Women, War, Peace and
Trafficking

One of the most serious challenges facing human rights today is the crime of human trafficking and its various dimensions, including organized crime, prostitution, security, migration, labour and health. conflict. Armed conflict increases the risk of women and girls being trafficked across international borders to be used in forced labour schemes that often include sexual slavery and/or forced prostitution. Trafficking flourishes in environments created by the breakdown of law and order, police functions and border controls during conflict, combined with globalization’s free markets and open borders. A country is more likely to become a source of trafficking victims after sudden political change, economic collapse, civil unrest, internal armed conflict or natural disaster. Women and girls who are victims of international trafficking often find themselves forced into prostitution at brothels that service military forces stationed nearby. Members of peacekeeping operations have also been directly involved in trafficking. Refugee and internally displaced women and girls—especially in camp situations—are particularly vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation and abuse. Since the entry into effect of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in 2002, the trafficking of women in the context of armed conflict has been considered a war crime and a crime against humanity.

Defining Terms

Enslavement: The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines enslavement as “the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children”. The Statute also provides that persecution on the basis of gender, among other grounds, may constitute a crime against humanity.
Trafficking in Persons: Article 3(a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, (adopted 2000; entered into force 2003) supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, defines trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”
Article (b) further states that “the consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a)…shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used.” more...
Traffickers: The report of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, “Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking”, defines traffickers as “recruiters; transporters; those who exercise control over trafficked persons; those who transfer and/or maintain trafficked persons in exploitative situations; those involved in related crimes; and those who profit either directly or indirectly from trafficking, its component acts and related offences.”
Violence Against Women (VAW): The General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines VAW in Article 1 as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” According to Article 2, VAW encompasses “Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution”.

