unodc

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.

Farmer Nurul Haque stands near his 13-year-old daughter in Bangladesh, saying he may have to pull her from school and marry her off to an older man because he has few financial options left.
UNICEF/UN0159775/Nybo

Report reveals linkages between human trafficking and forced marriage

7 October 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

Across the world, girls as young as 12 are being forced or tricked into marrying men who exploit them for sex and domestic work, in what the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has called an “under-reported, global form of human trafficking”. 

Rescued orphan elephants at David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.
UNEP/Natalia Mroz

Wildlife crime putting environment and health at risk: UN report

10 July 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

The COVID-19 pandemic shows how wildlife crime is a threat not only to the environment but to human health, according to a new UN report issued on Friday.

Poppy field.
UNODC

COVID-19’s far reaching impact on global drug abuse

25 June 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

More than 35 million people around the world now suffer from drug addiction, according to the latest annual report on the scourge, from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released on Thursday, which also analyzes the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global drug markets.

Two girls apply make-up at Kandapara, a brothel in the city of Tangail, Bangladesh. A man offered them to find them jobs, but instead sold them to Kandapara. (2009)
© UNICEF/UNI91025/Noorani

COVID-19 crisis putting human trafficking victims at risk of further exploitation, experts warn

6 May 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

Lockdowns, travel restrictions, resource cutbacks and other measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus are putting victims of human trafficking at risk of further exploitation, while organized crime networks could further profit from the pandemic, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

A sign outside a hospital in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, urges patients not to bribe doctors or other staff for any services. The UNICEF-supported hospital offers its services for free.
UNICEF/Pirozzi

Corruption undermines democracy and contributes to instability, warns senior UN anti-crime official

28 August 2019
SDGs

Corruption undermines democratic institutions, slows economic development and contributes to governmental instability, Mirella Dummar-Frahi, Civil Society Team Leader at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned at the UN Civil Society Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

David Sheff, author of "Beautiful Boy", at the UN Bookshop for a discussion on his book where he shares the heartbreaking experience of survival, relapse and recovery of his son Nic.
UN Publications/Steven Bornholtz

‘Stigma plays a big role’ in failure to tackle world opioid crisis, advocate tells UN

24 January 2019
Health

The recognition of drug addiction as a disease was the focus of a panel discussion at United Nations Headquarters on Thursday. “Leaving No One Behind: the Opioid Epidemic as a Global Challenge”, was organized by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), to highlight the growing problem of addiction worldwide.

Sofia, Bulgaria. NGO Animus Crises Center and Shelter for Victims of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence.
UNODC/Alessandro Scotti

Rising human trafficking takes on ‘horrific dimensions’: almost a third of victims are children

7 January 2019
Human Rights

A new UN report published on Monday shows that human trafficking is on the rise and taking on “horrific dimensions”, with sexual exploitation of victims the main driver. Children now account for 30 per cent of those being trafficked, and far more girls are detected than boys.

Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar industry which has trapped men, women and children in forced labour and sexual exploitation. File
ILO/A. Khemka

Governments need to step up protection for the most vulnerable, from ‘vile crime’ of human trafficking: UN chief

30 July 2018
Migrants and Refugees

Marking World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the United Nations sheds light on the plight of millions of children, women and men – especially migrants – who, every year, fall prey to traffickers across the world.