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.

Human trafficking is an effective tool that serves several purposes for terrorist organizations. It facilitates the recruitment and retention of male foreign fighters and provides a reward mechanism for successful combatants.It also generates revenue and contributes to psychologically crushing “the enemy,” by “decimat[ing] communities”.Trafficking, as a tactic of warfare, “intimidates populations and reduces resistance just as enslavement and rape of women.”While it is well-understood that ISIS’s kidnapping and enslavement of Yazidi women and other female prisoners constitutes human trafficking, less attention has been paid to the prospect that some of ISIS’s female recruits from the West, who average 18 years of age 5, may also be considered victims of entrapment and trafficking because of the techniques used to lure these young women and how they are exploited upon arrival in ISIS-held territory.

The areas where armed conflicts take place and have been perpetrated by state or non-state actors involved in conflicts represent a suitable place for emergence of phenomenon of human trafficking. The exploitation of victims of trafficking in human beings in the context of armed conflicts can take various forms, so that for the purposes of our research, this category of victims will be classified into two groups: victims of armed activities and victims of non-armed activities. Hence, the first group includes victims that take direct participation in armed combat activities or other activities during combat operations such as minefield cleaning, transport and medical services, etc. The second group includes victims of sexual exploitation in the conflict area and their forms, forced labour in different sectors and trafficking in organs.

The estimates herein are the result of a collaborative effort between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). They benefited from inputs provided by other UN agencies, in particular the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).In the context of this report, modern slavery covers a set of specific legal concepts including forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, other slavery and slavery like practices, and human trafficking. Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term that focuses attention on commonalities across these legal concepts. Essentially, it refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power.

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.

This publication, Tourist Marriage in Ibb, assesses the phenomenon of tourist marriage, defining tourist marriage as a temporary, formal union between a Yemeni female and a man from an Arabian Gulf country. The pilot study explores the economic and social dimensions and consequences of tourist marriage, and highlights its impact on young Yemeni females and their families. The research identifies how tourist marriage is a form of human trafficking because the groom deceives the young bride and her parents and with the purpose to use her in the short term (e.g. one week to one month) for sexual exploitation. The study concludes that, although the tourist marriage trend in Ibb declined in recent years, there are allegations of the trend's presence in other Yemen Governorates. The research offers a list of recommendations for the Government of Yemen, the international community, and national civil society organizations to take action and strengthen the response against human trafficking.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most pervasive global and systemic forms of human rights violations that exist today. Even though many migrant women do not encounter violence and benefit from migration, for some of the 105 million international migrant women worldwide, violence and discrimination can appear at the very start of the migration process and under various forms. This factsheet provides an overview of this critical issue and highlights a number of initiatives from around the globe through which IOM and partners strive to address the particular needs and rights of all migrant women and girls.

The Coronavirus pandemic is dramatically impacting all aspects of the work being carried out by the United Nations. The purpose of this paper is to outline a number of policy and operational implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). This analysis by the Office of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict is based on ongoing consultations with field practitioners, including Women Protection Advisers in United Nations peace operations, UN country offices, and civil society partners. It also reflects a number of issues of concern that have been raised by UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, the network of 15 United Nations entities chaired by the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Although empirical evidence related to the linkages between COVID-19 and the prevalence of CRSV and impact on multisectoral service provision is still scarce, in the short-term a broader body of related literature can provide an evidence-informed understanding of linkages between infectious disease epidemics and violence against women and children, including sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings. This analysis is intended to inform policy and programme responses to mitigate the risk of increased sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings as part of pandemic preparedness, as well as during and in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The coronavirus is not only claiming hundreds of thousands of lives, but is also causing a global economic crisis that is expected to rival or exceed that of any recession in the past 150 years. Although decisive action and containment measures are helping flatten the curve of infection, such measures inevitably deepen and lengthen the economic recession.In the worst-case scenario, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that up to 25 million people will lose their jobs worldwide.Poverty, lack of social or economic opportunity and limited labour protections are the main root causes and drivers that render people vulnerable or cause them to fall victim to human trafficking. This unprecedented crisis will likely exacerbate all of those factors and result in developments that must be noted by antihuman-trafficking communities and stakeholders.

In December 2015, the United Nations Security Council held its frst-ever thematic debate on Trafficking in Persons in Situations of Confict. The Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement that signalled a willingness to explore concrete steps to strengthen the international response to human trafcking, and requested a report from the Secretary-General, within a year, on steps taken within the UN system. There are real practical and political limits to Security Council action on this issue. But there is also now a unique opening for action.To explore these possibilities and limits, on 30 June and 1 July 2016, United Nations University and the Permanent Missions of the United Kingdom and of Liechtenstein to the United Nations organized a two-day workshop, with the support of Thomson Reuters and Grace Farms Foundation.This workshop brought together 100 expert participants from Permanent Missions to the United Nations, UN entities, national law enforcement agencies, Financial Intelligence Units, the technology sector, the financial sector, media and civil society. The Workshop Agenda is annexed to this report.This report distils insights from the Workshop regarding the connections between human traficking and conflict; considers what forms of leverage are available to the Security Council to address this phenomenon; and summarizes the Ideas for Action emerging from the Workshop.