Members of the GLO.ACT Women's Network. © UNODC
Vienna (Austria) 8 March 2024 – “Some time ago, I was assisting a victim of human trafficking, who was a child,” said a female investigator from Pakistan, who frequently works on human trafficking and migrant smuggling cases.
“At first, she was scared and did not want to talk to the officials. But later she felt more comfortable and told me her story.”
“We uncovered the truth thanks to the psychological skills I learned during the training organized by the GLO.ACT Women's Network.”
The GLO.ACT Women's Network was established in 2020 to promote gender equality and increase women's representation in the criminal justice system.
“Data has shown that investigations are much more effective when female professionals are part of the team,” explained Aimée Comrie who coordinates the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT) project at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Due to the highly gendered nature of human trafficking and migrant smuggling, female experts are often able to access different areas of the investigation and gather different evidence than their male counterparts, particularly in cases involving women and children.
Gender plays a significant role in the crimes of human trafficking and migrant smuggling, with women disproportionately – and often more adversely – affected compared to men.
In human trafficking, the majority of identified victims, or 60 per cent, are women and girls.
When captured and exploited by traffickers, they are three times more likely than men to be subjected to physical or extreme violence.
When transported across borders by smugglers, female migrants often face horrific sexual violence during the journey, ranging from inappropriate comments to outright sexual assault.
At the same time, women remain strikingly underrepresented in the very same criminal justice institutions tasked with combating these offences, especially in leadership positions.
“Such stark gender disparities demonstrate that we need comprehensive, gender-sensitive approaches to combating these two crimes,” Comrie said.
“That is why we created the GLO.ACT Women's Network, which has over the past four years grown into a vibrant community of officials and women's rights advocates, with a very collaborative and friendly atmosphere, and a spirit of camaraderie,” she added.
The members of the Network are women, male gender-equality advocates, and people who identify as transgender, working in policymaking, the justice sector, law enforcement, civil society, international organizations and other relevant institutions.
Since the Network's inception, they have participated in over 30 international events, including workshops, trainings, seminars and the annual general meetings.
The Women’s Network provides a forum for its members to share knowledge and expertise in the fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling while incorporating a strong gender perspective in their work.
“Thanks to the Network’s exchange activities, there is a lot of sharing of experiences between its members. We once brought Iraqi female investigators to an exchange with Pakistani female investigators,” said Emmanuelle Kunigk, GLO.ACT’s Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement Expert.
She added that the experts were able to learn from each other, improve their soft skills and build up their confidence in a profession where women are so underrepresented.
The Network provides regular professional training and coaching to its members. Its training sessions help raise awareness of gender inequality in decision-making, provide guidance on empowering women in the criminal justice system and examine the impact of gender on trafficking and smuggling.
“I attended a resilience workshop organised by the Women's Network and it was very beneficial to me and my work,” said a police officer from Pakistan.
“It not only provided practical guidance on how to deal with stress, but also valuable tools to work effectively in challenging 24/7 situations.”
The Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants – Asia and the Middle East (GLO.ACT-Asia and the Middle East) is an initiative funded by the European Union and implemented byUNODC in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, currently in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
GLO.ACT assists governments and civil society organizations in targeted, innovative, and demand-driven interventions through policy and legislative support, capacity building and international cooperation. The project also provides direct assistance to victims of human trafficking and vulnerable migrants.