UN Committee attends presentations of UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons

The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was presented by UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov at a special event of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice with Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl on 7 January in Vienna and later in New York. 

Ingeborg Geyer, Zonta International United Nations Committee chairman, and Leslie Wright, UN Committee adviser, attended the presentations.

The report examines trafficking trends and patterns and puts the spotlight on human trafficking in armed conflict.

"Child soldiers, forced labor, sexual slavery - human trafficking has taken on horrific dimensions as armed groups and terrorists use it to spread fear and gain victims to offer as incentives to recruit new fighters," said Mr. Fedotov in his remarks in Vienna.

The New York presentation pointed out that though human trafficking has gone up, it is primarily domestic trafficking rather than international. The presentation also stressed that most trafficking in persons was related to girls and women, with the age of victims growing younger to appease the market for prostitution.

The analysis based on solid data from 142 countries although shows clearly interlinkages to forced marriage especially in armed conflicts areas.

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