The shocking news that Olympic star Sir Mo Farah was trafficked as a child, announced the same month as World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (30 July 2022), raises awareness of this widespread crime.
What is trafficking?
According to the United Nations, UNODC, "Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.”
How do traffickers choose their victims?
UNODC’s Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2020 states that traffickers target the poor and marginalised. Globally, one in every three victims detected is a child, but, in low income countries, children account for half of the victims detected, most of them trafficked for forced labour.”
Disasters and conflict, like war in the Ukraine, also make people vulnerable, forcing them away from support networks and potentially making them more exposed to traffickers. Covid has also particularly exacerbated the vulnerability of at risks groups, particularly children.