In a medical context, first aid is the kind of emergency care given to an injured or ill person before treatment by specifically trained medical personnel becomes available. People providing first aid take first steps to identify problems and to stabilize and prepare patients for further treatment by experts.Law enforcement first responders fighting human trafficking carry out similar functions. They take first steps: • To identify human trafficking • To stabilize and control the human trafficking situation • To prepare victims and pass information on to investigators Those providing medical first aid need to know how to instantly and temporarily treat injuries and illnesses. Similarly, law enforcement officers providing first aid need to know how to instantly and temporarily deal with crimes and incidents.The kind of emergency treatment that law enforcement officers provide in cases of human trafficking is similar to that provided in other criminal cases, but there are some important aspects specific to human trafficking that officers need to know about. This kit provides the necessary information to allow officers to take the vital first steps to protect the victims and catch the criminals involved.

Trafficking in persons constitutes a grave crime against the individual. The absence of comprehensive data presents a major issue, including in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Many cases go unreported as victims are too afraid to testify, cannot escape exploitation, are expelled once identified or do not seek official protection. Trafficking in persons from refugee camps and shelters after disasters is also of concern. Trafficking does not only occur across international boundaries, but also internally.This background note presents an overview of concepts and trends on trafficking in persons in ACP countries. Innovative initiatives taken by ACP countries are highlighted as they provide example of best practices that may be of interest for various stakeholders.

Hundreds of thousands of children are associated with armed forces and armed groups in conflicts around the world. Girls and boys are used in a variety of ways from support roles, such as cooking or portering, to active fighting, laying mines or spying and girls are frequently used for sexual purposes. This recruitment and use of children violates their rights and causes them physical, developmental, emotional, mental, and spiritual harm. The recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups has been a focus of international attention and has been widely condemned, yet children continue to be involved in adult wars and to become disabled or die in such conflicts. While the release and reintegration into civilian life of many of these children has been supported through interventions and programmes designed to assist them, others have returned home on their own, often to face an uncertain future and a further fight for acceptance from their family and community. Girls in particular are likely to be stigmatized and even rejected by their community if it is known that they have been used by an armed force or armed group and the rejection of their children may be even more severe. Other children are encouraged by their families and communities to participate in armed conflict, despite the danger and harm this involves. Despite their experiences, such children are resilient and can contribute constructively to reconstruction and reconciliation efforts if given appropriate help, support and encouragement.

The findings of the report are the results of a wide-ranging, multistakeholder process that included participation by young people. Despite the considerable achievements of the past 10 years, challenges remain. According to 2006 estimates, more than 1 billion children under the age of 18 were living in areas in conflict or emerging from war. Of these, an estimated 300 million were under age five, and more than 18 million children were refugees or internally displaced. The strategic review notes that there is increased global awareness about deliberate violations against children in armed conflict, such as the recruitment and use of children by armed groups. However, appalling consequences that stem from the complex interplay of conflict, poverty and discrimination are often overlooked. Children living in war-affected contexts are less likely to be in school or have access to clean water and basic sanitation. They are more vulnerable to early mortality as a result of disease and undernutrition, and they have less chance of becoming adults able to play a constructive role in their societies.

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. The information contained in the present report was vetted for accuracy by the United Nations. Where information is not verified, it is qualified as such. Where incidents were committed earlier but only verified in 2019, that information is qualified as relating to an incident that was verified at a later date. The information presented does not represent the full scale of violations against children, as verification depends on access. The report presents trends and patterns of violations, in order to effect a change in behaviour by parties, contribute to facilitating engagement with parties responsible for violations, promote accountability and include child protection issues in peace processes. Attacks or threats of attacks on community and civic leaders, on human rights defenders and on monitors of violations against children is a cause for concern and a strain on the monitoring capacity.

