UN Report
A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reveals a concerning 25 percent increase in the number of human trafficking victims detected globally in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic figures from 2019.
The findings were part of the ‘Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024’, which highlights a troubling rise in trafficking, particularly for forced labor, child trafficking, and forced criminality, driven by poverty, conflict, and climate change.
These factors have left many individuals, particularly children, more vulnerable to exploitation.
Between 2019 and 2022, the number of victims trafficked for forced labor surged by 47 percent. Additionally, trafficking patterns have shown a global dimension, particularly with South Asian victims, who were detected in 36 countries across multiple regions, including Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, and the Pacific.
While the number of South Asian victims decreased in the Middle East, they saw increased detection in Europe.
The report also highlights an alarming rise in child trafficking, with the global number of detected child victims increasing by 31 percent in 2022 compared to 2019.
Girls, in particular, were affected, with a 38 percent increase in their trafficking cases. Boys were more frequently trafficked in areas with high numbers of unaccompanied children, who were often exploited for forced labor or criminal activities, such as forced begging or online scams.
Trafficking for forced criminality has seen significant growth, increasing from 1 percent of victims in 2016 to 8 percent in 2022.
Women and girls continue to make up the majority of victims, accounting for 61 percent of detected cases in 2022. Among these, 60 percent were trafficked for sexual exploitation.
The report found that trafficking for sexual exploitation surged by 41 percent from 2020 to 2022, returning to pre-pandemic levels. Women were overwhelmingly targeted for this purpose, with over 90 percent of sexual exploitation victims being females (64 percent women and 28 percent girls).
African victims accounted for a significant portion of cross-border trafficking, with 31 percent of detected cases involving individuals from African nations.
Most of these victims were trafficked within the African continent, where displacement, insecurity, and climate change exacerbated vulnerabilities. Children, particularly from Sub-Saharan Africa, were increasingly trafficked for forced labor, sexual exploitation, and forced begging.
The report also underscores the role of men in trafficking-related crimes, with approximately 70 percent of trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions globally involving men. Children were rarely reported as offenders, with few being investigated or convicted.
The 2024 edition of the UNODC Global Report covers 156 countries across all regions, marking the most comprehensive coverage since the report’s inception in 2009.
The findings serve as a stark reminder of the ongoing global crisis of human trafficking, highlighting the need for enhanced international efforts to address the root causes and combat exploitation.
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