World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024: Leave No Child Behind

July 30th marks World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, a global campaign observed annually to raise awareness of human trafficking.

Trafficking can affect anyone, including adults, but one in every three victims is a child, with girls making up the majority of trafficked children. Children are also almost twice as likely to to face violence during trafficking than adults. With the disproportionate effects on children, this year’s theme, ‘Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking’, focuses on the vulnerability of children and taking action to put an end to child trafficking.

The causes of child trafficking are diverse. For girls, existing systemic and intersecting gender-based inequalities compounded by poverty, conflict, and lack of support in migration are the root causes and result in their increased vulnerability to sex trafficking. But girls are not trafficked just because they are vulnerable, they are trafficked because someone is willing to buy sex with a child. Laws need to address the accountability of all actors in the trafficking and exploitation chain.

Laws and policies also need to be strengthened to better respond to the technological dimensions of trafficking. The growing misuse of digital technology and the internet is facilitating the recruitment and sale of children. Traffickers exploit online platforms, social media, and the dark web to recruit and exploit children, utilizing technology to evade detection, reach wider audiences, and disseminate exploitative content. Equality Now’s report on online sexual exploitation and abuse (OSEA) found that a lack of consistent legislation and internationally-adopted laws pertaining to OSEA makes obtaining legal recourse extremely challenging.

Why does it matter now?

2024 marks the 10th year of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, and while we have seen strides in the enactment of national legislation and policies on trafficking globally, there are still gaps, particularly when it comes to effective implementation.

Maggie’s case illustrates how strong implementation is equally critical in ensuring protection for women and girls. We have supported our local partner, People Serving Girls at Risk, to bring a case before the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to seek justice for Maggie, a girl who was trafficked for sexual exploitation in Malawi. In the case, which is still pending, we are asking the government of Malawi to ensure that those who trafficked and sexually exploited Maggie are held accountable and that she receives support to help rebuild her life. We are also asking Malawi to address the systemic issues that make women and girls particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking.

According to UNODC’s 2022 Report convictions are slowing down, a figure that has been decreasing since 2017, further accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic which saw a 27% reduction in the number of convictions recorded globally compared to 2019.

What is Equality Now doing to change things?

Equality Now is committed to working with partner organizations to:

• Increase their knowledge and understanding of the gendered dimensions of sex trafficking so they can better support trafficked women and girls and promote their access to justice
• Amplify survivor voices and perspectives and ensure that they are centered in coming up with legal and policy solutions
• Advocate for legal and policy changes and their  implementation to prevent sex trafficking, ensure justice and support for victims, and punish perpetrators
• Advocate for governments to adopt and implement legal, policy and other measures in line with the international law obligations

We are also supporting judicial officials and law enforcement through our tools such as our Kenya Judicial Bench Book on Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation, which will launch in September this year, which encourages the use of human rights based and trauma informed approaches in identifying, investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Equality Now believes that gender inequality and discrimination is at the heart of the problem of sex trafficking. In every country of the world, girls face inequalities arising from gender and intersecting issues in almost every aspect of life. Ensuring substantive equality for girls, in line with existing international human rights law and standards, is a fundamental step in preventing and addressing sex trafficking.

Find out more about our work on Ending Sexual Exploitation here and help us spread the word this World Day Against Trafficking in Person by sharing this article with your networks.