EU Anti-trafficking Day: 5 Ways You Can Help End Human Trafficking
Today—18 October—is EU Anti-Trafficking Day, a day established to raise awareness on trafficking in human beings and improve the exchange of info, knowledge and best practices among different organisations and bodies working to end the practice.
Human trafficking is a serious issue in Ireland. In fact, the United States State Department has placed Ireland on an international watch list for 2 years in a row because the Government has failed to put into place sufficient measures and resources to end human trafficking and make Ireland a less hospitable place for traffickers.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland is proud that working to end trafficking (and all forms of gender-based violence) and support the survivors of trafficking is a core focus of our work.
Here’s what we’re working on at the moment thanks to the support of our funders and donors:
- Coalesce – A research partnership with 9 other organisations across the EU working to support victims of trafficking by providing gender-specific psycho-social, legal and economic support and assistance. The project will see the publishing of country-specific reports and recommendations for State bodies on supporting trafficking survivors.
- Beyond Exploitation – An Irish campaign between the National Women's Council, Ruhama and the Immigrant Council to support the most vulnerable and silenced people in prostitution to have a voice. The initiative advocates for policies and measures that will give women and girls a real choice not to be bought or sold for sex.
- TRIPS - Our two year project exploring the unique needs of victims of human trafficking who are recipients of international protection in Ireland. The project will result in the development and sharing of a best practices toolkit to help service providers and public bodies properly support trafficked women in the international protection process.
- Supporting Migrant Survivors of Gender-based Violence – Our free training and capacity building initiative for service providers and legal professionals in the West of Ireland and the provision of direct legal assistance to survivors of Gender-based Violence. The initiative aims to fill the gap that currently exists for migrants experiencing gender-based violence in the West of Ireland and accessing supports.
5 things you can do today to help bring an end to human trafficking in Ireland
- Read the experience of a survivor of trafficking from our partner organisation SOLWODI in Germany.
- Join us for an international online roundtable between anti-trafficking organisations to learn about the best practices in support survivors of human trafficking.
- Register for our free anti-trafficking training for individuals, organisations and academics on recognising trafficking and referring survivors to available supports.
- Tweet your support by calling on the State to properly resource the fight against human trafficking in Ireland this #EUAntiTraffickingDay!
- Donate or fundraise to support the fight against human trafficking and all forms of gender-based violence.