To enjoy the gift of freedom and the opportunity to flourish: this right belongs to each and every young person on earth. The good news is that today, many children celebrate this freedom as well as the increased sense of safety and space to thrive that it brings to them. Yet there are still many other young people who are trapped in a world where their freedom has been stolen from them. The tragedy is that every thirty seconds, somewhere in the world, a child or young person is taken against their will and trafficked into slavery. But this is not just happening to young people; mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, wives and husbands, sons and daughters; are all trafficked by international syndicates of highly organized criminals. That’s why the governments of the world have got together to fight this massive abuse of human rights. And, that’s what this convention is all about. It is time for the free young people of the world to stand up and speak up for those who cannot stand up and speak for themselves; to fight for the rights of every person who has become a victim of the crime we call human trafficking.