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.

This Guidance Note is an internal IOM tool that is intended to help Regional Thematic Specialists as well as Chiefs of Mission, Heads of Office and project developers to apply the appropriate standards of the Organization in performance of their functions. In case aforementioned IOM staff needs to deviate from this Guidance Note, DMM must be consulted. This Guidance Note focuses on Media Access to IOM Beneficiaries who have been Trafficked.

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.

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.

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.

The overall objective of this Framework Document is to strengthen cooperation between IOM and UNHCR with respect to the identification, referral, protection and assistance of victims of trafficking. Specifically, this document intends to encourage the development of standard operating procedures (SOP) between IOM and UNHCR at field level, and suggests a procedure for cooperation to ensure that the available expertise, capacities, and potential of each organization are effectively employed and coordinated to deliver the best possible protection and assistance for victims of trafficking.The Framework Document highlights key areas for coordination and cooperation that are global in nature and should be adapted to particular operational contexts.This document updates the former IOM-UNHCR Framework Document on Developing Standard Operating Procedures to Facilitate the Protection of Trafficked Persons, developed in 2009.

This Guidance Note provides guidance for the mandatory mainstreaming of humanitarian protection principles into IOM’s response to crises. This note is intended to help every IOM staff involved in crisis response to apply these standards in performance of their functions when assessing, designing, developing, endorsing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the following: a) IOM responses to crises and b) projects falling under one or more of the MCOF sectors of assistance. In case an IOM staff member needs to deviate from this Guidance Note, the staff member or Chief of Mission concerned must contact the Department of Operations and Emergencies. It is mandatory for IOM staff members and specifically for Chiefs of Missions to ensure adherence to this guidance note and to follow up with the Department.

Human rights don’t disappear the moment an earthquake, a hurricane or a tsunami strikes. We witnessed after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the earthquake in Haiti and many other disaster situations that during relief and recovery efforts the protection of human rights gains in importance as it can safeguard the dignity of those affected. People are at their most vulnerable in times of crisis so preventing discrimination and abuse is vital. To promote and facilitate a rights-based approach to disaster relief, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) adopted Operational Guidelines on Human Rights and Natural Disasters in 2006. The Guidelines are a major contribution to the promotion of a rights-based approach in situations of natural disasters. Following the feedback from the field-testing of the guidelines we have incorporate lessons-learned from the field into a revised version of the Guidelines. This revised version also expands the rights-based approach to include preparedness measures. Small steps in preparedness can have a major impact once a disaster strikes.

Although human trafficking has gathered momentum and several international organizations have developed approaches to address it, the phenomenon remains a serious crime, with grave human rights concerns, that is largely overlooked in crisis situations. In addition, human trafficking is typically not considered a direct consequence of crisis. This misplaced assumption, coupled with the fact that counter-trafficking efforts are not necessarily understood as an immediate life-saver in crisis, often hampers the humanitarian response to human trafficking cases, particularly in terms of identification of and assistance to victims. In reality, as the newly published IOM report Addressing Human Trafficking and Exploitation in Times of Crisis reveals these efforts are a matter of life and livelihood for victims of trafficking and should therefore be considered with as much priority as for any other crisis-affected population and be addressed at the outset of a crisis. The report recommends that human trafficking in times of crisis be urgently included in the humanitarian community, with support from both emergency and development donor communities.

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.