The 2018 Global Report on Trafficking Persons from the UNODC (United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime) was released this month. According to the report human trafficking has an appalling increase that looked at data from 142 countries between 2014 and 2016. An increase in number of girls forced into trafficking (mostly for sexual exploitation) is one of the two more occurring trends, the other is using trafficking as a war apparatus. Sex exploitation remains the highest form of trafficking and followed by forced labor. New findings show that in Sub-Saharan Africa forced laborers are used for mining gold, diamonds and other minerals.
With the increase in people fleeing their home countries because of war, violence, famine, and other tragedies, this in return is creating new opportunities for traffickers to target victims. “Violent conflict is happening in more countries today than in the last 30 years, according to the report. The crises have caused millions of refugees and displaced persons to flee their homes. The journey makes them vulnerable to traffickers offering jobs, help or travel arrangements that turn out to be fraudulent, leading instead to forced labor, sexual exploitation or other types of trafficking.”