Welfare Wednesday: Human Trafficking

Tomorrow officially makes human trafficking awareness day, July 30th. Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. Before studying midwifery, I never really saw how it still existed in the modern world, but the sad truth is that it still does. Whilst we don't have "slavery" as it was in the past, it still happens in differing contexts. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, including for surrogacy and ova removal.

"The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

Healthcare professionals especially, play a vital role in recognising signs of human trafficking, and whilst we don't receive a lot of training, all do have some. Despite that, the general public can still play a part and my upline for my other business has created these graphics, with some simple tips which I thought were really great and wanted to share.

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