The organisation MISSING was founded by Leena Kerjriwal and started as a public art project after years of working with NGOs such as Apne Aap, Hamari Muskan and New Light. As an artist, Kejriwal fought against human trafficking by creating installations in galleries that brought up the realities of sex trafficking. She felt that the world needed a new approach to tackling human trafficking and introduced MISSING as a four-part Art As Activism movement through her #MissingGirl stencil campaign.The stencil campaign aimed to raise awareness of human trafficking in local communities and educate people on the issue, as well as helping people thinking about how they can stop modern slavery. Over two years, the campaign has spread beyond India to include six countries and 18 cities, with 2,500 stencils and over 42 million impressions made on people. The campaign continues today and you can find out more here. The stencil is a black silhouette of a young girl. This black hole cut out from the fabric of our environment shows how millions of girls disappear as a result of modern slavery.

This mural was painted by graffiti artist Gamma Acosta on the side of his family's restaurant. He frequently paints murals on this site and this mural on human trafficking is no longer present. Acosta believes that the temporary nature of his murals encourages people to visit them whilst they are there. Painted in 2015, this piece and its title #NotForSale highlights the issue of forced sexual exploitation.

This piece was part of a series of murals created in 9 countries across Africa. The #WallsCANBloom campaign was launched by the Government of Canada in 2016, whereby the government committed $80 million to ending early and forced marriage in Africa. The murals were created on or around 16th June 2016, which is the International Day of the African Child. Local artists, activists, NGOs, schools and communities were involved in the design and execution of the murals. The pieces were displayed on the buildings of Canadian embassies and High Commissions and unveilings of the murals were accompanied by speeches and events. The campaign had a strong presence on Twitter with #WallsCANBloom. This specific mural was created at the Migori Primary School and shows the importance of education for young girls. On the far right, a girl is being led away from school and her education, and towards a life of forced marriage.

This piece was part of a series of murals created in 9 countries across Africa. The #WallsCANBloom campaign was launched by the Government of Canada in 2016, whereby the government committed $80 million to ending early and forced marriage in Africa.The murals were created on or around 16th June 2016, which is the International Day of the African Child. Local artists, activists, NGOs, schools and communities were involved in the design and execution of the murals. The pieces were displayed on the buildings of Canadian embassies and High Commissions and unveilings of the murals were accompanied by speeches and events. The campaign had a strong presence on Twitter with #WallsCANBloom.This specific mural was created by artist ANW-KO'ART with the local community and has several different scenes protesting against early and forced marriage. In one scene, there is a girl being forced to wear a wedding ring, and elsewhere a pregnant girl watches another girl go to school, with the latter celebrating her access to education. At the start of the mural is the phrase 'give me the time to realise my ambitions', with girls holding signs that state 'no to early marriage', 'we want to survive' and 'our studies'. 

This piece was part of a series of murals created in 9 countries across Africa. The #WallsCANBloom campaign was launched by the Government of Canada in 2016, whereby the government committed $80 million to ending early and forced marriage in Africa.The murals were created on or around 16th June 2016, which is the International Day of the African Child. Local artists, activists, NGOs, schools and communities were involved in the design and execution of the murals. The pieces were displayed on the buildings of Canadian embassies and High Commissions and unveilings of the murals were accompanied by speeches and events. The campaign had a strong presence on Twitter with #WallsCANBloom.This specific mural shows children both at school and in forced marriages. It states that children should have full access to high quality education and should not be forced to marry. The piece, created by local artist Docta, highlights the importance of education and encourages children to stay in school to gain qualifications. 

This piece was part of a series of murals created in 9 countries across Africa. The #WallsCANBloom campaign was launched by the Government of Canada in 2016, whereby the government committed $80 million to ending early and forced marriage in Africa.The murals were created on or around 16th June 2016, which is the International Day of the African Child. Local artists, activists, NGOs, schools and communities were involved in the design and execution of the murals. The pieces were displayed on the buildings of Canadian embassies and High Commissions and unveilings of the murals were accompanied by speeches and events. The campaign had a strong presence on Twitter with #WallsCANBloom.This specific mural was created by Tladi with children from Soshanguve Seconday School. In one scene, a girl sits below a tree reading a book and there is a heart with the phrase 'love education' in it. In another scene, there is a portrait of a girl with a graduation cap on and a second girl is accepting a degree in a graduation cap and gown. There are also women reading texts on the left hand side of the mural and women as doctors on the right. 

