The 2025 theme of the Blue Heart Campaign is ‘Human trafficking is Organised Crime – End the Exploitation’. It highlights how globally, organised criminal groups are key drivers of human trafficking. In fact, 74% of traffickers operate within organised crime groups, exploiting more victims more violently than independent criminals. Organised crime groups exploit migration flows, global supply chains, legal and economic loopholes and digital platforms to facilitate large volumes of cross-border trafficking. The 2025 Blue Heart Campaign emphasises the vital role of law enforcement and the criminal justice system in dismantling organised trafficking networks while ensuring a victim-centred approach.
As with previous years, HRD carried out various activities as part of the Blue Heart Campaign, to raise awareness and commemorate the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.
Joint Organisation of a Conference
HRD was involved in the joint organisation of a Blue Heart Conference with FSWS entitled ‘Vulnerability and Human Trafficking’. The conference took place on the 30th July, and was attended by various stakeholders involved in the fight against human trafficking including civil society. A presentation was delivered by HRD focusing on vulnerability in line with the objectives of the Anti-Trafficking Strategy. Blue heart pins and awareness raising stickers were distributed during the conference.
Awareness Raising
Awareness raising was carried out through various means. A boosted social media campaign was carried out to inform the public about human trafficking, commemorate and spread awareness on the Blue Heart Campaign, as well as encourage reporting.
HRD also collaborated with Media Houses for the development of social media videos. One targeted young people and focusing on the link between digital scams, AI and human trafficking, and another focused on the illumination of blue buildings for the blue heart campaign and human trafficking in general:
Awareness initiatives are also being carried out at the Malta International Airport. The campaign targets both travellers, staff and people at risk of human trafficking to increase awareness on indicators and encourage reporting.
Newspaper Articles and Magazine
Articles were published on The Times of Malta and Illum to mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons and highlight the significance of the Blue Heart Campaign. A banner to commemorate the Blue Heart Campaign was advertised on both websites in the last week of July to further increase outreach and awareness. Additionally, an article was published on Atelier magazine including information about the Blue Heart Campaign and human trafficking in Malta.
Illumination of Iconic Buildings in Blue
As in previous years many entities collaborated to light the facades of their buildings/other landmarks in blue to commemorate the Blue Heart Campaign and raise awareness on human trafficking. These included: