The NOWYOUKNOW project
Legislation
Eleanor Roosevelt, former chair of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, holds a poster of the Declaration of Human rights.
(UN Photo)
It is important to notice the significant attempts made by the United Nations in order to fight against slavery by trying to prevent it or helping the victims.
The story of Mysoun, a girl who was forced into marriage aged only fifteen, is emblematic of the important economic commitment of the UN Voluntary Trust Fund.
After suffering abuses by her husband for two years, the young girl was eventually left isolated in the community and filled with shame. In order to make an end of her pain Mysoun finally managed to get into contact with a local non-governmental organisation. The NGO placed her with several other victims in a community program aimed at rebuilding the self-confidence she needed to restart a new life.
This organisation, named “Trust of Programs for Early Childhood, Family and Community Education”, is one of the several NGOs financed by the UN slavery fund.
The UN Fund, which supports 500 worldwide organisations in their fight against different forms of slavery, is just one side of the important engagement showed by UN and the EU.
The Lisbon Treaty , a document wich harmonizes a specific definition of the crime of human trafficking, and the Brussels Declaration, which introduced an effective policy framework, are other examples of the commitment of the EU in solving this problem.
Directive 2004/81/EC, thought to support the victims, and the establishment of an anti-slavery day are other meaningful attempts to fight against slavery.
Could the United Nations and the European Union do anything more to solve the human trafficking problem? Maybe we are not able to judge, but we know that in some kind of way they have the possibility to do that, which means they have responsibility.
Legislation in Italy
The Italian penal code prohibits and condemns slavery punishing the organizers of the traffic with 8-20 years to spend in prison.
The Law establishing this is n. 228/2003 and its 6 main points are:
Art. 1 - Decrease of Servitude or Slavery
Art. 2 - Traffic of Persons
Art. 3 - Alienation and purchase of slaves
Art. 4 - How trafficking is controlled
Art. 5 - How to prevent human trafficking
Art. 6 - State of victims of human trafficking