This piece was part of a series of murals created in 9 countries across Africa. The #WallsCANBloom campaign was launched by the Government of Canada in 2016, whereby the government committed $80 million to ending early and forced marriage in Africa.The murals were created on or around 16th June 2016, which is the International Day of the African Child. Local artists, activists, NGOs, schools and communities were involved in the design and execution of the murals. The pieces were displayed on the buildings of Canadian embassies and High Commissions and unveilings of the murals were accompanied by speeches and events. The campaign had a strong presence on Twitter with #WallsCANBloom.This specifc mural was created on the Kizinga Primary School in Mbagala, Tanzania by the students and local community. It promotes the importance of education, showing girls in graduation cap and gown on the right, having received their education and moving onto employment.

This piece was part of a series of murals created in 9 countries across Africa. The #WallsCANBloom campaign was launched by the Government of Canada in 2016, whereby the government committed $80 million to ending early and forced marriage in Africa.The murals were created on or around 16th June 2016, which is the International Day of the African Child. Local artists, activists, NGOs, schools and communities were involved in the design and execution of the murals. The pieces were displayed on the buildings of Canadian embassies and High Commissions and unveilings of the murals were accompanied by speeches and events. The campaign had a strong presence on Twitter with #WallsCANBloom.This specific mural was created by students from the school of HSS-MPFA Department of Fine Art at the Zambian Open University. It portrays young girls being offered education instead of marriage and pregnancy, with marriage rings representing handcuffs and the phrase 'say no to early marriage and teen pregnancy'.

This piece is part of a series of murals led by the artist and activist Murad Subay, which was launched on 4th July 2013. The project discussed twelve political and social issues affecting Yemeni society, such as treason, corruption, civil war and child soldiers. Unfortunately many of the murals were vandalised after their completion. The murals were painted over a year and the artist painted a different topic each month. The murals created for '9th Hour' focused on the recruitment of children as soldiers and highlighted how many children are torn away from their families to die for a cause they don't understand. This particular mural shows a child soldier holding a rifle and walking towards a gravestone, with a arrow showing that child recruitment will lead to death.

This mural/poster was created in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to raise awareness of human trafficking and the dangers facing many women and girls. The writing reads - 'be vigilant and determined to prevent the trafficking of women and children'. It was placed beside a busy road to ensure the maximum number of people were able to see it.

This mural was shown to UNICEF Ambassador Angie Harmon by a youth leader while she was visiting Bluefields, Nicaragua. The mural was completed by local youth leaders, adolescents and students and highlights the issue of human trafficking.

This mural was completed as part of the Shoreditch Art Wall and supported the launch of the UK branch of the organisation Child Labour Free. It was revealed on the World Day Against Child Labour on 12th June 2016 alongside the sale of limited edition t-shirts with the designs of the mural. The proceeds of this went to the development of the Child Labour Free child care centre, which helps children in red light districts in Kolkata, India. Child Free Labour selected Victoria Villasana and Zabou to complete the mural. Zabou created the portraits of the two children, one of which can be seen above, and Victoria added the threads to the piece. For more images of the mural, please click here.Victoria is from Mexico and she was chosen because child labour is a strong issue in her country. She stated that 'What I like about Child Labor Free is that they work closely with the families to help them get out of poverty, rather than just stopping retailers from buying from these suppliers. This will help children enjoy better lives that are full of play, rather than just work.'

After learning about forced child labour and contemporary slavery, 20 students in their Transition Year at Bray College decided to create a mural to raise awareness of this phenomenon. The students were helped by the CSPE & Religion teacher Elaine Brennan and art teacher Clifton Rooney at Presentation College. This mural highlights the different types of slavery, including contract slavery, bondage labour, debt bondage and chattel slavery. On the far right, a hand holds a crumpled contract to symbolise a worker being deceived into slavery through the use of a false employment contract. To the left of this is the silhouette of a hooded figure holding a whip to emphasise the violence and coercion that is inherent in slavery. The mural toured Ireland's schools to teach others about contemporary slavery and raise awareness of this phenomenon. The students also wrote blog posts about their experience in creating this mural, which can be read here.The students also created 'Child Soldiersl', which raises awareness of the use of child soldiers around the world.

This mural was created by students in their Transition Year at Presentation College in Bray and condemns the use of child soldiers. The piece is quite graphic, with the centre featuring an image of a dead child lying on the ground with a large wound on his chest. The words 'our greed', 'brainwashed', 'disposable', 'accountable', 'scars' and 'lonely' cover the mural, and there are reminders of the deadly situation these children are in with the presence of skulls and bones. The students also created 'Child Slavery Mural', which raises awareness of the exploitation of children.

