Director General/Executive Director
Minister Kneissl,
Ambassador Kupchyna,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to begin by wishing you a Happy New Year, and a Happy Orthodox Christmas for those celebrating today.
I would like to thank Minister Kneissl for joining us for the launch of the latest Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.
We are proud to hold this in Vienna with the support of Austria as our host country, and as a dedicated partner in the fight against the heinous crime of human trafficking.
This is the fourth report mandated by the General Assembly through the 2010 Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Building on UNODC's long experience with collecting data on human trafficking and other forms of organized crime, the reports serve as global resources on trafficking trends and patterns in countries and regions, as well as on criminal justice responses.
The 2018 Global Report puts the spotlight on human trafficking in armed conflict.
As you know, Nadia Murad, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
She is the first trafficking victim to serve as a UN Goodwill Ambassador, and the Nobel Prize is an important recognition of her tireless efforts to stop the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
By sharing her experiences of being enslaved and raped by Islamic State terrorists, Nadia has been a leading voice in exposing this abhorrent crime and calling on governments to act.
I urge the international community to heed Nadia's call for justice, and I hope this report can contribute to these efforts.
Trafficking is found in connection with most armed conflicts. In situations characterized by violence, brutality and coercion, traffickers can operate with even greater impunity.
Child soldiers, forced labour, 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.
Human trafficking in armed conflict presents specific challenges that must be addressed, but let us be clear - this is a crime that is committed in every country, every day.
The need to strengthen trafficking responses in the context of international migration was also recognized by the recently adopted Global Compact for migration.
According to the Report, countries detected some 225,000 victims between 2003 and 2016, with the number peaking at more than 24,000 detected victims in 2016.
We know that the number of detected victims falls far short of the actual number of trafficking victims.
Traffickers target women and girls, who continue to represent more than 70 per cent of detected victims.
Overall, 83 per cent of the detected women victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation, while 82 per cent of men were trafficked for forced labour.
Since 2004 there has been a clear increase in child victims, who account for 30 per cent of the total, with far more girls detected than boys.
Like women, the clear majority of detected girl victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation. While boys are mainly trafficked for forced labour, many are also trafficked for sexual exploitation, as well as for begging and as child soldiers.
The report also found that the number of detected victims who are trafficked within their own countries has been increasing, and now account for the majority of detected flows.
Nevertheless, the wealthiest countries in the world are still destination countries for victims from more distant origins.
The 40 per cent rise in the number of victims detected from 2011 to 2016 may indicate that more people are being trafficked.
But it may also be a welcome sign that national capacities to detect this crime and identify victims are improving, particularly where increases in trafficking convictions broadly track the rise in reported victims.
While we are far from ending impunity, I am pleased to report that we have made headway in the fifteen years since the Protocol against Trafficking Persons entered into force.
As of August 2018, 168 countries among the 181 assessed have legislation in place that criminalizes trafficking in persons, in line with the Protocol.
Over the past ten years, the share of countries recording no convictions declined from 15 per cent to nine per cent, and the group of countries reporting 11-50 convictions continues to grow. Some countries recorded their first convictions during the 2014 to 2016 period.
International and national action to implement the Protocol has made a difference.
Here I would also like to commend the efforts of Ambassador Kupchyna, Belarus and other countries of the Group of Friends United against Human Trafficking for their unstinting efforts to keep this priority high on the international agenda.
This includes efforts to strengthen UN- and inter-agency coordination through ICAT.
This Report shows that we need to step up technical assistance and strengthen cooperation, to support all countries to protect victims and bring criminals to justice, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The international community needs to accelerate progress.
UNODC remains fully engaged in helping to prevent and stop this crime, through the research presented in this report and our work on the ground through our global, regional and country programmes.
I look forward to further strengthening anti-trafficking action with you, and hearing your views on how UNODC can further enhance our support.
Thank you