We must all unite to liberate girls from sex trafficking

In the hidden underbelly of our society, a monstrous evil lurks. It is an affront to our collective conscience, a stark violation of human dignity—the vile trade known as sex trafficking. It claims victims indiscriminately, but disproportionately preys upon our most vulnerable: women and girls.

One in three women are estimated to experience violence in their lifetimes. This grim statistic covers a range of horrific abuses, including the insidious and barbaric sexual exploitation of our children. Millions of young lives are at stake. As many as 10 million children fall victim to trafficking around the world, according to the United Nations, with 2 million sexually exploited and girls making up the vast majority. Theirs are stories of stolen innocence. They are girls who should be in school, women who should be shaping our world, not commodities in a marketplace where their dignity is sold to the highest bidder.

We know paedophiles and groomers have long operated in the shadows of society. But the inexorable rise in internet and social media use, as well as the isolation enforced by covid, has enabled these abusers to prey on children in ways never before imagined.

Their heinous activities, often masked in the digital realm, have become both easier to conduct and more challenging to monitor. Perpetrators capitalize on the unspeakably awful nature of their crimes, with societies around the world often preferring to turn a blind eye than confront the hard truth. Consequently, gathering evidence becomes a convoluted task, while victims, silenced by anticipated stigma, endure their anguish alone. As a result, sex traffickers feel they can act with relative impunity. It is an appalling statistic that only one in 50 crimes of this kind end in convictions, which is a lower rate than for drug or arms traffickers.

Things must change. Fortunately, people are stepping up. I recently joined the charity Free a Girl as an international ambassador for its ‘From Darkness to Light’ awareness campaign, to support its crucial work in rescuing girls from sexual exploitation and ensure their path to justice, recovery and empowerment. The campaign aims to shed light on the global fight against child sex trafficking, and to raise vital funds for its rescue and empowerment programmes to help more girls make the journey from darkness to light. This is not just about helping the girls who have suffered physically and mentally, but also safeguarding future generations of girls and ensuring they are spared these hideous crimes.

As part of the campaign, I recently travelled to India, where non-governmental organizations that work in the country estimate 16 million women and girls are victims of sex trafficking each year, with at least 1.2 million girls forced to work in the country’s lucrative child sex industry.

The abhorrent sexual exploitation of children transcends borders, orchestrated by monstrous criminal groups operating worldwide. These nefarious networks are chillingly uniform in their tactics and horrifyingly synchronized in their operations. The tragic evidence and testimony that comes from the young girls I met who have been rescued by Free a Girl shows why we cannot—and must not—turn a blind eye to what is going on.

In the face of pandemic-induced hardships, countless young girls, driven by the noble quest to help their families escape the clutches of poverty and hunger, sought employment in the hope of financial relief. Tragically, under false promises of jobs or lodging arrangements, these innocent job seekers were ensnared into the grim reality of brothels, their dreams distorted into a chilling nightmare. With no escape, no qualifications and placed under gruelling conditions of gang-rape, blackmail and death threats, many are further conditioned into prostitution as they turn adult.

Their liberation is possible. Freedom has been obtained for thousands of girls being supported by the charity through rehabilitation, mentoring and education, all of which have helped them navigate their way out of their nightmare. This is only the beginning, as liberated girls can use their experience of trauma to help drive change. During my trip to India, I visited Free a Girl’s School for Justice, which trains survivors to become paralegals, lawyers and social workers—empowering them to change the system from within and foster lasting community change so that other girls can avert the same fate and more criminals face justice.

The only way we can tackle this international problem is through an international solution. That means we need a united and unwavering front of NGOs, legal experts, private agents and provincial and national governments. They must all work together to dismantle a shockingly widespread network of exploitation.

We can turn the tide against these criminals if we combine evidence gathering with intelligence inputs and join forces with police authorities as well as professionals in healthcare and social rehabilitation.

Eradicating sexual exploitation is undoubtedly an arduous task. Yet, we owe it to victims ensnared in this grotesque web. It is a stain on society that a heartless criminal network gets to profit from the most vulnerable. Through a unified global response, we can make the world a better place by helping ensure young girls never suffer like this again. Together, we can illuminate a path out of darkness for victims across the world and help them look towards a brighter future for a change.