World Day Against Trafficking in Persons: Safety in Peril

Each year on July 30, the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons commemorates the ongoing struggle against exploitation, violence, and abduction. This day highlights the enduring plight of people from the Global South, women, and marginalized communities, who remain the primary victims of these heinous crimes.

Stolen lives and forced labor

Human trafficking is one of the most egregious crimes through which capitalist and colonial systems have exploited millions worldwide, stripping them of their freedom and labor to fuel profit and amass wealth at the cost of their humanity.

Among the darkest chapters of human trafficking is the transatlantic slave trade. Over four centuries, millions of African men, women, and children were forcibly uprooted by European colonial powers, torn from their families, homelands, and histories.

These enslaved individuals endured unimaginable suffering. Subjected to violence, persecution, and relentless coercion, they were reduced to mere commodities. Their lives were entirely at the mercy of slavers who exploited them in fields, factories, and homes while inflicting unbearable torture.

The legacy of these atrocities continues to shape the lives of the descendants of enslaved Africans, who still endure systemic racial violence and inequality today.

Sexual trafficking: a silent terror

Across the globe, women and girls are frequently abducted and sold into sexual slavery, a crime often neglected in public discourse and marginalized in policy responses.

Sexual trafficking is a pervasive facet of human trafficking, enabled by international criminal networks led by powerful men entrenched in global systems of capital and authority. These networks fuel markets of violent exploitation that thrive on patriarchal systems, particularly sexual violence.

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation are deeply intertwined. These networks infiltrate global security systems, exposing the complicity of political regimes worldwide in facilitating such acts of terrorism.

Many survivors of this patriarchal violence have bravely shared their stories, shedding light on harrowing experiences that defy description and exposing the depth of violations that remain largely unaddressed.

Human trafficking and systemic exploitation

Contemporary human trafficking is closely tied to the capitalist exploitation of resources in the Global South. People of all genders and ages are subjected to forced labor under coercive conditions.

From mineral mines in Africa to textile factories in Asia and palm plantations in South America, impoverished communities remain at the mercy of multinational corporations. These corporations rely on capitalist, patriarchal, and racist structures to exploit labor while erasing workers’ autonomy.

The narratives promoted by UN organizations in combating human trafficking often fail to address the intrinsic link between capitalist greed, patriarchal domination, and trafficking. These connections include the systematic denial of individuals’ autonomy, the exploitation of their labor for profit, and the commodification of human lives through sexual exploitation and the illegal organ trade.

A crime of many dimensions

On this day, we must remember that human trafficking is a multifaceted crime occurring across diverse contexts. It is perpetuated by a global system rooted in capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy, preying on the lives of the oppressed.

This system enforces dominance through coercion, violence, and exploitation, seizing control over people’s land, resources, and choices. It thrives on silencing its victims and perpetuating cycles of inequality.

As we observe this day, we are called to confront the systemic foundations of trafficking and renew our commitment to dismantling the structures that sustain it.