Fact Sheet

A country is more likely to become a source of trafficking victims after sudden political change, economic collapse, civil unrest, internal armed conflict or natural disaster. Because of the economic damage caused by such upheavals, people—particularly women and children—may be one of the region’s few marketable resources. more... Conflict and other forms of instability compound the vulnerabilities that already exist for women. more...
There is no accurate count of the number of persons or of women trafficked in the world each year. The US Government estimated that between 2000 and 2003, 800,000 to 900,000 people were trafficked across borders every year. more... According to UNFPA, that total could rise to as high as 4 million persons per year if domestic trafficking were included. more...
Most experts believe that women make up the majority of the world’s trafficked persons, more... but girls and young boys have also been the victims of traffickers. more...
Between 1995 and 2000, trafficking worldwide increased nearly 50%. Annual profits from the human trade have been estimated at US$5 to US$7 billion. more...
The UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery—trafficking in persons among them—has identified poverty, social exclusion, illiteracy, ignorance, armed conflicts and discrimination as the main causes of contemporary forms of slavery. [Note: The Working Group was established in 1975 by the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, under the authority of the Economic and Social Council, to review developments in the fields of slavery, the slave trade and slavery-like practices, of apartheid and colonialism, the traffic in persons and the exploitation of the prostitution of others, as defined in the Slavery Convention of 1926, the Supplementary Convention of 1956 on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, and the Convention of 1949 for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.] more...
The feminization of poverty, gender discrimination, and lack of education or employment opportunities make women particularly vulnerable to traffickers, since they increase women’s likelihood to take risks in order to gain economic security. more... Gender discrimination can also lead to the sale of women and girls for profit being considered acceptable, while the similar sale of boys is not. Other vulnerable groups include ethnic minorities and lower class groups. more...
Trafficking differs from migrant smuggling and other forms of migration because it is accomplished through the use of force, coercion and/or deception, with the ultimate intent of exploiting the victim. more... Trafficking of women and girls for the purposes of sexual and economic exploitation is thus considered a contemporary form of slavery, and a serious violation of women’s human rights. more... Victims of trafficking experience severe physical and psychological trauma as a result of the violence, rape, threats, addiction and other means that traffickers use to control their victims.
Traffickers often control their victims through violence or threats of violence, which may in fact be the most common forms of coercion used against trafficked women. According to the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, “rape and other forms of sexual violence are often used to break women physically, mentally and emotionally and to obtain their enforced compliance in situations of forced labour and slavery-like practices. Rape and other forms of sexual violence are used as weapons against migrant women irrespective of the nature of the work they are to perform. Forms of sexual violence, however, are most persistently used against trafficked women to 'condition' them for forced sex work.” more... Victims of trafficking experience severe physical and psychological trauma as a result of the violence, rape, threats, addiction and other means that traffickers use to control their victims. more...
Since trafficking has traditionally been considered an aspect of migration, there has been a reluctance to consider victims of trafficking as victims of persecution. more... In many cases, this has meant that trafficked women were not only denied proper psychosocial health services but were also treated as criminals, in some cases jailed and in others forcibly repatriated to their countries of origin where they became once again vulnerable to trafficking rings. more... However, in recognition of this fact jurisprudence is emerging in some countries that grants refugee status to individual victims of trafficking. more...
A 1999 study by the International Organization for Migration found that trafficking of women and girls occurs on a global scale, and is becoming increasingly complex. more... Among the complexities of international trafficking are: its political contexts and geographical dimensions, which include intra- and interstate armed conflict; the different ideological and conceptual approaches to the problem; the mobility and adaptability of traffickers; the different situations and needs of victims; the inadequate legal framework; and insufficient research and coordination on the part of actors involved at all levels. The link between trafficking and migration is an added complexity that creates obstacles to the elimination of trafficking. more...
Trafficking and sexual slavery are inextricably linked to conflict. Armed conflict increases the risk of women being trafficked across international borders to be used in forced labour schemes that often include sexual slavery and/or forced prostitution. Trafficking has flourished in environments created by the breakdown of law and order, police functions and border controls during conflict, combined with globalization’s free markets and open borders. As well, criminal networks involved in the arms or drug trades often expand their business to include trafficking in persons. more...
Armed conflict leads to an increased tolerance of violence within the society. Violence against women and girls may also increase as a result of militarization—including the availability of small arms and light weapons—before and during conflict, as well as the demobilization of frustrated and aggressive soldiers after conflict. In the period after a peace agreement has been concluded and the conflict ended, gender-based violence against women and girls often increases, including domestic violence, rape and also trafficking into forced prostitution. more...
Even in intrastate conflicts, women and girls may be transported across international borders, often to camps of soldiers or rebels located in the territory of a neighbouring State. At least some of these abductions result in women and girls being sold to others and trafficked to other regions or countries. Any Governments which host and support the rebel forces also assume a specific obligation to stop the trafficking in human beings and to hold accountable those found responsible for such crimes. more...
Refugee and internally displaced women and girls—especially in camp situations—are particularly vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation and abuse. They often fall victim to sexual exploitation after being separated from family members during flight. As well, if women and girls cannot integrate smoothly into the host community, they remain vulnerable to trafficking rings. more...
Children of both sexes orphaned as a result of civil conflict and HIV/AIDS—the number of whom is rapidly increasing—also fall easy prey to traffickers. more...
Girls face many if not all of the risks that women face during armed conflict. Girls who are separated or orphaned from their families are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation, including trafficking into forced prostitution. And the physical and mental impact of violence endured as a result of armed conflict may be particularly damaging for girls. Girls who are raped or forced to provide sexual services for male combatants—particularly girls who are not yet sexually mature—are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, and of numerous complications related to pregnancy and abortion. Post-conflict reintegration for girls who have experienced these kinds of traumas can also be particularly difficult. more...
In post-conflict situations, women and girls have been trafficked into areas under the mandate of international peacekeeping operations. According to international experts who attended a May 2002 conference to examine “how the trafficking in persons interacts with peacekeeping operations” (held by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Institute) international peacekeeping personnel, as well as the personnel of private contractors that supply or supplement the staff of peacekeeping operations, have purchased trafficked women and children for sex or domestic labour, have permitted trafficking rings to flourish, and have even themselves engaged in trafficking persons. more...
Madeleine Rees, head of the Sarajevo office for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, has noted that the increased demand for sex workers that is fed by the presence of peacekeepers leads to an increase in trafficking, particularly since brothel owners can charge foreigners higher rates than locals, and thereby can bring in inflated profits. Rees has said, “Stopping internationals from patronizing brothels is the only thing that will make the trafficking of women less lucrative.” more...
Experts attending the 2002 UNICRI conference identified a lack of accountability as one of the most serious problems surrounding trafficking related offenses by members of peacekeeping operations. In the case of police officers, no action is taken beyond repatriation to the home country. And, according to the conference report, the UN has no control over what happens to an offender once he or she has been repatriated. According to some experts, repatriated peacekeepers have never had criminal charges brought against them by their home countries for trafficking related offenses. more...
Women who are victims of international trafficking often find themselves forced into prostitution at brothels that service military forces stationed nearby. Military forces play a direct role not only by creating a demand that fuels the trafficking of women, but also through such direct interventions as officially sanctioning certain brothels, acting as procurers, tracking rates of sexually transmitted infections among prostitutes to protect the health of servicemen, and even agreements between governments that identify and track prostitutes.
The trafficking of women in the context of armed conflict is now seen as a war crime and a crime against humanity. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, approved 17 July 1998 and entered into force 1 July 2002, defines rape and gender based violence—including trafficking in women and children, sexual slavery and enforced prostitution—as constituent acts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. more...
At its 60th session (2004), the Commission on Human Rights created a three-year mandate for a Special Rapporteur who will focus on the human rights aspects of trafficking in persons, especially in women and children. The Commission will also request that the Special Rapporteur prepare an annual report, commencing with the sixty-first session of the Commission, together with recommendations on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. more...
On 1 November 2004, the Commission on Human Rights appointed Ms. Sigma Huda of Bangladesh as Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The mandate of the Special Raporteur expires in 2007. more...

