July 30 has been designated since 2013 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, an initiative of the UN, to highlight the need for more effective measures in preventing and combating human trafficking.

Human trafficking, also known by the English term human trafficking, mainly involves forced labour in the private economy, sexual exploitation and the removal of body organs. It is an internationalized lucrative business that frames some of the most heinous crimes against humanity.

According to the UN message, it is a worsening problem – especially for women and girls, who represent the majority of people who have been victims of trafficking worldwide. The theme of this year’s World Day is worded as follows: “Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind”, or in Greek: “Reach every victim; leave no one behind”. This theme underlines the call for governments, public services and civil society to strengthen efforts to identify and support victims.

The theme highlights the call for governments, public services and civil society to strengthen efforts to identify and support victims.

According to the latest available data from the European Commission, between 2017 and 2018, there were over 14,000 registered victims within the European Union, with the actual number estimated to be significantly higher, as many victims go unrecorded. Almost three quarters (72%) of all victims in the EU and 92% of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation are women and girls. Almost one in four victims of trafficking are children.

The United Nations has dedicated this year’s International Day against Trafficking in Persons to child victims. According to their official figures for 2023, the number of people forcibly displaced by war, persecution, violence and natural disasters has risen sharply and, as reported by Doctors of the World, “the more forced migration increases, the more the phenomenon grows, the greater the risk of exploitation and victimization, the more trafficking intensifies, with children and women the most vulnerable populations.”

In our country, according to data submitted to the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament, in the period 2019 – 2022 there were a total of 767 reports of trafficking and sexual exploitation, from which 49 cases resulted and 98 victims were identified, while from July 2021 to October 2023, there were only 14 convictions.

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