Human trafficking: number of victims increases by 25%, majority are women and girls
The conclusion is from a UN report, which states that the majority of women and girls identified among the victims continue to be trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
The global number of victims of human trafficking has increased again (25%), after falling during the Covid-19 pandemic, with women and girls remaining in the majority, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Wednesday.
The conclusions are from the ” Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024 ” , released this Wednesday by UNODC, and which covers 156 countries from all regions and sub-regions of the world (95% of the world population), with data from the period 2020-2022 and other preliminary data from 2023 provided by only 72 States.
The report points to a 25% increase in the number of trafficking victims detected globally in 2022, compared to pre-pandemic figures from 2019. Between 2019 and 2022, the global number of victims of trafficking for forced labour increased by 47%.
In total, between 2020 and 2023, the number of trafficking victims reported by Member States amounted to 202,478.
“This trend can be attributed to the 31% increase in children detected compared to the period before the Covid-19 pandemic,” the report points out.
Victims are trafficked globally through an increasing number of international routes, with African victims to the largest number of destinations.
Most victims are women and girls, child victims are increasing
In 2022, the majority of human trafficking victims were women and girls (61%). Although the number of underage victims has increased since 2019, adults remain the most common age group, with adult women accounting for 39% of victims.
The majority of women and girls identified among the victims continue to be trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. However, female victims are also trafficked in large numbers for forced labour, particularly domestic work, and for other types of exploitation, including forced marriage and criminality.
While previous editions of this report have shown how child trafficking, especially in the context of forced labour, typically occurred in low-income countries, recent data show that while child trafficking is still detected in these areas, it has been increasing in high-income countries.
This occurs mainly in the case of girls trafficked for sexual exploitation (60%).
“Trafficking of girls for sexual exploitation is on an alarming rise in many regions of the world. The international community and national authorities must step up efforts to prevent this form of trafficking, to ensure victim-centred and trauma-informed investigations, as well as tailored protection and assistance programmes for girl victims.”
The growing number of children along migration routes may explain the rising number of trafficked boys. After the pandemic, more unaccompanied and separated children were registered at the borders of Europe and North America, regions where more boys are victims of trafficking.
“In 2022, children accounted for 38% of detected victims globally. Girls (22% of total victims) were most typically trafficked for sexual exploitation and, to a lesser extent, for forced labour and other forms of exploitation, such as forced marriage. Boys (16%) were primarily trafficked for forced labour and other forms of exploitation, typically forced criminality.”
Since 2019, there has been an increase of approximately 31% in child victims, 38% among girls.
Types of Human Trafficking: Forced Labor Sees One of the Biggest Increases
Already in the context of ongoing conflicts and climate-induced disasters, the risk of human trafficking is increasing as one of the direct consequences of global instability and climate change, resulting in forcibly displaced populations, the report concludes.
Looking more broadly at the types of human trafficking, since 2019 forced labor has seen greater increases (per 100,000 inhabitants) than trafficking for sexual exploitation and other purposes.
“Trafficking for forced labour has increased by 47% globally when compared to the period before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Although trafficking for forced labour is now more commonly detected than trafficking for sexual exploitation, far fewer traffickers are convicted of this crime.
In 2022, more than 70% of traffickers were convicted of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and only 17% were convicted of trafficking for forced labour, in contrast to 42% of victims detected in 2022.
According to UNODC, most human trafficking is perpetrated by organized crime groups.
In 2022, men accounted for around 70% of those investigated, prosecuted and convicted for human trafficking and the number of people convicted globally returned to slightly below 2019 levels, but with an increase of around 36% compared to 2020.