FORUM: “Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking.” World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024. This year's global campaign urges to accelerate action to end child trafficking. Children represent a significant proportion of trafficking victims worldwide, with girls being disproportionately affected. 1 in 3 victims of human trafficking globally is a child. Additionally, children are twice as likely to face violence during trafficking than adults, according to the UNODC's Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (GLOTIP). Regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean bear a disproportionate burden, with children making up for 60 per cent of detected trafficking victims. Amid overlapping crises such as armed conflicts, pandemics, economic hardships, and environmental challenges, children are increasingly vulnerable to trafficking. Furthermore, the proliferation of online platforms poses additional risks as children often connect to these sites without adequate safeguards. Traffickers exploit online platforms, social media, and the dark web to recruit and exploit children, utilizing technology to evade detection, reach wider audiences, and disseminate exploitative content. The causes of child trafficking are as diverse as the ways in which children are exploited. Children are subjected to various forms of trafficking, including exploitation in forced labour, criminality or begging, trafficked for illegal adoption, recruitment into armed forces, and online and sexual abuse and exploitation. Root causes are manifold, including poverty, inadequate support of unaccompanied children amidst rising migration and refugee flows, armed conflicts, dysfunctional families, and lack of parental care. Notably, in low-income countries, children are often trafficked for forced labour, whereas in high-income countries, sexual exploitation remains prevalent among child victims. Identification and protection of child victims remain challenging due to underreporting, lack of awareness, and inadequate resources for victim support services. Traffickers often employ coercion, deception, and threats to maintain control over their victims, making it difficult for authorities to intervene. To effectively combat this scourge, concerted efforts are needed at both national and international levels. States must prioritize child protection, bolster legislation, improve law enforcement, and allocate more resources to combat child trafficking. Prevention efforts should target root causes like poverty and inequality to reduce children's vulnerability. Special attention must be paid to trafficking of children on the move. Strengthening child protection systems and implementing child-sensitive justice mechanisms are crucial for supporting victims and holding perpetrators accountable. The way to address online child exploitation requires innovative strategies, collaboration between tech companies and law enforcement, and robust legal frameworks. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #endHT, #30July, #worlddayagainsttraffickinginpersons, #EndHumanTrafficking on all digital platforms.
EVENTS: As we observe the 10th edition, it is crucial to address the shortcomings and accelerate action to End HumanTrafficking. On July 30th, the UNODC will celebrate the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024 under the theme "Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking" as part of awareness-raising events. Civil society organizations, the private sector, and communities have a vital role in raising awareness, providing support services, and advocating for policy reforms. The UNODC Regional office and the UNODC partners will also organize many activities in cities across the countries. Get involved!
PUBLICATIONS: ILO Convention against trafficking in Persons. Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published during the 112nd ILC session (2024) Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).
Statement of the United Nations Secretary-General on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024; July 30th.
Human trafficking is a horrific crime that targets the most vulnerable in our societies.
On this World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, we focus on the most vulnerable among us – children.
Children account for one-third of trafficking victims, suffering unspeakable abuse – whether they are forced into labour, sold off as brides, recruited as soldiers, or coerced into criminal activities. Rising inequalities and globalization have fuelled complex trafficking networks that challenge traditional legal frameworks, creating new forms of slavery. Online platforms further expose children to sexual exploitation and gender-based violence and allow traffickers to exploit victims across borders.
The physical and psychological scars of these crimes persist long into adulthood, robbing them of their innocence, futures and fundamental rights.
We must strengthen protection responses – including child-sensitive justice mechanisms, raise awareness, support unaccompanied children on the move, provide care for survivors, and tackle the root causes of exploitation by helping vulnerable families.
I call upon governments, civil society, and the private sector, including tech companies, to intensify their efforts and collaboration so that no child is victimized and no trafficker goes unpunished.
On this day, let us renew our commitment for a future where every child is safe and free.
United Nations Secretary-General.
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UNODC Executive Director’s Message on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, 30 July 2024.
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Human trafficking leaves deep scars.
And when the victims are children, those scars can come to define the rest of their lives.
This year’s theme for World Day Against Trafficking in Persons focuses on child victims, which have tripled over the past 15 years.
According to UNODC data, children account for more than a third of victims detected globally, and in some regions, they constitute the majority.
Poverty, conflict, climate change, and inadequate parental support are leaving too many children, easy prey for traffickers.
And once trafficked, they endure horrific abuse.
They are forced to work under horrendous conditions in sweatshops, on farms, and construction sites.
They are made to beg on the street, commit crime, or work as domestic servants.
They are recruited as child soldiers, while others are trafficked as they attempt to flee the shadow of war.
And many, particularly girls, face gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, and forced marriage.
Meanwhile, digital technologies are enabling exploitation, with artificial intelligence generating thousands of images of child sexual abuse.
Last year, the United Nations policy forum on human trafficking, ICAT, called for united action to end child trafficking.
Now we must heed that call, by stepping up responses and working across all sectors of society, including governments, the private sector, tech companies, schools, healthcare, and social workers.
As a mother and a grandmother, I want to leave behind a world where no child is exploited, trafficked, or abused.
Let’s work together to make the world safer for all children.
UNODC Executive Director.
Video Message of the UNODC Goodwill Ambassador Mira Sorvino on 30 July 2024.
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