This report is one of the outcomes of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, adopted by the General Assembly in 2010. It is the first of its kind and marks the launch by UNODC of a series of global reports on trafficking in persons. The purpose of this report is to inform about human trafficking patterns and flows. For that, UNODC has based the analysis on a large sample of officially detected cases of trafficking in persons worldwide.
The analysis of global patterns of trafficking in persons contained in this report takes into account the age and gender of the detected victims, the gender and origin (local or foreign, relative to the country of prosecution) of traffickers and the relative prominence of the various forms of exploitation.
Key Findings:
- Approximately 460 different trafficking flows were identified between 2007 and 2010. Victims of 136 different nationalities were detected in 118 countries worldwide during the same time frame. Almost half of these victims were trafficked across borders within their region of origin, and about 24% were trafficked interregionally.
- Women account for 55-60% of all trafficking victims detected globally; women and girls together account for about 75%.
- In general, traffickers tend to be adult males and nationals of the country in which they operate. However, more women and foreign nationals are involved in trafficking in persons than in most other crimes. Women traffickers are often involved in the trafficking of girls and tend to be used for low-ranking activities that have a higher risk of detection.
- Trafficking for sexual exploitation is more common in Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, and it accounts for 58% of all trafficking cases detected globally. Trafficking for forced labour is more frequently detected in Africa and the Middle East, as well as in South and East Asia and the Pacific. This accounts for 36% of trafficking cases, double what it was four years ago.
- Victims trafficked for begging account for about 1.5%. Trafficking for the removal of organs has been detected in 16 countries in all regions of the world.
- The Middle East is the region reporting the greatest proportion of victims trafficked from other regions (70%). Victims from the largest number of origin countries were detected in Western and Central Europe.
- The trafficking flow originating in East Asia remains the most prominent transnational flow globally. East Asian victims were detected in large numbers in many countries worldwide. Almost all human trafficking flows originating in Africa are either intraregional or directed towards Western Europe.
- 134 countries and territories worldwide have criminalised trafficking by means of a specific offence in line with the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. The number of convictions for trafficking in persons is in general very low. Notably, of the 132 countries covered, 16% did not record a single conviction between 2007 and 2010.
