Theirworld

Worldwide messages of hope for millions of trafficked children

The World Day Against Trafficking in Persons symbol is a heart

Jacob was 13 when he was lured from his Kenyan village by promises of an education and a job as a house boy in the city. 

But the men who took him forced to hunt for scrap metal to sell. He ended up begging in the streets of Mombasa and had no way of contacting his family.

Eventually Jacob ran away and started stealing to survive. But The CRADLE (The Children’s Foundation) stepped in to help and reunited him with his family.

He is now 14 and has hope for the future. He is studying hard to get into secondary school and said: “I would like to be a teacher or a policeman who helps people when they are in trouble.”

Jacob – whose story is told on the United Nations Office on Drugs and crime website – is a victim of human trafficking, which affects millions of people around the world. At any given time, an estimated 2.5 million people are trapped in modern-day slavery – and one in three of them are children, deprived of their right to an education.

Today is World Day Against Trafficking In Persons – to raise awareness of the practice and to promote the rights of victims. Here are some of the facts and figures around human trafficking and what people are saying about it on Twitter using the hashtag #igivehope:

 

 

 

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