[Brussels, 07 March 2013] On the occassion of the 57th Commission on the Status of Women and of International Women’s Day, Equality Now has launched its new campaign “Survivor Stories” to raise awareness on human trafficking.
Equality Now recalls that “Trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation is the fastest growing criminal industry around the globe despite the fact that international law and the laws of 134 countries criminalize it“. At the EU level, the Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims of 5 of April 2011 strengthens protection of victims and is accompanied by a EU strategy towards the eradication of trafficking on human beings between 2012-2016.
In spite of this legal arsenal, there are still millions of victims of trafficking in the world. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 20.9 million adults and children around the world are bought and sold into commercial sexual servitude and forced and bonded labour [[International Labour Organization, ILO global estimate of forced labour: results and methodology (2012) p. 13]]. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, between 55 and 60% of all trafficking victims detected are women [[UNODC – 2012 Global report on trafficking in persons]]. 58% of all trafficking cases detected were for the purpose of sexual exploitation. 98% of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation are women and girls [[http://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/Global_Sex%20_Trafficking_EN_v3.pdf]].
Equality Now’s new year-long campaign aims at raising awareness of this worldwide crime. Each month, a story from a survivor will be released and some ideas of actions to support to struggle against human trafficking will be published.
The first released story is Alma’s one.
To find more information about Equality Now’s campaign, click here.
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