The 2022 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons released today highlights that climate change is multiplying trafficking risks. In 2021, 23.7 million people were internally displaced by weather-induced natural disasters while many others crossed borders to escape climate-induced poverty. Those who find themselves "deprived of their livelihoods and forced to flee their communities" become easy prey for traffickers.

The Report also stresses that war and conflict offer hunting grounds for traffickers. If Africa is by far the most affected continent, the UN body points to a potentially "dangerous" situation in Ukraine: "The refugee emergency in Ukraine is elevating risks of trafficking for the Ukrainian displaced population". 

Among other findings, the report notes that:

• Number of detected victims falls for the first time in 20 years as the pandemic limits opportunities and potentially pushes trafficking further underground while constraining law enforcement capacities to target the crime
• Trafficking for sexual exploitation was less detected during the pandemic
• Victims rely on “self-rescue” as anti-trafficking responses fall short
• Global slowdown in convictions was accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic
• Increased impunity in home countries results in more victims trafficked to more destinations
• Boys and men account for a greater share of detected victims as new forms of exploitation emerge
• Women and children suffer greater violence at the hands of traffickers
• More highly organized traffickers exploit more victims, more violently and for longer periods of time
• Women: more likely than men to be traffickers or more likely than men to be convicted?

For further information, including the report itself, special points of interest, country profiles, press release and other ressources, please visit the UNODC website.