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"Justice gives relief not only to the victims, but to a prosecutor as well. So that is what keeps you upright and keeps you going on and says, okay, it is meaningful what you're doing."

Christian Ritscher’s work brings him into contact with some of humanity’s worst outrages. As head of the UN investigative team to promote accountability for the crimes committed by ISIL in Iraq, he seeks justice for victims of the notoriously violent terror group.

The Islamic State, or ISIL, stands accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Iraq’s Yazidi community were among those worst hit.

In this episode Christian Ritscher reflects on the impact on survivors, the difficulty of gathering testimony and on keeping faith in humanity when faced with its darkest acts.

Photo: ©UNITAD

Suamhirs Piraino-Guzman was 14 years old when he was trafficked from his native Honduras and smuggled by his captors into California. He was held prisoner and regularly drugged, alone in a dark and windowless room where he endured unimaginable suffering. Today, almost 20 years later, as an adult male survivor of child sexual exploitation and trafficking he has become an outspoken public advocate and an active member of survivors’ networks. He has also entered his second year as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the For 30 years, the Trust has been accompanying survivors by donating money to grassroots organizations that provide healthcare, shelter, food, legal aid, vocational training, education, income-generating activities and other support. In 2023, the Fund has aided more than 7,000 people.

Global crises, conflicts, and the climate emergency are escalating trafficking risks. Displacement and socio-economic inequalities are impacting millions of people, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers. National responses, particularly in developing States, appear to be deteriorating.  This  (30 Jul) aims to raise awareness of the disturbing developments and trends identified by  and calls  to assess and enhance efforts to strengthen prevention, identify and support victims, and end impunity. 

History belongs to all of us. The Slavery Remembrance Exhibition from Amsterdam’s renowned Rijksmuseum is on display at United Nations Headquarters.

The racist legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade reverberates today in harmful prejudices and beliefs, which are still being perpetuated and continue to impact people of African descent across the world. Transformative education seeks to empower learners to see the social world critically and through an ethical lens to challenge and change the status quo, in order to end racism and injustice and to build inclusive societies, based on dignity and human rights for all. On 25 March we mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

"You saved me!” It was with this cry that five-year-old Aruna Candé threw himself into the arms of his godmother. Aruna had lived on the streets in Dakar begging since the age of 3 to survive. He was able to return to his village and family in rural Guinea Bissau thanks West Africa Regional Office. Aruna’s case is not isolated.  In west African countries, many children are taken away from their parents when they are at a very young age, to go and beg in the capitals of neighbouring countries, thus becoming victims of human trafficking.

“I realized I'm a black person and that people see the color of my skin first, before they see who I am and what I'm capable of doing…that was the rude awakening.”

With her writing, Amanda Khozi Mukwashi wants to change the conversation on race, gender, and identity. Now United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lesotho, she has written a book exploring the struggle for equity and the historical baggage of slavery and colonization. “Let's talk about it a little more freely, not for it to hold our hands and tie them, but for it to liberate us to think differently.”

Moving back to the UK after leaving a high-level development post in Zambia, Amanda Khozi Mukwashi got tired of being asked where she was really from. In this episode, she reflects on the discrimination she has faced, on the rich family history she inherited from her grandmother, and on discovering her own multifaceted identity.

Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used to describe such practices as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. Essentially, it refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and abuse of power. The focus of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December) is to eradicate this injustice. It also marks the date of the adoption the .

The Compassion House project, funded by the , helps hundreds of thousands of .

Fifty million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, according to the latest  . Of these people, 28 million were in forced labour and 22 million were trapped in forced marriage. The report proposes a number of recommended actions which, taken together and swiftly, would mark significant progress towards ending modern slavery.

More than 40.3 million people are still in modern slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labour. It means 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world. 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children.

That social injustice is at the heart of Wagner Moura’s commitment and activism to put an end to forced labour and child labour. The award-winning actor and () grew up in a very poor area in the northeast of Brazil. He saw first-hand the negative impacts of forced labour on a family, a community, a country.

“I think that education is the foundation for any sort of social change in the world,” Wagner Moura said.

Today he continues to put his time and energy to urge governments to enact and enforce legislation, protect their population, and end slavery in our lifetime.

Where does his passion for fighting slavery come from? Find out in this of .

For Survivors of Trafficking, Upon Return is Another Hurdle.

Online platforms are increasingly being used by criminals to recruit, exploit, and control victims of human trafficking. Technology allows traffickers to operate internationally across jurisdictions and evade detection with more ease. As technology is frequently misused to facilitate trafficking, the crime prevention and criminal justice systems must step up efforts to also make use of technology to detect, rescue and support victims. This year’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (30 July) focuses on the role of technology as a tool that can both enable and impede human trafficking.

In 2018, Chinara travelled to Mali, in the hope of bettering the livelihood of her family. She was deceived by an acquaintance she met at the market, and was convinced to migrate irregularly to Mali, with the promise of making up to approximately USD 360 a month by cleaning houses. When she arrived in Mali, she did not find a house to clean but instead a female sex workers house. “They were treating us like animals. It was like hell.” Thankfully, she met two other migrants outside the house who had established contact with and helped her escape.

Manuela is a survivor of human trafficking, traded and exploited for profit. Minutes after her arrival from Venezuela, Manuela, who had been promised a decent job, was forced into a van by Trinidadian men and driven to a secret location where other women were held.  “Some people kept us in captivity for about a month. They forced us to work (as sexual workers),” Manuela says. “In trying to escape, I ended up getting arrested. I was in prison.” The International Organization for Migration () advocated on Manuela’s behalf to free her from prison.