Treaties and Institutions

The Protocol Against Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (New York, 15 November 2000) entered into force 28 January 2004. As of November 2004, there were 112 signatories and 64 States Party to the protocol, which supplements the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and which criminalizes the smuggling of migrants while protecting migrants from criminal prosecution for the fact of having been the object of such conduct.
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime was put in place to “prevent and combat trafficking in persons, paying particular attention to women and children; To protect and assist the victims of such trafficking, with full respect for their human rights; and To promote cooperation among States Parties in order to meet those objectives.” The Convention was adopted by resolution A/RES/55/25 of 15 November 2000, at the 55th session of the UN General Assembly. The Convention, and its protocols, entered into force 29 September 2003. As of February 2004, 60 states are parties to the convention and 127 are signatories.
The objective of the European Union Council Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings is to approximate the laws and regulations of the Member States in the area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters relating to the fight against trafficking in human beings. To introduce at European level, common framework provisions in order to address certain issues such as criminalisation, penalties and other sanctions, aggravating circumstances, jurisdiction and extradition. While the text of the decision is generally gender neutral, it does refer in the preamble to women’s particular vulnerability to trafficking in its reference to three key documents, among them the UN protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force 1 July 2002. Article 5 of the Statute limits the Court’s jurisdiction to “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole,” among them (b) crimes against humanity. Article 7(c) further defines crimes against humanity to include enslavement “when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack”. Enslavement is defined as “the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children.”
The SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution was signed in January 2002. The purpose of the Convention is “to promote cooperation amongst Member States so that they may effectively deal with the various aspects of prevention, interdiction and suppression of trafficking in women and children; the repatriation and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking and prevent the use of women and children in international prostitution networks, particularly where the countries of the SAARC region are the countries of origin, transit and destination.”
The Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour was adopted 17 June 1999, but has not yet entered into force. For the purposes of the Convention, the worst forms of child labour include “all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale or trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.”
The Bangkok Accord and Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Women in the Asian and Pacific Region, signed in November 1998, outlines concrete steps that the signatories will take to eradicate trafficking in women and girls. These steps include enacting legislation, creating special law enforcement units to handle cases of trafficking, amending existing laws to permit assistance to victims of trafficking, prevention measures, measures to protect victims of trafficking, imposing sanctions against traffickers, providing adequate medical and psychological intervention, establishing guidelines for proper repatriation and reintegration, and establishing information/monitoring mechanisms.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child entered into force 2 September 1990. In Article 35, States Parties agree to “take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.”
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography extends the measures that States Parties should undertake under, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to guarantee the protection of children from being sold, prostituted, or used in child pornography. Child trafficking is one of the causes for grave concern of the States Parties, as well as one of the underlying causes that must be addressed to eliminate the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
The Convention Against Torture entered into force 26 June 1987. The Committee Against Torture has recently considered specific forms of torture, including trafficking in women, as part of a gender-sensitive interpretation of the Convention and in particular torture as it is defined in Article 1: “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.”
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women entered into force 3 September 1981. In Article 6, States Parties agree to “take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation and prostitution of women.”
The Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others entered into force 25 July 1951. Signatories to the convention have agreed “to punish any person who, to gratify the passions of another: (1) Procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another person, even with the consent of that person; (2) Exploits the prostitution of another person, even with the consent of that person.” The Signatories have further agreed “to punish any person who: (1) Keeps or manages, or knowingly finances or takes part in the financing of a brothel; (2) Knowingly lets or rents a building or other place or any part thereof for the purpose of the prostitution of others.”

Tools & Checklists

UNESCO Trafficking Statistics Project more...
OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings (PC.DEC/557, 24 July 2003) more...
United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime, Anti-Trafficking Assessment Tool more...
UNDP Best Practice Law Enforcement Manual for Fighting against Trafficking in Human Beings: User’s Manual (2003) more...
UNDP Best Practice Law Enforcement Manual for Fighting against Trafficking in Human Beings: Trainer’s Manual (2003) more...
UNDP Best Practice Law Enforcement Manuals translated, and additional miscellaneous documents more...
Legislative Compendium: international protocols and national legislation for South East Europe more...
International Center for Migration Policy Development Regional Standard for Anti-Trafficking Police Training in SEE more...
Combating Trafficking of Women and Children in South Asia: Guide for Integrating Trafficking Concerns into ADB Operations, Asian Development Bank, April 2003 more...
Molly Reilly and Vidya Samarasinghe, Resource List on Trafficking in Women and Children, WID Tech, July 1999 more...
Save the Children UK, UN-IAP and IOM, Training Manual for Combating Trafficking in Women and Children, 2001 more...
Research Based on Case Studies of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings in 3 EU Member States, i.e. Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands, Commission of the European Communities, DG Justice & Home Affairs, Hippokrates, JAI/2001/HIP/023 (includes specific recommendations for combatting the trafficking of persons) more...
The Protection Project, a legal human rights research institute based at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. The project documents and disseminates information about the scope of the problem of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, with a focus on national and international laws, case law, and implications of trafficking on U.S. and international foreign policy. Their database includes national and international legislation to combat trafficking, maps delineating trafficking routes, testimonies of survivors, country reports, and other resources. more...
Publications on trafficking listed by HumanTrafficking.org

