In 2014, the U.N. General Assembly ratified a resolution declaring July 30 as World Day against Trafficking in Persons.

The United Nations estimates that at any given time, 21 million people are trapped in modern-day slavery. Men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers both in their own countries and abroad.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on the occasion, states:

Around the world, criminals are selling people for profit.  Vulnerable women and girls form the majority of human trafficking victims, including those driven into degrading sexual exploitation.

Trafficked persons are often tricked into servitude with the false promise of a well-paid job. Migrants crossing deadly seas and burning deserts to escape conflict, poverty and persecution are also at risk of being trafficked.  Individuals can find themselves alone in a foreign land where they have been stripped of their passports, forced into debt and exploited for labour.  Children and young people can find their lives stolen, their education blocked and their dreams dashed. It is an assault on their most basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.

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