the use of fraud, force, or coercion to procure sex or labour. Traffickers bait victims by carving false commitments. About 2 lakh 25 thousand people become victims of trafficking globally, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Nearly 20-30 million people are now enslaved worldwide, which is more than at any other time in human history. Every day, young women are forced into prostitution, migrant workers are exploited in the labour force, and children become child labourers and slaves. As a result, National Human Trafficking Awareness Day was established to end these slaveries, to ensure that every individual has their rights, and make the world a safer place for all people.

How it began:

More than 20 years ago, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 enshrined the United States’ commitment to combating human trafficking domestically and internationally.

In 2010, by presidential proclamation, President Obama declared January “National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month” and every year since each president has followed this tradition.

President Biden has proclaimed January 2022 as “National Human Trafficking Prevention Month,” reaffirming his Administration’s commitment to protect and empower survivors of all forms of human trafficking, to prosecute traffickers, and to bring an end to human trafficking in the United States and around the world.

This year National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed on January 11, 2022, which is on Tuesday.

• In 2012, the issuance of the Executive Order ‘Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal Contracts'.

• In 2016, the first convening of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.

• In 2017, the State Department’s launched its largest anti-trafficking program, the Program to End Modern Slavery.

• In 2021, the release of the updated National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking.

Some interesting and disturbing facts:

• National Human Trafficking Awareness Day was first observed in 2011

• Former US President Barak Obama assigned January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Month

• About 2,25,000 people become victims of trafficking every year globally

• A social media campaign with #HumanTraffickingAwarenessDay and #WearBlueDay is going on to spread the word

• Wearing the colour blue to spread awareness is the theme of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2021.

• According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, most people are trafficked from Asia to Europe every year.

• Europe is the place where victims are trafficked from the broadest range of places, while victims from Asia are trafficked to the broadest range of destinations.

• Sexual trafficking is by far the most generally observed form of human trafficking. It is the most apparent. Other methods of exploitation are under-reported.

• Most trafficked forced labour happen in construction, agriculture, catering and restaurants, garments and textiles, domestic work, the expenditure of healthcare services, entertainment, and the sex industry.

(with sources inputs)

Published on: Monday, January 10, 2022, 09:32 PM IST