EU Anti-Trafficking Day: Commissioner Johansson to participate in online event with focus on trafficking of children
On Monday, 18 October, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, will participate in an online event on Twitter Spaces to mark the 15th EU Anti-Trafficking Day. This year’s event will focus on trafficking of children, who account for 22% of all victims of trafficking. The majority of child victims are girls (78%). Trafficking of children remains a serious threat in the EU. Nearly three quarters (74%) of all child victims are EU citizens and the majority of them (64%) are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Children are also trafficked for labour exploitation, forced criminality and begging, as well as for drug-related crimes and forced and sham marriages. They are at particular risk of falling victim to traffickers online. The event follows the new EU Strategy on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings, presented by the Commission on 14 April 2021, which sets out actions to identify and stop trafficking early on and to protect the victims and help them rebuild their lives. The Commissioner will be joined by Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust; Diane Schmitt, EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator; Ilias Chatzis, Chief of the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Sector, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); and Stana Buchowska, Regional Coordinator for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at ECPAT International (a global network of civil society organisations that works to end the sexual exploitation of children). The event can be followed live on Twitter at 10:00 CET on Monday.
