WHO ARE WE?
Serving the lost so they can have fullness of life.
Life and Hope is a Christian charity offering humanitarian aid in the area of prevention of human trafficking. The focus of our work is in north Africa.
23%
of global human trafficking is in Africa***
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines it as follows:
Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit. Men, women and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world. The traffickers often use violence or fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims.
(from: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-Trafficking/Human-Trafficking.html)
What’s the bigger picture?
Human trafficking, or modern-day slavery, is a scourge of our time but it is not a new issue. Since earliest times people have bought and sold other human beings and used them for their own purposes.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that there are around 50 million people in situations of modern slavery, either forced to work against their will or in a marriage that they were forced into. This equates to nearly one in every 150 people in the world.
50 million
People in modern slavery*
60%
Are slaves in their own country**
How does it happen?
People may be trafficked across international borders or within their own country. Sometimes children are sold into slavery so a family can raise funds for their needs.
Many are tricked into travelling far away from their own homes in the belief that they are being offered a good job or a better life in another land. But, on arrival their passport is taken from them and they are forced to work for minimal pay in degrading conditions in a variety of roles, including forced labour and prostitution.