Human trafficking happens in every country. It thrives in situations where the rule of law is weak and people lack opportunities. Humanitarian crises and conflicts create an environment in which traffickers easily prey upon the vulnerable. According to the latest Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, nearly three quarters of all detected trafficking victims worldwide are female. Thirty per cent are children.
This year's World Day against Trafficking in Persons is an opportunity to call governments to action, to protect victims and their rights, and hold perpetrators accountable.
The international community has made some headway. The Palermo Convention's Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children has been in force for more than 15 years. It has helped drive legislative action enabling improved detection of trafficking victims, more effective criminal justice responses, better prospects for prosecution and enhanced victim protection measures. More and more victims are being identified worldwide, and the number of countries reporting trafficking convictions continues to grow. But we must press on.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) supports countries to prevent and counter human trafficking through implementation of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol.
Tackling human trafficking brings us closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which call for eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, combatting organised crime and eradicating forced labour, abuse, exploitation and violence against children. Fighting this global scourge means building a society that leaves no-one behind.
On World Day against Trafficking in Persons, let us call upon our governments to step up responses and give victims the support and justice they deserve.
Human trafficking is a heinous crime that affects every region of the world. Some 72 per cent of detected victims are women and girls, and the percentage of child victims has more than doubled from 2004 to 2016, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Most detected victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation; victims are also trafficked for forced labour, recruitment as child soldiers and other forms of exploitation and abuse.
Traffickers and terrorist groups prey on the vulnerable, from people in poverty to those caught up in war or who face discrimination. Nadia Murad, the first trafficking victim to serve as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, was justly co-awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for galvanising international action to stop trafficking and sexual violence in conflict.
Armed conflict, displacement, climate change, natural disasters and poverty exacerbate the vulnerabilities and desperation that enable trafficking to flourish. Migrants are being targeted. Thousands of people have died at sea, in deserts and in detention centres, at the hands of traffickers and migrant smugglers plying their monstrous, merciless trades.
But everyday indifference to abuse and exploitation around us also takes a heavy toll. Indeed, from construction to food production to consumer goods, countless businesses and enterprises benefit from the misery.
Most countries have the necessary laws in place, and some countries recently recorded their first trafficking convictions. But more needs to be done to bring transnational trafficking networks to justice and, most of all, to ensure that victims are identified and can access the protection and services they need.
The Sustainable Development Goals include clear targets to prevent abuse and exploitation, to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls, and to eradicate forced labour and child labour.
We clearly need to do more to stop human traffickers as part of coordinated and comprehensive responses to the refugee crisis and continuing migration challenges we are facing around the world.
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