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 Code 8.7 conference, organized by Delta 8.7, The Alan Turing Institute, the Computing Community Consortium, Tech Against Trafficking, the Rights Lab and the Global Security Initiative at Arizona State University, brought together the artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational science and anti-slavery communities for the first time in February 2019. Over two days, more than 30 speakers and 120 participants discussed how these technologies could be used to help in the fight to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour in line with Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The event examined the value of machine learning to the anti-slavery community, how best to combine Big Data and Small Data, the possibilities of information and communications technology (ICT) for survivor self-identification and the roles of satellite remote sensing, crowd-computing and open digital maps to better visualize slavery locations. Throughout the two days of plenary sessions and hothouses, there were conversations around the biases found in data, the need to understand modern slavery prevalence, how to use financial data to identify trafficking and the role of survivors as subjects and researchers.

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.

This year, the TIP Report looks into the evolution of the report itself over the past 20 years. Since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, we have faced many challenges as a global community, and the TIP Report has been produced throughout all of them. As we now launch this 20th anniversary report in the midst of the COVID-19 emergency, we are making it clear: neither terrorism nor financial crisis nor a pandemic will stop us from pursuing freedom for victims. As we have continued our work during the COVID-19 pandemic, traffickers have continued as well. Traffickers did not shut down. They continue to harm people, finding ways to innovate and even capitalize on the chaos. The ratio between risk and reward is expanding in their favor. And so, we press on all the more. As the vulnerable become more vulnerable, we remain resolved in our pursuit of freedom for every victim of human trafficking and accountability for every trafficker.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continues to host groups highly vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. Migrant workers, particularly domestic workers, are known to be among those who are most at risk. While the region is confronted by many pressing challenges – the rise of Islamic extremism, sectarian conflict and unrelenting hardships – the massive numbers of displaced people and refugees on the move throughout MENA contribute to the extended profile of those vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. All of these conditions together, coupled with already exceedingly precarious working conditions for millions of migrant workers described in this report, create the conditions that are described as the “perfect storm” for human trafficking. This combination of factors is precisely the reason why it is so necessary to address human trafficking and migrant protection now.

The conflict and violence in Syria since 2011 have caused massive loss of life and human suffering, as well as a complex displacement crisis. Four of Syria’s neighbouring states are the most important hosting countries worldwide for refugees from the war-torn country. As of the end of September 2015, there are almost four million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq alone, whose registration is active with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). In addition, over six and a half million Syrians are internally displaced within their own country. Not all Syrians and stateless people who have fled abroad have registered with UNHCR or the national authorities (NRC, April 2015), and not all those internally displaced are recorded as such, therefore the figures are likely to be even higher in all cases. Apart from the violence itself, the conflict and attendant refugee crisis in neighbouring countries have led to increased impoverishment, informal “coping” economies and war profiteering, rendering people displaced by the crisis vulnerable to exploitation and different forms of trafficking in persons. Uncertainty prevails as to when the war in Syria will end and internally displaced people (IDPs) will be able to return to their homes, whether Syrian refugees abroad will be able to return to their country of origin, and for how long the hosting states will be able to meet the refugees’ needs in terms of providing access to basic services – accommodation, healthcare and education – and opportunities for income generation. As of mid-2014, the situation in Syria, as well as in parts of Iraq, has been further exacerbated by the seizure of large swathes of territory by Da’ish (ISIS/ISIL/IS), resulting in violence and further displacement of Syrian and Iraqi people, as well as of other people residing in those areas.

While some of the forms of exploitation covered by this research are specific to countries directly involved in conflict child soldiering and organ trafficking to treat wounded fighters the remaining types of trafficking in human beings have many points in common in conflict and post conflict periods. Recruitment methods, psychological control techniques and the forms of exploitation do not depend on particular geographic zones.

The purpose of this text is to comprehensively present the issue of human trafficking to the reader. While it is intended for upper level undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of disciplines, professionals working in any number of fields including law enforcement, human services or health care will find it informative and useful as well. In addition, the book is a “must read” for concerned citizens interested in human rights and how to make a difference in their communities.The book is divided into three sections, each of which addresses different aspects of human trafficking. The two chapters in the first section provide an overview of the issue and contextualize it within a human rights and historical framework. The second section comprises five chapters and provides the reader with more detailed information about trafficking from a variety of academic disciplines. The third section focuses on the antitraficking movement and addresses international responses to the problem as well as considerations for working with victims. Also in the final section is a chapter written from the perspective of a former agent with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is geared toward training law enforcement. Finally, the text closes with a chapter about how trafficking is being addressed and how individuals, larger social groups, and organizations can get involved in putting an end to the crime and to helping survivors.

Since its inception in 2002, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) has effectively raised regional awareness of the consequences of people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime, and also developed and implemented strategies and practical cooperation in response. 48 member countries and international organizations, as well as a number of observer countries and international agencies, participate in this voluntary forum. The policy guides aim to provide an overview of international and regional standards for the identification and protection of victims of trafficking, drawing extensively on examples of good practices from Bali Process member countries. In line with the recommendations of the Fifth Ministerial Conference in April 2013, these policy guides are the second set of Bali Process Policy Guides falling within the thematic areas of the Bali Process and on issues of particular concern to Bali Process members. They are voluntary, non-binding and intended for use as reference tools by a range of domestic agencies in Bali Process Member States.