Human trafficking is a many-headed monster: it deprives people of their most basic rights, it’s a global health risk and it fuels organized crime. It’s estimated that 800,000 people are smuggled against their will across borders every year. This figure does not include millions trafficked in their own countries for forced labor or sexual exploitation.
Very often, the people who fall victim to this vice are the weakest and most vulnerable in our societies – women and children.
Nowhere have I seen this more clearly than during my experiences whilst traveling and working with organizations such as The Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement, and People to People International, where the plight of women and children is brought home in a shocking and often painful light. But I have also seen that continued efforts to improve the lives of victims can and do make a difference. The time has now come for those efforts to widen, and become a global grass roots movement that will build up momentum and promise a light at the end of the tunnel for those in our societies who have despaired for a better life and the right to enjoy even the most simple of liberties – to live without fear.
The quality of life for our citizens is paramount – so let us cherish it, not squander it.