VIENNA: A United Nations report released on Wednesday claims that conflicts, climate-related disasters, and global crises have all contributed to a dramatic increase in human trafficking.
According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime’s Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, the number of known victims globally increased by 25% in 2022—the most recent year for which data is publicly available—compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
By the following year, a steep decline in 2020 had mostly subsided.
According to the report, “organized crime is primarily to blame for the growing number of people who are being trafficked into forced labor, including to coerce them into running sophisticated online scams and cyber-fraud, while women and girls face the risk of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.”