UNIFEM Action

UNIFEM implemented measures against trafficking in women and girls through its trust fund in support of actions to eliminate violence against women. In 2004, UNIFEM supported the convening of a biennial meeting of South-Asian Governments to commemorate the Beijing Platform for Action, where all participating States made commitments to further implement the South-Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Convention on Prevention of Trafficking in Women and Children.
On 6 March 2003, UNIFEM signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Organization for Migration, in which both Agencies agreed to cooperate in “combating trafficking in human beings, with particular attention to the dangers facing migrant girls and women” as well as in “addressing the needs of women and girls in post-conflict societies, including social, economic and political reconstruction.”
UNIFEM hosted the Fourth South Asia Regional Meeting, ‘Commemorating Beijing’, jointly with the Royal Government of Bhutan (19-21 May 2003). The meeting was held to assess the progress in South Asia on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The meeting focused on appraising the progress made by SAARC countries on the 12 Areas of Critical Concern, identified the gaps, challenges and opportunities and formulated strategies for a more effective implementation of the Beijing PFA. In addition it gave special attention to the areas identified as priorities at the last review meeting held in the Maldives in 2000, including trafficking of women and girls. The outcome of the meeting was that all participants unanimously agreed to direct their efforts towards regional priorities, among them “increasing national and regional collaboration and cooperation to eliminate trafficking of women and girls and expediting efforts towards the ratification of the SAARC Convention on Trafficking on Women and Children.”
UNIFEM supported national level research on Anti-trafficking in both India and Nepal, in partnership with premier research institutions and Human Rights bodies in the region, like the International Institute of Development Studies (IIDS) in Nepal, and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in India. The results of this research were shared at the Annual Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group for South Asia (TAGSA) on Anti- trafficking, held in New Delhi 13-14 August 2002. The meeting sought to take stock of the regional anti-trafficking programmes and the role of the TAGSA members in taking it forward. Because TAGSA members are senior professionals involved in policy and advocacy, the meeting focused on identifying proactive measures to be undertaken.
In July 2002, UNIFEM participated in the first South Asian regional consultation on the issue of rescue and rehabilitation for trafficked persons was held in Delhi. The objective was to review the existing rescue and rehabilitation processes in the region in the light of human rights standards and to examine existing rescue and rehabilitation programmes, highlighting good practices for possible replication in the region. The consultation bought together all the key stakeholders from the region, which included NGO's, survivors, and representatives of sex-workers networks, lawyers and police officers. The consultation agreed to form a small core group to look into framing a policy guideline for rescue and rehabilitation.
On 29 November 2002, UNIFEM co-hosted—with The National Human Rights Commission, (NHRC) the Institute of Social Sciences (ISS)—a Conference of Nodal Officers on matters relating to Trafficking in Women and Children, which was held in New Delhi. The conference followed-up the creation of a Focal Point on the Human Rights of Women, including matters relating to Trafficking in the NHRC, at the instance of the UN Commission for Human Rights. As a part of its activities an Action Research Programme on Trafficking in Women and Children in India has been taken up by the NHRC in partnership with the UNIFEM.
In 2001, UNIFEM funded the Colombian NGO Fundación Esperanza to work with the Colombian Ministry of Justice and Law in order to sensitize state agents about trafficking of women and girls and develop preventative measures and tools to improve assistance to persons who have been trafficked.
In 2000, UNIFEM funded the Women's Organization of Moldova "Civic Initiative" to build local capacity to protect women's human rights in Central, Northern, and Southern Moldova by training and facilitating collaboration among women's and human rights NGOs, law enforcement agents, and professionals dealing with violence against women. The initiative placed particular emphasis on the issues of domestic violence and trafficking of women.
In 1998, UNIFEM funded the Latin American Institute for Alternative Legal Services to complete a regional research on the relationship between tourism in the region, the sexual trade, and the problem of trafficking in women.
In 1998, UNIFEM funded the Russian NGO Miramed to conduct an awareness-raising campaign in remote provinces to educate young orphaned girls and orphanage staff on risks and means of protection from international trafficking in young women and sexual slavery.
In 1998 UNIFEM supported the first ‘Conceptual Clarity Workshop on Trafficking and Related Issues’. This workshop was attended by various NGO’s working on the issue. This was followed up by a workshop in early 1999 where UNIFEM’s approach to the issue of trafficking was shared with the participants. Both these workshops laid the basis of initiating national-level interventions to address the issue of trafficking.
In 1997, through the Violence against Women Trust Fund, UNIFEM funded the Media Alert and Relief Foundation to produce a film with the goal of creating awareness in Nepal among potential victims of trafficking and their families. The film ‘Chameli’ documented the story of a Nepali girl sold to a brothel in Mumbai, and was shown in India and Nepal to raise awareness about the issue, highlighting the consequences of trafficking of girls in global sex markets, including health dimensions (HIV/AIDS) of the problem. UNIFEM coordinated the media advocacy project called ‘Maya’ from the Trust Fund on Violence Against Women. This film called ‘Chameli’ documents the story of a Nepali girl sold to a brothel in Mumbai, was recently previewed in India and will soon be shown throughout Nepal, thus raising awareness about the issue.
Active lobbying by UNIFEM and its partners has made an impact in the political resistance to acknowledging this problem in the five South Asian countries. In 1997, UNIFEM succeeded in persuading the respective governments to carry out and prepare ‘Situational Reports’ on the issue of trafficking in each country. UNIFEM also convinced the Government of India to participate in this regional project to prepare a situational report on trafficking within the country. Based on the situation reports, UNIFEM has widely disseminated available information and data across the region through a “trafficking folder.” UNIFEM has also catalyzed the formation of a UN Inter-agency Group on Trafficking in Nepal, which has since finalized a trafficking project in Nepal in which UNIFEM will support the processes of advocacy, mapping and the setting up of an office of a National Rapporteur on Trafficking, following the adoption of the regional SAARC Convention.
In South Asia, UNIFEM has been working closely with different UN agencies in addressing the issue of trafficking. In 1997 UNFEM and UNICEF collaborated to raise the issue of trafficking of women and girls in Nepal with governments including enforcement agencies, NGO’s and activists as a follow-up to Stockholm and the Islamabad declaration and as a run up to the SAARC Resolution on Trafficking. UNDP Nepal and UNIFEM worked on a Joint UN initiative with the National Government of Nepal to address trafficking. UNIFEM also partnered with UNDP Regional HIV programme on an Anti-trafficking and HIV project for South Asia focusing on people affected by HIV and Trafficking.
Since the early 1990’s, UNIFEM has been focusing on the issue of trafficking as a critical area of concern in South Asia since the early 1990’s. In 1991 UNIFEM held a workshop in Bangladesh on trafficking with NGOs working on the issue. UNIFEM’s approach to trafficking focuses on the development of concerted regional initiatives for the effective elimination of this problem. Despite clear regional dimensions to the problem, in the past there has been some resistance to address trafficking within a regional forum, mostly from the two receiving countries, India and Pakistan.
UNIFEM's regional anti-trafficking programme in South Asia has played a key role in the rescue of victims of trafficking. In India, 183 trafficked women and children were rescued from Delhi brothels and 50 repatriated. As a result of a UNIFEM-supported project on trafficking, collaboration with the police improved, three traffickers were convicted, and the opportunity to push state governments to take responsibility for repatriation increased.
UNIFEM coordinated the joint USAID/INL Trafficking Mission in India. The mission specifically traveled to Mumbai and Calcutta, where its members met with and gathered information from different NGOs. Two NGOs, Prerana and Sanlaap, from Mumbai and Calcutta respectively, facilitated the mission in this process. An outcome of this mission was the formulation of two key projects in Mumbai and Calcutta, undertaken by Prerana and Sanlaap with financial support from the US State Department through the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau (INL). Both projects deal with initiating interventions towards prevention of trafficking by increasing awareness and developing the institutional capacity of law enforcing agencies (the target group) and the community to effectively address the issue of trafficking. These activities also focus on building a database of information on all aspects of trafficking.

