human trafficking

Children and women remain highly vulnerable to trafficking in Asia and the Middle East.
© UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani

First Person: Human trafficking, migrant smuggling, still significant threats in Asia

12 September 2021
Law and Crime Prevention

Human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants are going to remain significant threats to human security, that’s according to a trafficking and migrant expert working in the Middle East and Asia region for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Elisabeth was a young girl when she was trafficked, and raped by a man.
© IOM 2021/Lauriane Wolfe

News in Brief 29 July 2021

29 July 2021
News in Brief
  • More action against human trafficking needed urgently: UN chief Guterres
  • Beirut: One year after blast, UNESCO echoes solidarity call
  • COVID-19 vaccine shipments boost for Africa, WHO announces
Audio -
2'45"
An eight-year-old girl hides her face at a UNICEF-supported centre in Haiti that provides temporary care and support for trafficked children while authorities search for their parents. (file)
UNICEF/Marco Dormino

Human trafficking: UN chief calls for action as COVID leaves ‘many millions’ more vulnerable

29 July 2021
Law and Crime Prevention

UN Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday urged States to take action against human trafficking, where a third of all victims are children.

A former victim of human trafficking in Mauritania.
© Sibylle Desjardins / IOM

Traffickers have taken advantage of COVID crisis, new UN study shows

12 July 2021
Interviews

A new study from the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the impact of COVID-19 on victims and survivors of human trafficking, indicates that the ‘severity’ of abuses and levels of violence have increased during the pandemic.

Louise Potterton spoke to Ilias Chatzis, Chief of UNODC’s Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, which developed the new study.   

Audio -
11'6"
Children in the village of Tebikenikora, in Kiribati, Central Pacific.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

News in Brief 8 July 2021

8 July 2021
News in Brief
  • Time is running out for countries at the front line of the climate crisis
  • UNICEF to deliver 220 million vaccines doses to African Union countries by 2022
  • New UN report reveals impact of COVID on human trafficking
Audio -
2'21"
Lilith, not her real name, was trafficked from Nicaragua as a teenager and now lives in Costa Rica.
UN Costa Rica/Danilo Mora

New UN report reveals impact of COVID on human trafficking

8 July 2021
Law and Crime Prevention

A new study released on Thursday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) illustrates the devastating impact of COVID-19 on victims and survivors of human trafficking and highlights the increased targeting and exploitation of children during the course of the pandemic.

A woman from Mauritania who was lied to by a so-called hiring agent and trafficked.
© IOM/Sibylle Desjardins

Tackling people traffickers in Africa’s Sahel – what works (and what doesn’t)

8 February 2021
Interviews

The work of the UN and its partners never stops against human traffickers in West and Central Africa, who force people to risk their lives on dangerous journeys across the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea. In this interview, UNHCR Special Envoy Vincent Cochetel tells UN News’s Daniel Johnson about the many ways the agency helps vulnerable people in the Sahel. 

Audio -
10'33"
The COVID-19 pandemic has created conditions making it easier for vulnerable people to become victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking.
UNICEF/Michele Sibiloni

COVID-19 impact exposes millions to the risk of trafficking, UN agency says

2 February 2021
Human Rights

Although almost 50,000 victims of human trafficking were detected and reported in 2018 by 148 countries, the “hidden nature” of the crime means that the actual number of victims could be “far higher”, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Tuesday.  

UN human rights experts are warning of a direct link between the pandemic, socio-economic vulnerability and the risk of exploitation, including forced labour or being sold, trafficked and sexually exploited.
© UNICEF/Noorani

Shining a light on sexually exploited women and girls forced into crime

25 January 2021
Human Rights

Trafficked and sexually exploited woman and girls can find themselves facing prosecution and conviction for those very same crimes, in some countries, a new UN report shows. The study aims to help prosecutors to better handle these complex cases, and protect the genuine victims.