Tunisia - A national awareness campaign to combat human trafficking called “Not for Sale” was launched on April 12, 2016 by the Tunisian Ministry of Justice, with support from IOM Tunisia.

The campaign aims to raise awareness among the general public, and especially young people, of the existence of and risks associated with human trafficking in Tunisia.

The campaign consists of 5 mini-films and one awareness-raising spot. These were developed and produced by 30 young Tunisians, who were trained by experts in audio-visual techniques. Aged 16 to 35, the young ambassadors are students and professionals, all active in Tunisian civil society. They presented their work at the campaign launch event in Tunis on Tuesday (12 April).

“I learned that some practices in Tunisia, such as child domestic labor, are actually a type of trafficking in persons. It is an important issue that I wish to continue tackling in my journalistic work,” explained one of the contributors, Mohamed Slim Gam.

Each mini-film tackles a specific type of internal or cross border trafficking identified in Tunisia. They will be broadly disseminated through social media, cinema and festival forums. The awareness-raising spot, which features a popular Tunisian actor, will be broadcast on Tunisian national television.

Trafficking in persons is a worldwide issue that also affects Tunisia. A baseline study published by IOM in 2013 showed that Tunisia is a source, destination and transit country for victims of trafficking.

Internal trafficking mainly concerns children, women and disabled people, who are forced into domestic labor, begging and criminal activities and/or sexual exploitation. Transnational or cross border trafficking mainly affects foreigners on Tunisian territory and often involves sub-Saharan nationals exploited in domestic work and forced labor, including agriculture.

At an institutional level trafficking in persons is a topical issue and measures are being taken by the Tunisian authorities to actively fight it: a draft law against trafficking in persons is expected to be enacted soon by the Tunisian parliament.

This draft law complies with international standards, including the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (2000) and the Arab League Model Law to Combat the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (2012).

Salma Abida, president of the Provisional Commission for Counter-trafficking in Tunisia, said: “Tunisia is engaged in the “4 Ps” of counter-trafficking (Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Partnerships), which constitute the pillars of the draft law. The campaign, the first of its kind in Tunisia, contributes to the first pillar of the draft law and we are very happy to launch it together with IOM.”

The campaign is one of the initiatives supported through IOM’s SHARE II project, which is designed to help the Tunisian government to combat trafficking and assist victims. This project is implemented by IOM Tunisia in partnership with the government and NGOs, and is funded by the US State Department’s J/TIP Office.

For further information, please contact Lorena Lando, IOM Tunisia. Tel. +216 71 860 312, Email: llando@iom.int, or Hélène Le Goff ; Email: hlegoff@iom.int