UN Documents

UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, “Trafficking, Slavery and Peacekeeping: The Need for a Comprehensive Training Program” (Conference Report, Expert Working Group on Trafficking, Slavery and Peacekeeping, Turin, Italy, 9-10 May 2002)
Observations by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the Proposal for an EU Council Framework Decision on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings more...
UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Fact Sheet on Human Trafficking
The Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, from 31 August to 8 September 2001 (A/CONF.189/12), reaffirmed the urgent need to prevent, combat and eliminate all forms of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children, and recognized that victims of trafficking are particularly exposed to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. States were urged to devise, enforce and strengthen effective measures at all levels to prevent, combat and eliminate all forms of trafficking in women and children, in particular girls, through comprehensive anti-trafficking strategies including legislative measures, prevention campaigns and information exchange.
Trafficking in Women and Girls, the report of the Expert Group Meeting held in Glen Cove, New York, 18-22 November 2002 under the auspices of DAW and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The expert group meeting discussed a human rights and gender based approach to prevent and combat trafficking in women and girls; root causes of trafficking and strategies; the legal framework ; victim support and empowerment; children’s rights; and national mechanisms. The meeting also discussed good practices in combating trafficking in women and girls and adopted a number of recommendations addressing particular actors and areas of concern.
The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in the Travel Industry was launched 21 April 2004 by UNICEF. The Code requires travel agencies to train staff in countries where children are exploited; provide information about the issue to travellers; explicitly repudiate the sexual exploitation of children in any contracts with local suppliers; develop ethical corporate policies; and report annually on the issue.
The UNICEF report Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, in Africa (2003) provides an overview of key issues related to the trafficking of human beings, particularly women and children, in Africa. Among the root causes of trafficking identified by the report are poverty, weak governance, armed conflict and lack of effective protection against discrimination and exploitation. The report presents a preliminary mapping of trafficking patterns and provides an indication of emerging good practices on the continent. Information collected for the study also showed every country for which there was data to be linked by trafficking to an average of three (and in some cases to more than 12) other African countries, either as a place of origin or a destination.
The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) released a policy paper on Human Trafficking and United Nations Peacekeeping in March 2004. The paper aims to define the problem—whose victims, the paper acknowledges, are mainly women and very frequently children—in the context of UN peacekeeping. The paper proposes a strategy for DPKO to address human trafficking, based on lessons from previous missions and consultations with partner organizations in anti-trafficking, which will include awareness and training, discipline, accountability and community relations, and support to Anti-trafficking activities. The “development of further peacekeeper targeted materials on human trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation and gender-based violence” will be one aspect of the awareness and training project.
The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) published a Human Trafficking Resource Package, which provides the Department’s policy against trafficking, an explanation of DPKO's strategy and programmatic approach to the issue in its missions and the first of several training modules developed with UN and NGO partners to enable all DPKO staff, whether military, civilian police or civilian, to identify the human rights abuse of human trafficking and to ensure that they do not contribute to this abuse in any way. An attached CD-ROM provides background resources for colleagues who seek additional reference materials, including international standards and conventions prohibiting trafficking, more specific training guides and model legislation.

Security Council Resolutions

1539 (22 April 2004): Recalling its resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, the Security Council “Strongly condemn[ed] the recruitment and use of child soldiers by parties to armed conflict in violation of international obligations applicable to them, killing and maiming of children, rape and other sexual violence mostly committed against girls, abduction and forced displacement, denial of humanitarian access to children, attacks against schools and hospitals as well as trafficking, forced labour and all forms of slavery and all other violations and abuses committed against children affected by armed conflict.” The Security Council also expressed its intention to “curb linkages between illicit trade in natural and other resources, illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, cross-border abduction and recruitment, and armed conflict” and requested that the Secretary-General propose effective measures to control the above. more...

