Violent conflict greatly increases the vulnerability of civilian populations to human trafficking and slavery. Refugees and other migrants displaced by conflict are particularly vulnerable to this extreme form of exploitation. As the international community struggles to respond to increasing levels of conflict and the consequent, unprecedented, scale of human flight, it is imperative that the United Nations, Member States and all stakeholders work together to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable are protected from trafficking in and beyond conflict. While the anti-slavery movement has begun to make significant progress in recent years, the response is yet nowhere near equal to the challenge. But the focus of UN and world leaders on modern slavery does provide a foundation to build upon. In July 2016, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said eliminating modern slavery is “the great human rights issue of our time.”Leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Pope Francis have stressed the moral imperative to combat human trafficking and end slavery. And in December 2015, the United Nations held its first thematic debate on human trafficking, with a call for the UN SecretaryGeneral to address and prevent trafficking in conflict. The inclusion of modern slavery and human trafficking at the highest levels of the international agenda is a welcome development, as is the surge of activity among UN agencies and Member States to tackle these crimes. However, despite growing awareness of modern slavery, the UN’s response has been fragmented and uncoordinated. There is a real danger that the anti-slavery momentum built over the past year will be squandered without high level UN-leadership, much greater Member State engagement, and focussed interagency cooperation. This report assesses the UN’s role in addressing trafficking in conflict and provides recommendations for strengthening its efforts.

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The present report, prepared following consultations and covering the period from January to December 2019, is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2427 (2018) and presents trends regarding the impact of armed conflict on children and information on violations committed. Where possible, violations are attributed to parties to conflict and the annexes to the present report include a list of parties engaging in violations against children, namely the recruitment and use of children, the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, attacks on schools, hospitals and protected personnel, and the abduction of children

Adopting a feminist perspective, this paper analyses the doctrine of humanitarian intervention and its impact on women in recipient states, particularly with regard to sexual violence. By analysing the phenomenon of post-conflict trafficking in Kosovo following the NATO intervention, the author presents a challenge to the ‘feminist hawks’ who have called for military intervention in situations of systematic sexual violence. It is the author’s contention that such intervention would be counterproductive for women’s rights and thus constitute a disproportionate response to sexual violence in terms of the international law governing the use of force.

The present report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 35/5. In the report, the Special Rapporteur takes stock of her previous research and reports, and analyses protection gaps in the legal and policy framework to prevent and combat trafficking. Profound changes are needed in the current approach to antitrafficking action, which predominantly tends to prioritize investigation and prosecution of traffickers over victims’ support, empowerment and long-term social inclusion. Moreover, restrictive migration policies contribute to exacerbate vulnerabilities to trafficking and severe exploitation, and hamper the protection of trafficked persons’ rights. The Special Rapporteur urges States to adopt a genuinely human rights-based approach, and offers updated recommendations, based on the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking.

Mandatory reporting is the obligation in certain countries for health-care personnel and other professionals to report known or suspected cases of sexual or gender-based violence to designated public authorities, notably to law enforcement agencies. It includes providing identifying information, without requiring the consent of the victim/survivor. In some contexts, the victim/survivor is required to report as a precondition for accessing care. States introduce mandatory reporting to respond to their due diligence obligations to investigate, prosecute and punish violent crimes, to prevent them from occurring, and to better protect victims/survivors. The British Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) conducted research in health care settings in four countries affected by armed conflict or other emergencies. The research focussed on the situation for adult victims/survivors. It revealed that mandatory reporting of sexual violence in these contexts can obstruct access to health care for the victims/survivors of these crimes and may expose them to increased risk of secondary violence and harm. This paper analyses and produces evidence of the various challenges of providing health care where mandatory reporting of sexual violence exists and details the negative humanitarian impacts in armed conflict and other emergencies. The report makes recommendations to States that have mandatory reporting regimes, as well as to donors, health-care providers and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, on how to respond to these dilemmas and better protect the health, safety and well-being of survivors.

The Rohingya people of Myanmar (known as Burma before 1989) were stripped of citizenship in 1982, because they could not meet the requirement of proving their forefathers settled in Burma before 1823, and now account for one in seven of the global population of stateless people. Of the total 1·5 million Rohingya people living in Myanmar and across southeast Asia, only 82 000 have any legal protection obtained through UN-designated refugee status. Since 2012, more than 159 000 people, most of whom are Rohingya, have fled Myanmar in poorly constructed boats for journeys lasting several weeks to neighbouring nations, causing hundreds of deaths. We outline historical events preceding this complex emergency in health and human rights. The Rohingya people face a cycle of poor infant and child health, malnutrition, waterborne illness, and lack of obstetric care. In December, 2014, a UN resolution called for an end to the crisis. We discuss the Myanmar Government's ongoing treatment of Rohingya through the lens of international law, and the steps that the newly elected parliament must pursue for a durable solution.

Building on the existing foundation of research, this chapter examines two distinctive case studies, the Nepal earthquake of 25 April 2015 and the mixed migration flows through the Western Balkans between spring 2015 and spring 2016. It assesses whether these extraordinary situations indeed led to an increase in trafficking and exploitation and determines the extent to which counter-trafficking efforts were incorporated into overarching response measures. In both cases, the chapter identifies promising practices and challenges in mainstreaming counter-trafficking measures. The biggest ongoing challenge for protection actors in Nepal is to provide vulnerable populations in the districts with critical protection-related information on human trafficking and exploitation. In some countries along the Western Balkan route, meeting the immediate needs of migrants transiting through their territory proved such a challenge during the peak of the movements that only a partial response to vulnerable groups could be ensured for a number of months.