Kokrajhar, July 31: The Nedan Foundation, an NGO based in Kokrajhar, carried out a campaign to commemorate World Day Against Trafficking in Persons in Gossaigaon town yesterday.

The foundation used art to campaign in different parts of the town. Silhouettes of young girls with the captions #Every8minutes and #missingGirls were painted on public walls in vulnerable areas.

The campaign attracted more than 300 people in two areas of Gossaigaon subdivision.

"Through the campaign, local communities were provided with Childline helpline numbers and contact details of local NGOs working on child trafficking so that if they see any child in danger or if a child goes missing, they can immediately contact them and seek help," said Swrang Narzary, a volunteer.

Many citizens in the town signed pledges to end child trafficking in the region. Street plays and discussions on child trafficking were also held.

Launched in 2014 by iPartner India, Every8Minutes is the first campaign of its kind that aims to stop child trafficking in India by building awareness and with the participation of local communities. It works in over 20 locations through their anti-child trafficking partners across India to end this modern-day slavery. The Every8Minutes campaign is collaborating with 17 partner organisations across 11 states in India, including Assam that ranks as the country's second-highest trafficking zone. The campaign aims to spread awareness about the exploitation and abuse of trafficked children and gets more people to report suspected traffickers and victims to the authorities by dialing 1098, India's Childline number.

"Child trafficking and slavery thrive because there's a demand for cheap labour in this country. We want people to intervene and say something when their neighbour's domestic help is a child, when they are being served by a child at a restaurant or they see a child working in a brick kiln or construction site," said Sumitra Mishra, iPartner India's country director.