Judy Boyle is the founder of The NO Project, an award-winning, arts-based, global educational campaign against modern slavery and human trafficking. She has been involved in anti-human trafficking and anti-slavery educational actions for 25 years.

Judy is a teacher, trainer, researcher and author. Her background also includes professional theatre and filmmaking. In 2022, Judy directed and produced It’s Just Business, an award-winning, surreal short film against modern slavery, based on a spoken-word poem by a 16-year-old high school student. Email: judy@thenoproject.org

 

How much do you know about the crimes of human trafficking and modern slavery?

TEST YOURSELF – and then adapt the questions for your students to discuss, according to their age and level.

 

1. According to the research 2022, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, how many people are in slavery today? Approximately…

a   5 million people

b 25 million people

c 50 million people

 

2. According to this same 2022 report, how many people are in forced marriage?

Note: while forced marriage primarily impacts the lives of girls and women, boys and men can also be victims of forced marriage. Approximately…

a   2 million people

b 22 million people

c 12 million people

 

3. According to this same research, how many people are in forced labour? This can include domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labour in places such as factories, mines, agriculture, construction, service industries and the fishing industry.

a 2 million people

b 7 million people

c 27.6 million people

 

4. According to this same research, how many children are being exploited for profit in Child Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CCSE)? This includes minors from babies to older teens. Approximately…

a 1,7 million children

b 1 million children

c 170,000 children

 

 

1c 2b 3c 4a

Check your answers then take a moment to reflect. Think about the population of own your town and your country to get an idea of the scale of this global crime.

 

 

Now read these statements about Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery.

Are they correct or wrong?

 

5 Human Trafficking and Human Smuggling are the same crime and mean the same thing.

WRONG.

 

These two crimes are often confused and used interchangeably – even by journalists. This a mistake. Human Smuggling involves the crossing of a state or international border – illegally. Human trafficking may not involve any travel whatsoever. A victim could be a young boy or girl used for commercial sexual exploitation in their own town, their own home, in their own bed.

Although, this is a somewhat simplified way to remember a fundamental difference between the two crimes, Human Trafficking is a crime based on (commercial) exploitation, while Human Smuggling is a crime based on (illegal) transportation.

 

6 Human traffickers always use physical violence to get their victims – for example, kidnapping.

WRONG

Films, and TV shows often depict kidnapping as the means that traffickers recruit victims, however this does not the main method that Traffickers get victims. In reality, the grooming process may take many days if not weeks or even months. It involves psychological manipulation usually based on lies, false promises, fake romantic relationships and deception.

 

7 Human traffickers are only men.

WRONG.

This is a dangerous assumption. Globally women are involved in the crime of Trafficking of Persons. Think about it – if a sweet, friendly ‘harmless-looking’ middle-aged female has lovely photos of places that offer employment in another city e.g. restaurants, beauty salons, luxurious villas – wouldn’t the parents or friends of a young woman in need of work, be more trusting of a middle-aged woman’s charm and confidence, rather than a man’s?  There are countless cases across all continents where recruiters/traffickers are female.

 

8 Victims of Human Trafficking are always poor.

WRONG

Human traffickers target people who are vulnerable and desperate. Factors such as poverty, war, family illness, minimal job opportunities and limited education will make a person more vulnerable – as can so-called ‘natural disasters’ such as tsunamis, earthquakes, floods.  However, potential victims can be vulnerable and desperate for many reasons despite being educated and coming from an economically secure family. Loneliness, a sense of wanting to belong, loved and accepted can also make a person to vulnerable to traffickers lies and promises.

 

9 Traffickers always control their victims and keep them in locked rooms.

WRONG

In some cases, traffickers will control victims by keeping them locked in compounds, factories, or other work environments. However, more commonly, FEAR is used to control victims. Threats of violence, of death, or harming family members ‘back home’ are powerful ways to control the behaviour of their victims. Also, if the victim is in an unfamiliar place and does not know the local language or laws, fear of the authorities, imprisonment of deportation is as powerful as a locked door.

 

10 Victims of Human Trafficking might be students in your school and could even be in your class.

CORRECT

Please see The NO Project lesson plan EYES WIDE SHUT about Sarah who was groomed from aged 10-12, then forced into commercial sexual exploitation until she was 17. Throughout this time, she was in school.   

Furthermore, students who are victims may be forced by their trafficker to recruit other fellow students in their school. Teenagers are vulnerable – they want to feel ‘independent’, to feel special and to earn instant money. Traffickers can sense who is vulnerable. Their goal is profit. ‘It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.’

https://www.thenoproject.org/lesson-plans/

 

Sources:

https://polarisproject.org/myths-facts-and-statistics/

https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/human-trafficking/myths-facts

https://www.thenoproject.org/lesson-plans/

https://www.ilo.org/publications/major-publications/global-estimates-modern-slavery-forced-labour-and-forced-marriage

https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/glotip/2024/GLOTIP2024_BOOK.pdf