Secretary-General

25 January 2006: (S/2006/45) Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. According to this report, violence against women and children, trafficking and other forms of exploitation continue at unacceptable levels in Kosovo as across the region. The SG urges that further action is needed at all levels to ensure that women’s human rights are effectively protected. Political leaders of all parties and at all levels need to lead public opinion by speaking out against such crimes and in favour of the equal value and treatment of men and women. Additionally, zero tolerance and tough sentencing are needed to combat this problem. During this period covered by this report, the action plan to combat trafficking in persons was approved and work in its implementation was started. An anti-trafficking campaign, “Not for Sale”, was initiated and a charge-free telephone help-line for victims and a victims’ resource centre opened. Finally, the Interim Secure Facility has continued to support victims of trafficking, with citizen of Albania recently sentenced to long prison terms for human trafficking. more...
21 September 2005: (A/60/372) Future operation of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women. In this report, the Secretary-General outlines the institutional development of INSTRAW. Among other partnership, INSTRAW intends to collaborate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in a number of areas. One area entails joint projects to design and develop a series of online courses on a wide range of themes, such as gender and information and communication technologies, gender and HIV, trafficking in women, and gender and peace. more...
25 July 2005: (A/60/131) Strengthening the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, in particular its technical cooperation capacity. This report highlights the technical cooperation activities of the Programme in providing assistance to States to respond more effectively to the challenge posed by transnational crime, trafficking in human beings, corruption and terrorism and to reinforce their institutional machinery for the maintenance of the rule of law. more...
15 July 2005: (A/60/123) African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. This report of the Secretary General provides information on the governance and management of the Institute; its substantive programmes and activities; international cooperation and partnership; and funding and support for the Institute. The report also addresses the future of the Institute and suggests a number of strategies aimed at ensuring more stable and sustainable funding for the Institute while at the same time boosting its capacity to provide the mandate services to the countries of the African region. In this report, the SG asserts that trafficking in women and children is one of the most vicious forms of crime, controlled by a rapidly growing and highly organized criminal network that is already operating in several countries of the region with near impunity. Regarding the treatment of this issue within the Institute, the project on trafficking in women and children implemented by the Institute was an undertaking intended to assist member States of the Institute in implementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and, in particular, its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. Within this report, the SG encourages Member States to strengthen law enforcement cooperation and information exchange on the nature of this form of organized crime.
16 June 2005: (S/2005/391) Seventh progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission to Liberia. According to this report, in April, UNMIL assisted the Ministry of Justice in convening a meeting of a legislative drafting working group that reviewed and redrafted a number of key laws, including those dealing with rape, human trafficking, juries, and the financial autonomy of the judiciary. more...
18 March 2005: (A/RES/59/194) In this resolution, the GA welcomes the entry into force of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimes, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimes, and calls upon States that have not done so to consider urgently signing and ratifying or acceding to them. Further, the GA encourages Member States that have not yet done so to enact domestic legislation and to take further effective measures to combat international trafficking in and smuggling of migrants, recognizing that these crimes may endanger the lives of migrants of subject them to harm, servitude or exploitation, which may include debt bondage, slavery, sexual exploitation or forced labour. Further the GA encourages Member States to strengthen international cooperation to combat such trafficking and smuggling. more...
11 February 2005: (S/2005/86) Progress report of the Secretary-General on ways to combat sub-regional and cross-border problems in West Africa. Within this report, the Security Council expressed that it may wish to produce a “naming and shaming” list of individuals, corporations, groups, and countries violating arms embargoes and the ECOWAS moratorium. Considering the close links between trafficking in small arms and light weapons and criminal activities, especially human trafficking, including women and children, the Council may wish to assist in bringing those responsible for such crimes before the International Criminal Court for prosecution. more...
10 February 2005: (A/RES/59/166) Trafficking in women and girls. In this resolutions, the GA recalls all previous resolutions on the problem of trafficking in women and girls adopted by the GA and the Commission on Human Rights, including their reaffirmation of the principles set forth in relevant human rights instruments and declarations, as well as the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. Reaffirming the provision pertaining to trafficking in women and girls contained in the outcome document of relevant international conferences and summits, in particular the strategic objective on the issue of trafficking contained in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, the GA recognizes the need to address the impact of globalization on the particular problem of trafficking in women and children, in particular girls, while bearing in mind that all States have an obligation to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish perpetrators of trafficking in persons and to provide protection to the victims and that not doing so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Additionally, the GA acknowledges that women and girl victims of trafficking, on account of their gender, are further disadvantaged and marginalized by a general lack of information or awareness and recognition of their human rights, as well as by the obstacles they meet in gaining access to information and recourse mechanisms in cases of violation of their rights. Further, the GA notes that special measures are required for their protection and to increase their awareness. more...
