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12:00 AM 18th October 2024
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Friday 18th October 2024: UK Anti-Slavery Day

 
This Friday, October 18th, it’s Anti-Slavery Day in the UK. International Justice Mission, one of the largest anti-slavery organisations in the world, is marking the day by urging Britons to become more aware of the reality of this growing and ever-evolving crime and take action to stop it.

Modern slavery still exists. The International Labour Organization’s latest estimates indicate there are 50 million people trapped in slavery worldwide. 1 in 4 victims are children and 1 in 130 women and girls are estimated to be living in slavery today.

Human trafficking is a type of modern slavery


Photo by Kate Oseen on Unsplash
Photo by Kate Oseen on Unsplash
Rapid advances in technology are seeing newer forms of trafficking emerge, including forced scamming, a fast-growing form of trafficking that’s seeing people tricked with false online job adverts and forced to scam people out of life savings through crypto based ‘pig butchering’ schemes; and the live-streamed online sexual exploitation of children around the world, fuelled by demand from UK sex offenders. Further, supply chains of everyday items including mobile phones, clothing and coffee are likely to be affected by slavery.

IJM works with global partners and police to protect people from modern slavery in dozens of countries including the UK, Romania, the Philippines and Thailand. Together with law enforcement, we’ve helped to bring over 49,000 people to safety from modern slavery and helped convict over 1300 traffickers perpetrating this crime.

IJM is urging the UK public, businesses and the government to prioritise tackling modern-day slavery in the UK and around the world.

For more information on how you can get involved this Anti-Slavery Day, go to ijmuk.org