Child trafficking on the rise: UN
26 Nov 2014 10:30 PM GMT
‘There is no place in the world where children, women and men are safe from human trafficking,’ said UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov.
The report said the global figures represented only ‘the tip of the iceberg’, and that impunity remained a serious problem. ‘It is very clear that the scale of modern-day slavery is far worse,’ said Fedotov. Women and girls are often trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labour, while children are also forced into combat or to take part in petty crime, the report said.
In 2003-2006, about 20 percent of human trafficking victims were children, the report said, indicating how much the problem has increased. Children alone represent around 60 % of victims in regions such as Africa and the Middle East, it said. The report also highlighted that the number of convictions remain low despite initiatives to combat trafficking. ‘Forty percent of countries recorded few or no convictions, and over the past 10 years there has been no discernible increase in the global criminal justice response to this crime, leaving a significant portion of the population vulnerable’ the report said.
The report said the global figures represented only ‘the tip of the iceberg’, and that impunity remained a serious problem. ‘It is very clear that the scale of modern-day slavery is far worse,’ said Fedotov. Women and girls are often trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labour, while children are also forced into combat or to take part in petty crime, the report said.
In 2003-2006, about 20 percent of human trafficking victims were children, the report said, indicating how much the problem has increased. Children alone represent around 60 % of victims in regions such as Africa and the Middle East, it said. The report also highlighted that the number of convictions remain low despite initiatives to combat trafficking. ‘Forty percent of countries recorded few or no convictions, and over the past 10 years there has been no discernible increase in the global criminal justice response to this crime, leaving a significant portion of the population vulnerable’ the report said.
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