‘Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind’ is the theme for the 2023 Blue Heart Campaign, which seeks to raise public awareness on the crime of human trafficking and shed light on the millions of victims of modern slavery.
Through a multi-agency approach which embraces collaboration and coordination between the public sector, the private sector and civil society, the Human Rights Initiatives Unit within the government’s Human Rights Directorate has been leading the coordination of the reform on human trafficking. This includes reporting, evaluation and monitoring, and awareness raising in the fight against the crime of human trafficking.
The unit has worked to set up multiple national mechanisms to sustain effective action on this reform, including the Anti-Human Trafficking Inter-Ministerial Committee, the Technical Working Group on Criminal Justice and Legislative Amendments and the Human Trafficking Monitoring Committee.
These committees bring together public officers contributing towards the fight against human trafficking. Extensive collaboration was established with multiple governmental agencies and trade unions as part of the national campaign on human trafficking.
The campaign features various avenues that encourage the public, as well as vulnerable individuals to reach out and report a crime. The supportline Crime Stop 119 has been promoted on billboards and bus shelters around Malta and Gozo since last February.
The campaign is also focused on giving victims of trafficking access to protection and support services by promoting the national victim supportline 116 006 recently launched by the Victim Support Agency. Potential victims may call the supportline to seek information or access support services. It is available from Monday to Sunday from 7.30am to 5.30pm. Messages can also be left outside of these hours and officers from the agency will call back as soon as possible.
The initiatives also promote the Helpline 179, managed by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, the helpline 1575 to report working conditions, managed by the Directorate for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER), an online reporting form managed by JobsPlus and the GU Clinic and SMS service by Sexual Health Malta.
For more information, visit antitraffickingmalta.gov.mt and www.facebook.com/antitraffickingmalta/. A promotional video is available at https://fb.watch/mtwAa9BfgP/