Earlier this month in Vienna, SI Advocacy Advisor, Linda Witong, participated in and delivered a speech for the Interactive Presentation for Civil Society, addressing the Global report on trafficking in persons 2022.

The 2022 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), provides a detailed overview of the dynamics and patterns of human trafficking recorded throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This seventh publication of the report addresses the nature and presence of trafficking in persons across 141 countries, as well as the various responses to this issue coordinated at global, regional, and national levels.

As with previous years, the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons offers a global picture of the patterns and flows of human trafficking; importantly, however, and for the first time in the 20 years that the UNODC has been recording data on trafficking in persons, there has been a registered decrease in the number of trafficking victims detected around the world.

As detailed in the report itself, the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions on movement and business operations are understood to have played a possible role in reducing certain forms of trafficking, such as trafficking for sexual exploitation, at least temporarily. However, the decrease in detected victims has been most significant in low and middle-income countries, where justice, social and health systems have struggled more severely to cope with the pandemic’s impact, meaning they may have lacked the required resources to respond effectively to trafficking challenges over the last few years.

This decrease is an encouraging development, but there is still much work to be done to address human trafficking worldwide. Despite the pandemic’s impact, trafficking continues to be a significant threat to vulnerable individuals, particularly in countries with weak institutional systems. We must continue to work together to combat this crime and ensure that all victims receive the support and justice they deserve.

Read the full review by SI Advocacy Advisor, Linda Witong, for the 2022 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.

Read Linda Witong’s full speech delivered at the Interactive Presentation for Civil Society, addressing the Global report on trafficking in persons 2022.