Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children and
men for numerous purposes including forced labour and sex. Since 2003 the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has collected information on about
225,000 victims of trafficking detected worldwide. Globally countries are
detecting and reporting more victims, and are convicting more traffickers. This
can be the result of increased capacity to identify victims and/or an increased
number of trafficked victims.
Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking,
whether as a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims.
Traffickers the world over continue to target women and girls. The vast
majority of detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and 35 per
cent of those trafficked for forced labour are female. Conflict further
exacerbates vulnerabilities, with armed groups exploiting civilians and
traffickers targeting forcibly displaced people. Data also shows that
trafficking happens all around us as the share of persons trafficked within
their own country has doubled in recent years to 58 per cent of all detected
victims, according to the 2018 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons .
In 2010, the General Assembly adopted the Global Plan of
Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, urging Governments
worldwide to take coordinated and consistent measures to defeat this scourge.
The Plan calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the
UN’s broader programmes in order to boost development and strengthen security
worldwide. One of the crucial provisions in the Plan is the establishment of
a UN Voluntary Trust Fund for victims of trafficking,
especially women and children.
The Trust Fund facilitates effective, on-the-ground assistance
and protection to victims of trafficking, through grants to specialized NGOs.
It aims to prioritize victims coming from a context of armed conflict and those
identified among large refugee and migration flows.
In 2013, the General Assembly held a high-level meeting to
appraise the Global Plan of Action. Member States also adopted resolution A/RES/68/192 and
designated July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. This
resolution declared that such a day was necessary to “raise awareness of the
situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection
of their rights.”
In September 2015, the world adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and
embraced goals and targets on trafficking in persons. These goals call for an
end to trafficking and violence against children; as well as the need for
measures against human trafficking, and they strive for the elimination of all
forms of violence against and exploitation of women and girls.
Another important development is the UN
Summit for Refugees and Migrants, which produced the
groundbreaking New York Declaration. Of the nineteen
commitments adopted by countries in the Declaration, three are dedicated to
concrete action against the crimes of human trafficking and migrant
smuggling.
Human
Trafficking: call your government to action
Despite many countries having national trafficking laws in place
which are in line with the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol, people
continue to be trafficked. What is more, in many countries, victims may still
be criminalized while the impunity of traffickers prevails.
Therefore, on the 2019 World Day UNODC is
focusing on highlighting the importance of Government action in the interest of victims of trafficking. But the call
to action is not only to Governments, we encourage everyone to take action to
prevent this heinous crime.
Secretary-General’s Message
for 2019
Human
trafficking is a heinous crime that affects every region of the world. Some 72
per cent of detected victims are women and girls, and the percentage of child
victims has more than doubled from 2004 to 2016, according to the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Most detected victims are trafficked for sexual
exploitation; victims are also trafficked for forced labour, recruitment as
child soldiers and other forms of exploitation and abuse.
Traffickers and terrorist
groups prey on the vulnerable, from people in poverty to those caught up in war
or who face discrimination. Nadia Murad, the first trafficking victim to serve
as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, was justly co-awarded the 2018 Nobel
Peace Prize for galvanizing international action to stop trafficking and sexual
violence in conflict.
Armed conflict, displacement,
climate change, natural disasters and poverty exacerbate the vulnerabilities
and desperation that enable trafficking to flourish. Migrants are being
targeted. Thousands of people have died at sea, in deserts and in detention
centres, at the hands of traffickers and migrant smugglers plying their
monstrous, merciless trades.
But everyday indifference to
abuse and exploitation around us also takes a heavy toll. Indeed, from
construction to food production to consumer goods, countless businesses and
enterprises benefit from the misery.
Multilateral action has
generated progress, including through the Palermo Convention and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children. Most countries have the necessary laws in
place, and some countries recently recorded their first trafficking
convictions. But more needs to be done to bring transnational trafficking
networks to justice and, most of all, to ensure that victims are identified and
can access the protection and services they need.
The Sustainable Development
Goals include clear targets to prevent abuse and exploitation, to eliminate all
forms of violence against all women and girls, and to eradicate forced labour
and child labour. On this World Day against Trafficking in Persons, let
us reaffirm our commitment to stop criminals from ruthlessly exploiting people
for profit and to help victims rebuild their lives.
António Guterres
From: www.un.org
No comments:
Post a Comment