July 29th, 2022

Today, 30 July, marks World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. A day to remember and raise awareness about the plight of victims of human trafficking and to promote and protect their rights.
This year, IOM is dedicating this day to the theme Prevent, Protect and Prosecute to highlight the need for action and the importance of an integrated approach to tackling trafficking.
The CLIMOVE Project would like to recall with this post that human trafficking is a serious human rights violation, which occurs in situations of vulnerability. These situations of vulnerability, such as those resulting from the impacts of climate change, drive many people from their homes. 
Climate change impacts especially affect and exacerbate violence against women and girls. Among women, there are even intersectional vulnerabilities that increase the risks: indigenous women, women of African descent, women from religious and ethnic minorities, women with disabilities and LGBTIQ+ women.
When women are displaced, they are at much greater risk of violence, including sexual violence. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, about 80% of people displaced by climate change are women.
States have a duty to protect human rights and this includes a duty to empower women to prepare for disasters and provide them with alternative livelihoods should they face a climate crisis. But also to take protective measures when they are on the move because of climate change, where the risk of violence persists and even increases, with the added risk of falling prey to criminal trafficking networks.
The lack of international regulation to protect them contributes to increasing the risk of falling into trafficking networks. 
​The purpose of the CLIMOVE project is to continue working to find legal measures to protect, assist and dignify the lives of women and girls who, as a consequence of the impacts of climate change, have been forced to leave their homes and embark on very dangerous and uncertain migration routes.