World Day Against Human Trafficking:
Over 50 Million People Exploited
Submitted by Marguerite Thompson
[excerpt from the July 30 Vatican News article of the same headline name]
July 30 marks the United Nation’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The theme this year is “Human trafficking is Organized Crime – End the Exploitation”, focusing on the joint efforts needed by law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and society to have a victim-survivors centered approach to ending and preventing further exploitation.
On the occasion, the Pope John XXIII Community published its 2025 report, “Trafficking: Understanding its causes and protecting exploited people in the murky side of migration”.
The report showed that more than 50 million people are currently being exploited around the world and the number of victim-survivors rises by about 800,000 people each year.
The President of the community, Matteo Fadda, reiterated the UN’s call for government officials to take action to prevent further trafficking. He stressed how important it is to recognize where recruitment happens—online, in person, on migration routes—in order to prevent it.
“Our experience shows that prompt intervention during disembarkation and along migration routes, as we do in Greece, is essential to protect the most vulnerable”, Fadda explained.