30th July – UN World Day Against Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes like forced labour and sexual exploitation.
UN World Day Against Human Trafficking is marked every year on July 30, to spread the word about people who are being trafficked and are taken away against their will, and to promote the protection of their right.
On this day, governments are invited to join the Blue Heart Campaign, a global awareness raising initiative to fight human trafficking and its effect on society and encourages involvement to help prevent this crime.
Its logo is a blue heart, which is recognised as the international symbol against human trafficking, where the blue represents the sadness of the victims.
The theme for 2021 was “Victims’ Voices Lead the Way”, where one was given the opportunity to learn from survivors from human trafficking. Listening to these experiences, helps people to support the victims and combat human trafficking.
On this day, Minister for Equality, Research and Innovation Dr. Owen Bonnici has launched a campaign aimed to raise awareness among the general public on the trafficking situation in Malta. The campaign included an outdoor display at Pjazza Tritoni in Valletta whereby survivors of trafficking were given a voice to share their stories.
Press Release by the Ministry for Equality, Research and Innovation.
This initiative formed part of a wider campaign organised by the Human Rights Directorate on the same theme which included the use of social media and online newspapers.
18th October – EU Anti Trafficking
In 2007, the EU Anti-Trafficking Day was established by the European Commission and is held on 18th October every year to spread awareness about trafficking in human. The EU Anti-Trafficking Directive gives assistance, protection and support to victims of trafficking.
To mark EU Anti-Trafficking Day, Dr. Lynn Chircop Faure, Senior Manager HRD, appeared on TVAM to raise awareness on human trafficking in Malta and around Europe. She underlined the cooperation required between local stakeholders as well as Member States at European level, and reiterated the importance of providing adequate structures to protect victims. While the forms of exploitation are varied, the discussion focused on labour exploitation since a Eurostat study found that 82% of registered victims in Malta over the period 2017-2018 were for forced labour.
2nd December – International Abolition of Slavery
Slavery is when someone is forcefully deprived from their rights. Slavery comes in many forms like; human trafficking, forced labour, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, and child labour.
The International Abolition of Slavery was organised by the United Nations General Assembly in 1986. The aim of this event is to help eliminate slavery.
Despite recent progress, more than 40 million human beings are victims of modern slavery – being trafficked, sexual exploited, forced into child labour, forced into marriage or recruited as a child for use in armed conflict. Malta is no exception, where forced labour remains the most prevalent form of this phenomenon.
On the occasion of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on 2nd December, Dr Lynn Chircop Faure (Senior Manager HRD) reaffirmed our commitment to the process underway to reform Malta’s national human trafficking policies with the aim of eradicating contemporary forms of slavery.