Sprint legend Usain Bolt, former wheelchair tennis champion Michaël Jeremiasz and former swimmer Ellie Simmonds are lending their faces to a campaign by the association It’s a Penalty aimed at raising awareness against human trafficking, during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.
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This campaign is being conducted in partnership with major tourism players Booking.com, Accor, IHG Hotels & Resorts, the airlines British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, JetBlue, Ethiopian Airlines and Air New Zealand, as well as Le Collectif contre la traite, which represents 28 French NGOs.
The posters will be deployed throughout France, particularly in major transit locations in Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis (which hosts many Olympic events), from the Gare du Nord to fan zones and hotels, to maximise the reach of the campaign.
Victims of sexual exploitation
In the face of trafficking and exploitation, “stay alert”, the posters say, inviting people to scan a QR code if they suspect abuse, leading them to the It’s A Penalty website, where they can find contact details to report it. Among the worrying signs to look for: confiscation of identity papers, signs of exhaustion, insecurity or fear, or surveillance by another person. A 30-second awareness spot will also be broadcast throughout the Games, from July to September, on board flights to France by participating airlines.
In 2022, nearly 3,000 victims of human trafficking were supported by 72 associations in France, including 2,675 exploited at least partly in mainland France, according to a survey by the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women against Violence and the Fight against Human Trafficking (Miprof) and the Ministerial Statistical Service for Internal Security (SSMSI).
Among them, 82% are women and 70% are from Africa. The majority of the people supported (76%) are victims of sexual exploitation, 15% of labor exploitation, 7% of coercion to commit crimes and 2% of forced begging. It’s a Penalty has already led 18 global campaigns, including during the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and during several editions of the Super Bowl, the national American football final.