When travelling, your ultimate goal is to get to your destination safely. Maybe you have a habit of stopping at a bookshop to get a newspaper for your journey or, perhaps, you prefer to buy snacks to prepare for your long flight.

Amid the rush, you may spot a poster, showing you an example of what could look like an ordinary person but, in reality, it could very well be a masked example of human trafficking. Such a poster will oblige you to make a call to the authorities and report it.

The reality is that human trafficking is a much more gurning form of violence than we may envisage, for it exploits women, men and children for different purposes and, ultimately, strips away any form of control a victim may have. 

It will soon be 19 years since Malta ratified the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, also known as the Palermo Protocol. We have come a long way in combatting human trafficking and supporting victims of such a heinous crime, but this does not mean that our work is over.

Trafficking in human beings should have no place in today’s society- Rebecca Buttigieg

The Blue Heart Campaign, an annual campaign originally initiated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, aims at raising awareness on human trafficking and its impact on society.

In collaboration with the Human Rights Directorate, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Reforms and Equality has organised two outreach events this past week with the intention of raising public awareness on human trafficking.

This year’s theme, ‘Use and Abuse of Technology’, took aim at pinpointing how human trafficking can present itself through modern technological platforms and how traffickers use modern means to target victims.

In particular, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has provided further opportunity for traffickers due to increased use of the internet. Containment measures to control the spread of the virus meant that people spent much more time online. 

It is for this reason that community engagement remains crucial in getting our message across and raising awareness on what signs to look out for.

Raising awareness is essential in the disruption and prevention of human trafficking. It enables people to know what human trafficking is, be able to spot the signs and know how to respond appropriately. It can even encourage victims to seek help and support.

In fact, the events held last week provided passers-by with an opportunity to visit an information kiosk, with a team of field experts who were ready to answer questions on the subject and different scenarios of what can look like human trafficking. 

But is this where we end? No, if anything, this is where we continue. The Labour Party’s manifesto encapsulated a vision that is testament to the party’s commitment to improving equality across the board.

Our commitment to continue raising awareness through the Blue Heart Campaign is parallel to the intentions reflected in the manifesto and we will continue striving to mirror the standards required by the UNODC. 

We have also committed ourselves to implementing a newly updated national strategy that aims to strike a balance between adequate enforcement to fish out traffickers, all the while ensuring that victims of human trafficking are given protection and treated with utmost empathy.

To ensure this, we will continue to speak and, more importantly, listen to people who deal with the repercussions of human trafficking. Together with other entities, we will not only ascertain that our international obligations are fulfilled to the highest standards but make sure that our foreground truly reflects the very foundation that we based ourselves on. 

I encourage you to follow the progress of the Blue Heart Campaign and engage in the fight to combat human trafficking.

Knowing this information can help protect individuals from exploitation and encourage feelings of empathy and understanding towards others. Trafficking in human beings is a crime that should have no place in today’s society. 

Rebecca Buttigieg is Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms and Equality.