Child trafficking, under the guise of intercountry adoption, is a form of human trafficking that is often misunderstood by policy makers, governments, the media, and nongovernmental organizations. The aim of this analysis is to bring awareness and attention to child trafficking disguised as inter-country adoption, to provide an analysis of current policies that address human trafficking and inter-country adoption, and to suggest that in order to support more ethical child welfare practices, social workers and NASW, in particular, should take a more aggressive role in the development of sound approaches to international child welfare and the protection of children, especially during humani-tarian emergencies. We use the 2010 abduction attempt of Haitian children by American missionaries as a case to demonstrate how existing policies are insufficient to provide protection to victims and to prosecute perpetrators of this form of child trafficking. We conduct an analysis of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and provide an application of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000.

The original aim of this review was to collect and synthesize prevalence data. However, as will be discussed, in reviewing the literature it is evident that the current definitions and methods used to measure sex trafficking and sexual exploitation are too heterogeneous to synthesize in a meta-analysis. Instead, this review aims to inform future policy, research and programming responses to sexual exploitation and sex trafficking in conflict-affected settings by reviewing the types of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation measured in conflict-affected settings and present the varied terminology use, and discuss the dynamics of these different violence exposures through reviewing prevalence indicators and health outcomes.

This facilitator’s guide has been designed to accompany the ‘Human Trafficking: A modern form of slavery’ training manual and training programme, with the aim of providing participants with a complete package of lesson plans and training skills necessary for carrying out short training and information sessions on human trafficking. The guide includes training tips and guidelines for effective communication skills; lesson plans covering five thematic areas and an appendix of ice breaker activities and additional resources. An updated information sheet is included in the inside cover of the training manual, as a corrigendum to the 2009 edition.

This paper shows how human trafficking for criminal exploitation can occur in environments of armed conflict in which adults and even children are recruited to fight. It proposes that these people’s status as victims should be taken into account when determining the degree of their criminal responsibility within the framework of a transitional justice process such as the one applied in Colombia under the 2005 Justice and Peace Act (Ley de Justicia y Paz). In order to prove that some victims of human trafficking exploited in the Colombian armed conflict have not been duly identified as such, it presents the main results of a qualitative study carried out with 20 women inmates in Colombian prisons who were members of guerrilla groups and were demobilised under the terms of the Justice and Peace Act. The study shows how the life stories narrated by 16 of these women make it possible to identify them as victims of trafficking for criminal exploitation even though they have not been classified as such. In 80% of the analysed cases, the women suffered episodes of victimisation that led them to join and remain in the armed group, often against their will. These episodes involved the use of means to recruit them and to force them to stay active in the group that show they underwent a genuine process of human trafficking.

Disaffected, impoverished, and displaced people in weak and failing states are particularly vulnerable. Human trafficking exploits social and political turmoil caused by natural disasters, economic crisis, and armed conflict. The exploitation and forced servitude of millions of trafficking victims take many forms. Women and children are trafficked into becoming child soldiers and concubines of illegal armed groups, men, women and children are trafficked into forced labor and sexual slavery, forced to sell drugs, steal, and beg money for the criminals controlling them, and thousands are coerced or forced into a growing black market trade in human body parts. The growth in illegal mining operations by illegal armed groups and organized crime is also fueling conditions of forced labor. Trafficking victims are dehumanized and suffer grave physical and mental illness and often die at the hands of their captors and exploiters. Colombia is particularly afflicted by the scourge of human trafficking. All the elements of modern-day slavery and human exploitation are present in this Latin American state that is struggling to overcome decades of internal armed conflict, social fragmentation, poverty, and the constant debilitating presence of organized crime and corruption. Women’s Link Worldwide recently reported that human trafficking is not viewed as an internal problem among Colombian officials, despite estimates that more than 70,000 people are trafficked within Colombia each year. This article examines human trafficking in its many forms in Colombia, the parties involved in trafficking, and the State’s response or lack of response to human trafficking. The article also presents innovations that might be effective for combating human trafficking, and proposes that Colombia can serve as an effective model for other countries to address this growing domestic and international human rights catastrophe.