Glass Boxes: UP Faculty of Law Research Group Made the Hidden Reality of Human Trafficking Visible at Sziget Festival

The Human Trafficking Research Group of the Faculty of Law of the University of Pécs participated in the Sziget Festival with a unique awareness-raising initiative in cooperation with the Dutch Reshape Foundation. 

The project, titled Glass Boxes, was presented between 10 and 14 August 2026, drawing festival-goers' attention to the often invisible realities of human trafficking.

Victims of human trafficking and the exploitation they endure frequently remain hidden from public view. Glass Boxes sought to break this invisibility. Inside transparent glass boxes, actors portrayed a series of everyday scenarios representing different forms of human trafficking, including sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, and exploitation for criminal activities.
What made the programme particularly powerful was that visitors did not need to actively participate to engage with the topic. Even those who stopped for just a few minutes could gain insight into the human stories behind this complex and often overlooked crime.

The performances inside the glass boxes were accompanied by information panels and twenty-minute text-based performances that provided additional context and perspective. Visitors also had the opportunity to speak with the organisers about the different forms of human trafficking, how to recognise its warning signs, and its broader social impact.
One of the initiative's key messages was that human trafficking is not a distant or isolated phenomenon. Its various forms can be present in everyday life, while victims often remain unnoticed by the people around them.

The Glass Boxes programme brought together academic outreach, public awareness, and the arts to present the human dimension of a complex legal and social issue in an accessible and thought-provoking way.