Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bilbao (Agenzia Fides) - Since 1999, International day against human trafficking is celebrated every year on 23 September, with the sole objective to expose and eradicate this illegal practice, provide assistance to victims who suffered sexual abuse or were forced to hard labor, the victims are usually women and children. The phenomenon affects all countries in the world in different ways, the most common is sexual exploitation.
According to data published by Anesvad, a Spanish NGO that mainly deals with the development and protection of health as a fundamental right of all, and sent to Fides, highlights that almost 6 million boys and girls are forced to work in the world and 1 million and 800,000 are exploited in the sex industry. Other findings of the study say that 35% of women and girls were raped, 47% were threatened and 20% locked up in a house. 70% of the respondents worked 7 days out of 7 and 30% at least 11 hours a day. In Europe, between 2010 and 2012, approximately 30,000 victims of trafficking were registered, a 28% increase compared to 2008-2010. Among these, 69% are sexually exploited, 17% between 12 and 17 years of age, while 2% under 11 years of age. In Spain, the data recorded from April 2013 to December 2014 reported 11,000 victims. The International Labor Organization reported that there are 4 million and a half victims of sexual abuse, 90% are women and girls around the world. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 23/09/2015)