In 2017 the Dadaab Refugee Settlement provided various canvases and walls for artists who were refugees in the settlement to express themselves. At the time, Dadaab housed around 250,000 people and included people who were affected by the 2011 famine in Somalia. The large scale murals are the work of refugee artists who were supported by FilmAid's team of art trainers. FilmAid International conducted a two week, intensive training program with nine young artists from the Settlements. Through these workshops, participants developed their technical skills and their ability to incorporate stories, emotions and messages into their art. The project's goal was to contextualise and raise awareness of female genital mutilation (FGM) and early/forced marriage, as well as calling communities to become active in its eradication.

This mural of a child soldier was created by Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant), the artist who is famous for creating the iconic Obama HOPE poster. The image draws parallels between the complex emotions around the Vietnam War and the invasion of Iraq. While it does not focus on modern slavery, it includes an element of modern slavery in the form of a child soldier.There was a great amount of controversy surrounding this mural. Michael Claypool, the building's owner, did not review the piece before it was placed onto his wall and he was shocked when it was unveiled. Claypool commented that he felt it was offensive and he hired painters to cover the mural in white paint. Many felt the mural was inappropriate considering it was opposite the John G. Carlisle Elementary School.Shepard Fairey admitted that he did not know that the mural was opposite a school and stated that had he known of the school's presence, he would have altered the piece. However the artist defended his work and commented that he felt it did not encourage violence, but rather did the opposite. The artist created another mural against child soldiers in 2011 as part of the Irvine Contemporary Art Gallery project in Washington D.C.

This piece was part of a series of murals created by Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant) under the installation project of the Irvine Contemporary Art Gallery, with other artists including EVOL and PISA73 from Berlin, Gaia and Oliver Vernon from Brooklyn.It shows a Cambodian child holding a machine gun over his shoulder, with a flower in his hair highlighting his youth and innocence. The artist created another piece that protested against child soldiers called 'Duality of Humanity' at 4 Pike Street, Cincinnati. This mural was soon destroyed by the building's owner and the above mural no longer exists either.

The project Luchando Hasta Encontrarlas (Fighting Until We Find Them) was started by a group of mothers of girls from Juarez, Mexico who went missing and are presumed dead. The girls' family members and the police believe that these women were kidnapped and trafficked as prostitutes before being murdered. Since 1993 more than 430 women have disappeared and been murdered in the area. The project raises awareness by creating murals in the region, with public buildings, churches and businesses donating their walls for artists to create these pieces. Their aim is to create 200 murals across Ciudad Juarez to raise awareness of what is happening to young girls and women in this region and demand justice for those who have lost their lives. The local authorities told families that they were putting a stop to the search for their daughters, claiming that they were giving the city a 'bad name'. However these families are determined to campaign for justice. The above murals were created by Maclovio Macias and the artist also took part in a 200 mile march with many mothers who have lost their daughters. In the first piece, the quote reads 'No me Hallo. Estoy Desaparecida', which translates to 'I do not find me, I'm missing'. The rest of the mural contains images of mothers holding posters of their missing daughters, and these depict real families and real missing women. For example, the final image shows Esmeralda Castillo, who disappeared on 19th May 2009. 

This mural in the Northern Samar region of the Philippines depicts different types of modern slavery, including child trafficking and forced sexual exploitation. Unfortunately very little is known about this mural, including the date it was created or the artist. The central figure is depicted as an evil human trafficker who does whatever he can to keep himself happy. At the side we see the sad faces of several children and one child buries their head in their hands.

This mural was completed in conjunction with the 6th Annual Welling Court Mural Project to raise awareness of child slavery. It is located on 12th Street between Welling Court and 30th Road in Astoria, Queens, NYC. It tells the story of a 7-year old girl who is enslaved and works in a granite quarry near Katmandu, Nepal. Indira and the other children working at the quarry are forced to perform dangerous jobs with little or no safety gear. If they refuse, their employer withholds food from their family.The text that accompanies the mural on the artists website is as follows: Indira works in a granite quarry near Katmandu. She is 7 years old. The granite is sent to Britain to provide stone tiles for patios. Children are paid the equivalent of 25 cents a day to perform tiring and dangerous work with little or no safety gear.. Approximately 32,000 children in Nepal work in stone quarries. Some are as young as 5 years old. Many work besides their parents who are in debt bondage with  little hope of escaping. Some live at the work site which is watched by guards who forbid them from leaving. The children are forced to perform hazardous jobs & if they refuse the employer withholds food from the family. Eradicating child labor from Nepal is difficult because it is fundamental to the economy.