Human trafficking is a pressing global problem that continues to affect millions of people, despite widespread efforts to combat it.
To shed light on this pervasive issue, here are eight key facts about human trafficking in the 21st century that help to better understand why this crime occurs, how victims are recruited and exploited, and the links between human trafficking and migration, climate change or conflict.
Human trafficking occurs everywhere, but people are mainly trafficked from lower-income to higher-income countries.
Most victims, or 60 per cent, are detected domestically, while victims of cross-border trafficking are mainly found within the same region (18 per cent) or in nearby regions (6 per cent). Only 16 per cent are detected in transnational flows and end up in distant regions.
Most victims of cross-border trafficking come from Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, and from South and East Asia.
Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people by force, fraud or deception to exploit them for profit.
The true extent of the crime is difficult to ascertain. While about 50,000 cases were reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2020 by 141 countries, as many as 50 million people globally – the equivalent of the populations of South Korea or Uganda – may be subject to various forms of exploitation.
Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing crimes, along with drugs and arms trafficking, and a highly profitable business, generating an estimated $150 billion in profits each year.
Human trafficking is driven by a complex interplay of social, economic and political factors.
Conflict and persecution, poverty and political instability, lack of access to education and jobs, migration and displacement, gender inequality and discrimination, natural disasters and climate change all create conditions that fuel human trafficking.
With nearly half of the world's population living on less than $6.85 per person per day, or with at least three billion people worldwide living in areas severely affected by climate change and non-climatic environmental degradation, millions of individuals have become vulnerable to exploitation.
Traffickers capitalize on this desperation, disparity and deficiency, targeting people who are vulnerable, marginalized or in difficult situations, including irregular or smuggled migrants and those in urgent need of work.
Because human trafficking is often under-reported and under-prosecuted, it is characterized by high rewards and low risks for its perpetrators, who reap substantial profits with little fear of punishment.
Taking advantage of the high demand for cheap labour, commercial sex or other services, criminals exploit shortcomings in legislation and its enforcement, as well as corrupt actors and weak governance, to carry out their illegal activities.
They fraudulently promise a better life in a new country, offer exciting jobs with great benefits, or use outright violence against vulnerable people to coerce them into exploitative practices, such as sexual exploitation or forced labour.
Victims often endure inhumane conditions and find it difficult to escape from the hands of their exploiters, who utilize a range of mechanisms and manipulations to control them.
Victims can be beaten, threatened and blackmailed. They can be humiliated, abused or have nowhere else to go. Their passports and other documents can be taken away. Many might not even identify themselves as victims – which is often the case when they are manipulated by a partner or relative.
Fear of reprisals often prevents victims from seeking help, and they are more likely to self-rescue than be rescued by authorities. While 41 per cent of victims self-report to authorities, in only 28 per cent of the cases does the investigation start with proactive police activity.
Human trafficking manifests in many forms. UNODC's latest research shows that 38.7 per cent of victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation, which takes place on the streets, in brothels, massage centres, hotels or bars. The victims – mainly women and girls – often experience extreme violence and abuse.
A further 38.8 per cent are exploited for forced labour. Some people work long hours in factories, for minimal or no pay, producing clothes, computers or phones. Others work on fields, plantations or fishing boats – often in harsh weather – cultivating corn, rice or wheat, harvesting coffee and cocoa beans or catching fish and seafood.
Around 10 per cent are compelled to engage in illegal activities, such as pickpocketing, bag snatching, begging or drug selling. Other forms of exploitation include forced marriage, organ removal and domestic servitude.
No one is immune to trafficking. People of all genders, ages, backgrounds and in all regions of the world fall prey to traffickers, who resort to a variety of means to recruit and exploit their victims.
Women and girls make up the majority of victims, accounting for 42 and 18 per cent, respectively. They are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation and are three times more likely to suffer physical or extreme violence than men and boys.
At the same time, the number of detected male victims has increased over the last years: 23 per cent of victims are men and 17 per cent are boys. They are mainly trafficked for forced labour.
In the past 15 years, the proportion of children among identified victims of trafficking has tripled to 35 per cent, or one third of all victims.
UNODC’s data shows that 58 per cent of those convicted for human trafficking are men. At the same time, the involvement of women in this crime is higher than in other crimes – female offenders account for 40 per cent of those convicted.
People who engage in trafficking range from organized criminal groups to opportunistic individuals operating alone or in small groups.
In addition to trafficking in persons, criminal organizations are frequently involved in other serious crimes, including drugs or arms trafficking, as well as corruption and the bribery of public officials. Such groups exploit more victims, often for longer periods, over greater distances and with more violence than non-organized criminals.
However, traffickers can also be the victim's family members, parents, intimate partners or acquaintances.
UNODC is the leading entity within the United Nations (UN) system to address human trafficking. It provides expertise and knowledge to countries and helps them ratify and implement the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, the main international legal instrument to combat the crime.
UNODC's experts support the development of national laws and policies on human trafficking and train public officials, including police officers, border control guards, labour inspectors and victim support specialists.
With the guidance provided by UNODC, countries are better equipped to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking, dismantle the criminal networks behind this crime, trace the illegal proceeds and protect and assist victims.
