Human Trafficking
The following is from the 2024 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
"Human trafficking continues to target the vulnerable, and we see this in persistent as well as emerging trends. Women and girls remain the biggest share of detected victims worldwide, accounting for 61 percent of the total in 2022, and most of them continue to be trafficked for sexual exploitation, a pattern that has carried on for many years now.
In parallel, the number of children among detected victims is growing rapidly and alarmingly, increasing by a third over the space of three years. In particular, the number of girls detected has surged, increasing by 38 percent. In several regions, children now account for the majority of trafficking victims detected."
The Bottom Line
The number of victims of trafficking detected globally is on the rise again after falling back during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Child victims are increasingly detected globally with distinct patterns emerging for boys and girls.
Trafficking for forced labor is on the rise but the criminal justice response is lagging behind.
Women and girls continue to make up the majority of victims detected worldwide.
Most trafficking in persons is perpetrated by organized crime groups operating in business or governance types of structures.
Victims are trafficked globally through an increasing number of international routes, with African victims trafficked to the highest number of destinations.
Displacement, insecurity and climate change are exacerbating the vulnerability of Africans to being trafficked.
Policy Recommendations
Adopt and reinforce counter-trafficking specific measures to prevent child trafficking, protect and assist child victims.
Broaden the counter-trafficking institutional framework and understanding.
Improve the identification of victims and their protection.
Reinforce the criminal justice response to trafficking in persons, especially in some regions.
Adopt a multi-layered approach to tackle the drivers of the proliferation of trafficking activity.
Ensure national and regional institutions are given the instruments they need to collect usable data and make more precise analysis to understand and report on trafficking in persons.