3 February 2005: (A/RES/59/157) International cooperation in the fight against transnational organized crime: assistance to the States in capacity-building with a view to facilitating the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto. In this General Assembly resolution, the GA recalls its resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000, by which it adopted the United Nations Convention against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Further, the GA welcomes the entry into force of the above protocols and conventions. more...
20 August 2004: (A/59/287) World Survey on the Role of Women in Development. This report of the Secretary-General is prepared in response to General Assembly resolutions 54/210 and 58/206, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to update the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development for consideration by the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session. Focusing on women and international migration, the SG presents in this report key issues on labour migration, family formation and reunification, rights of the migrant women, refugees and displaced persons, as well as trafficking of women and girls. more...
17 July 2003 (A/58/161): Violence against women migrant workers. This report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly provides information on measures taken by Member States and activities undertaken by organizations of the United Nations system and other intergovernmental bodies in the area of violence against women migrant workers. The report concludes with a series of recommendations of future action. During the period under review covered by this report, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the human rights of migrants expressed concern about the vulnerability of migrant women to abuses and violations of their human rights, including violence, racial discrimination and xenophobia in all phases of the migration process. She also stressed that migrant women were particularly vulnerable to trafficking by criminal networks. Conclusions put forth in this report including the SG assertion that efforts are needed to improve access to legal protection for women seeking to migrate in order to work, so as to reduce their vulnerability to exploitation, ill-treatment and trafficking. The report also notes that the need to further explore the link between migration and trafficking and to address the two issues accordingly is of the utmost importance, with a particular focus on the need to protect women from all forms of violence, irrespective of their immigrant status. more...
20 January 2003: Report of the Secretary-General, Traffic in Women and Girls, E/CN.4/2003/74. This report provides an update on activities of United Nations bodies and other international organizations pertaining to the problem of trafficking in women and girls. The report acknowledges the complexity of trafficking, which encompasses various dimensions: migration, organized crime, prostitution, security, labour and health. This complexity is reflected in the approach to trafficking adopted by different entities. There is growing acceptance that the human rights of trafficked persons should be at the centre of all efforts to prevent and combat trafficking. Prioritizing protection, assistance and provision of redress to victims acknowledges that trafficking and related violations constitute a denial of basic human rights. more...
2 July 2002: Report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly, Trafficking in Women and Girls A/57/170. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 55/67 of 4 December 2000, this report is based, inter alia, on replies to a request of the Secretary-General for information circulated to Member States, organizations of the United Nations system and other organizations on measures to combat trafficking in women and girls. The report makes recommendations for future action. more...
25 January 2002: Report of the Secretary-General to the Economic and Social Council, Integration of the Human Rights of Women and a Gender Perspective: Traffic in Women and Girls, E/CN.4/2002/80. In its resolution 2001/48, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Secretary-General to provide, at its fifty-seventh session, an update on the report on activities of United Nations bodies and other international organizations pertaining to the problem of trafficking in women and girls. The present report, which updates information included in the report submitted at the last session of the Commission (E/CN.4/2001/72), is submitted in accordance with that. more...
2 July 2002: Report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly, Elimination of all forms of violence against women, including crimes identified in the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, A/57/171. This report addresses trafficking as a form of violence against women. The Assembly has regularly adopted resolutions on this subject, reaffirming that trafficking in women and girls for purposes of economic and sexual exploitation and other contemporary forms of slavery are serious violations of human rights. It called upon Governments to criminalize trafficking and penalize all offenders while ensuring protection of and support for victims of trafficking (General Assembly resolution 55/67 of 4 December 2000). m ore...
24 August 2000: Report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly, Trafficking in Women and Girls, A/55/322. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 53/116 of 9 December 1998, this report provides information about steps taken in several forums of the United Nations and at the regional and national levels, to implement the recommendations for action contained in that resolution. The report identifies areas in which further efforts are needed. more...
19 January 2000: Report of the Secretary-General, Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, E/CN.6/2000/PC/2, paras. 313-319. This report summarizes measures taken before 2000 by Member States to address trafficking in women and girls. more...
21 September 1998: Report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly, Trafficking in Women and Girls, A/53/409. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 52/98 of 12 December 1997, the present report provides information about steps taken within several forums of the United Nations, as well as regionally and nationally, to implement the recommendations for action contained in that resolution. The report identifies areas where further efforts are needed. more...

