The theme of the 2023 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is “reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind”. The challenges of protecting people from exploitation are growing instead of improving. Detection rates are falling and conviction rates are down globally. More than ever, we need to increase efforts to stop the trafficking in persons #endhumantrafficking.

Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for victims of trafficking. To mark the UN World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Florence Bore launched the Government of Kenya’s Plan of Action to stop trafficking in persons in Kenya. As part of this event, myself and Prof. Rachel Julian launched a joint publication with partners Haart Kenya, 10 Years of Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act in Kenya 2010-2022: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities. This project was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)/Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Urgency Grant (AH-T011769-1) and internal funding from our Centre for Applied Social Research (CeASR).

A flyer saying Thank You to Robin for joining the 2023 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons Awareness Campaign - including seven photos from the event held in Nairobi

A Thank You received for participating in the event in Nairobi. The bottom right image shows Dr. Radoslaw Malinowski (Haart’s CEO) and Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Florence Bore holding the publication we produced.

Partnerships are the fourth Pillar of anti-trafficking action. Without the ability to gather data on the locations of survivors, the routes of exploitation and the networks of exploiters, stopping human trafficking is impossible. Leeds Beckett’s partnership with Haart Kenya enables this research to be gathered, analysed and disseminated. Creating an invaluable evidence-base for policy advocacy.

The event, pictured above, was held in Nairobi and attended by prominent dignitaries in the anti-trafficking in persons movement in Kenya. 

Dr Robin Redhead

Course Director / School Of Humanities And Social Sciences

Dr Robin Redhead researches the politics of human rights, focusing on how people empower themselves through discourses of human rights. She looks at the practices of political activism of minority groups and investigates how the visual media represent their grievances.

More from the blog

All blogs