The number of human trafficking cases handled by the Belgian justice department increased from 187 in 2016 to 266 in 2018.
115 new cases were opened in just the first eight months of this year, according to Home Affairs minister Pieter De Crem’s response to a letter from Kattin Jadin (PFF-MR).
Most of the victims in these cases are immigrants trying to reach the UK. The most active criminal networks are Kurdish, Albanian and East African.
These figures do not include cases opened after screenings at airports, which numbered 71 in 2018.
HanesBrands, a $6.5 billion manufacturer of innerwear and activewear apparel that employs 68,000 globally, announced on July 25 that it has joined forces with the nonprofit group Free the Girls to help women rescued from human trafficking re-establish their lives.
The company’s more than 200 retail stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, which operate under the HaneBrands, Hanes, Maidenform and L’eggs-Hanes-Bali-Playtex nameplates, are accepting new and gently used bras to be donated to Free The Girls. Donated bras are used by Free The Girls to help human trafficking survivors in Mozambique, El Salvador and Costa Rica establish secondhand apparel resale businesses to earn sustainable incomes.
“We are pleased to put the power of our retail operations behind this visionary organization to raise awareness of this important issue and provide an opportunity for the millions of people who visit our stores each year to take part in addressing the needs of survivors,” said Missy Sage, the company’s vice president of retail store operations.