Commission on Human Rights

29 October 2004: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights A/59/36, In her annual report to the General Assembly, the High Commissioner for Human Rights criticizes the continuing practice of addressing trafficking as a “law and order” problem. The High Commissioner drew attention to the OHCHR anti-trafficking programme as an alternative approach, wherein the human rights of the trafficked victim are at the centre of all interventions. more...
15 April 2004: Commission on Human Rights Resolution E/CN.4/2004/L.62, Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially in Women and Children. The Commission decides to appoint for a period of three years a Special Rapporteur whose mandate will focus on the human rights aspects of trafficking in persons, especially in women and children; to request the Special Rapporteur to prepare an annual report, commencing with the sixty-first session of the Commission, together with recommendations, on measures required to uphold and protect the human rights of the victims; and to determine that the Special Rapporteur might, as appropriate, and in line with the current practice, respond effectively to reliable information on possible human rights violations with a view to protecting the human rights of actual or potential victims of trafficking. more...
14 April 2004: Commission on Human Rights Resolution E/CN.4/2004/L.60, Trafficking in Women and Girls. The Commission calls upon governments to strive to ensure that trafficked persons are protected from further exploitation and harm and have access to adequate physical and psychological care; encourages governments to intensify collaboration to reintegrate into society victims of trafficking and to provide shelter and help lines for victims; invites governments to take steps to offer victims of trafficking the possibility of obtaining compensation for damage suffered; invites governments to consider preventing victims of trafficking from being prosecuted for their illegal entry or residence, bearing in mind that they were victims of exploitation; urges governments to address the root factors that encouraged trafficking in persons, especially women and children; calls upon governments to criminalize trafficking in persons, especially women and c hildren; invites governments to encourage Internet service providers to strengthen self-regulatory measures to eliminate the trafficking in persons; urges governments to combat use of the Internet to facilitate trafficking in persons; and encourages the business sector, in particular the tourism industry and Internet providers, to develop codes of conduct to prevent trafficking in persons. more...
27 February 2003: Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, International, Regional and National Developments in the Area of Violence against Women 1994-2003, E/CN.4/2003/75/Add.1. The Special Rapporteur includes a specific focus on trafficking in women and girls in her assessment of each country’s legislation, policies and programmes and issues of concern in relation to VAW. more...
20 May 2002: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Economic and Social Council, Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking E/2002/68/Add.1. To support a human rights-based approach to anti-trafficking efforts, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has developed Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking, which identify core human rights principles and propose practical steps for their implementation. more...
23 April 2002: Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2002/51, Traffic in Women and Girls. The Commission calls for increased resources and coordination of efforts to combat trafficking in women and girls, and further urges governments to address the root causes of trafficking, take appropriate action to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation, to criminalize trafficking and to sign and ratify the relevant international protocols. The Commission also calls for all legislation to combat trafficking to be gender-sensitive, and to allocate resources to treatment for victims, information campaigns to prevent victimization of women and girls, and specialized training for police and other law-enforcement agencies. more...
24 April 2001: Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2001/48, Traffic in Women and Girls. The Commission takes note of the recent reports of the Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. The Commission also calls for Governments and other bodies to take a variety of measures to combat the problem of trafficking, including increasing resources and coordination of activities, criminalizing trafficking, encouraging Internet service providers to strengthen self-regulatory measures, allocating resources for the rehabilitation and treatment of victims, ensuring that all legislation to combat trafficking is gender sensitive, and undertaking information & awareness-raising campaigns to enable migrant women to make informed decisions and avoid becoming victims of trafficking. more...
23 January 2001: Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, Violence Against Women Perpetrated By or Condoned By the State During Times of Armed Conflict (1997-2000) E/CN.4/2001/73. more...
28 October-15 November 2000: Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, Mission to Bangladesh, Nepal and India on the issue of trafficking of women and girls, E/CN.4/2001/73/Add.2 (6 February 2001). The present report is intended as a case study to complement the Special Rapporteur’s previous report on trafficking in women, women’s migration and violence against women, submitted to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-fifth session (E/CN.4/2000/68). It contains chapters on the definition of trafficking, the background to the problem of trafficking in South Asia, general findings, and more detailed chapters on each of the countries visited. more...
29 February 2000: Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, on Trafficking in women, women’s migration and violence against women, submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1997/44, E/CN.4/2000/68. The report details the evolution of the Special Rapporteur’s position on trafficking. It includes an overview of the Special Rapporteur’s work undertaken throughout the year in regard to trafficking. The report also provides a critique of the 1949 Convention for the suppression of the traffic in persons and the exploitation of the prostitution of others. The report highlights the fact that women move and are moved, consensually and non-consensually, legally and illegally, for numerous reasons, including social, political, cultural and economic reasons. The element that distinguishes trafficking from other forms of movement is the non-consensual nature of trafficking. T he need for a clear definition of trafficking, thus far lacking in international law, is emphasized. more...

General Assembly

28 July 2004 (A/59/185): This present report provides information on the legal and policy measures introduced by Member States and on activities undertaken by entities of the United Nations system and other organizations to combat trafficking in women and girls. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for future action. more...
4 February 2004 (A/RES/58/140): Strengthening the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, in particular its technical cooperation capacity. Within this resolution, the GA asserts its desire for closer coordination and cooperation among States in combating crime, including the smuggling of migrant and trafficking in persons, especially women and children. In addition to this, the GA recognizes the progress made in the implementation of the global programmes addressing the trafficking in human beings formulated on the basis of close consultations with Member States and reviewed by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and calls upon the Secretary-General to enhance further the visibility of those programmes and to strengthen the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime by providing it with the resources necessary for the full implementation of its mandate in crime prevention and criminal justice.
4 February 2004 (A/RES/58/137): Strengthening international cooperation in preventing and combating trafficking in persons and protecting victims of such trafficking. In this resolution, the General Assembly condemns trafficking in person as an abhorrent form of modern-day slavery and as an act that is contrary to universal human rights, while also decrying the treatment of human beings as commodities bartered, bought or sold by traffickers, in particular exploiters. The General Assembly urges Member States to employ a comprehensive approach to combating trafficking in persons, incorporating law enforcement efforts and, where appropriate, the confiscation and seizure of the proceeds of trafficking, the protection of victims and preventive measures, including measures against activities that derive profit from the exploitation of victims of trafficking.
59/166 (10 February 2005): A/RES/59/166, Trafficking in women and girls, The General Assembly urges Governments to address root causes of trafficking, to strengthen measures to combat and eliminate all forms of trafficking in women and girls, to criminalize all forms of trafficking in persons, to support preventive action and allocate resources for treatment and other services for victims of trafficking, and stresses the need for data collection and comprehensive studies at national and international level. The Assembly urges Governments to strengthen training for law enforcement and other officials in combating trafficking in persons, encourages states parties to relevant conventions to include statistics on trafficking in their reporting, and requests that the Secretary-General compile successful interventions and strategies in addressing trafficking in women and girls, to serve as reference and guidance, and to submit a report on the implementation of this resolution at the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. more...
58/135 (22 December 2003): A/RES/58/135, Strengthening international cooperation in preventing and combating trafficking in persons and protecting victims of such trafficking. The General Assembly in its resolution welcomes the entry into force of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The General Assembly also adopts resolutions to combat trafficking in drugs and in persons, and to strengthen international crime prevention efforts.

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