Although African countries face challenges in effectively responding to all forms of modern slavery, many countries in the region are taking steps to strengthen their responses. Improvements in the legislative framework have occurred across the region with some notable examples. Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, and Tunisia enacted comprehensive trafficking legislation in 2016- a new development since the 2016 Global Slavery Index. As a result, in 2017, nearly 70 percent of African countries had criminalised human trafficking, an increase from the nearly 60 percent reported in the previous Global Slavery Index in 2016.

While no government has a fully comprehensive response to modern slavery, all countries in the Americas region have either mantained or improved their response. Most notably, the United States has retained its position as demonstrating the strongest response to modern slavery in the region, and the strongest response globally to prevent governments and business from sourcing goods and services linked to modern slavery. The United States is joined by Argentina and Chile, both of wich have made improvements that result in the highest government response ratings in the Americas region of "BBB". Other countries that have improved their response to modern slavery this year include Peru, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama and Bolivia.

The 2018 Global Slavery Index measures the extent of modern slavery country by country, and the steps governments are taking to respond to this issue, to objectively measure progress toward ending modern slavery. The Index draws together findings from across estimates of prevalence, measurement of vulnerability, and assessment of government responses, alongside an analysis of trade flows and data on specific products. When considered as a set, the data provide a complex and insightful picture of the ways modern slavery is impacting countries around the world. This enables us to refine our thinking on how to better respond to modern slavery, and also how to predict and prevent modern slavery in future.

It is important that the Organization and its staff cite the same global estimates on trafficking in persons so that one organizational voice is ensured. The below provides a discussion on the main global estimates in circulation. It also offers guidance on how to cite and contextualize the estimates in IOM reports, press releases and other print documentation, or when asked for information by an internal or external counterpart, such a journalist. It is important to note that IOM does not promote the estimates outlined below. They should instead serve only as points of reference and should always be attributed to the agency or researcher that proposed them.

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. This Guidance Note focuses on the criteria for the correct identification of victims of trafficking, exploitation, abuse etc.

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. This Note focuses on the provision of guidelines on how best to carry out general and specific risks assessments, on when a risk assessment should start, on its length and on its updating and monitoring needs.

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 Assist Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) for Trafficked Migrants.

La investigación cuyos resultados presentamos nos permitió adentramos en el conoci- miento del delito de trata de personas en Venezuela en la actualidad, en concreto so- bre los modos de captación, transporte, traslado, acogida o recepción de personas, especialmente de niños, niñas y adolescentes, con fines de explotación, en condiciones de limitación de la libertad de las víctimas; a través de la perspectiva de funcionarios públicos, miembros de organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG) y periodistas, que en virtud de su trabajo conocían sobre la trata de personas en nuestro país.

Women and girls account for 71 per cent – that is, nearly 29 million – of all victims of modern slavery globally. The gendered nature of modern slavery becomes even more apparent when examining the different forms in which it manifests. Women and girls are overrepresented in three out of the four types of modern slavery assessed by the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: they make up 58 per cent of all victims of forced labour, 84 per cent of all victims of forced marriage, and a staggering 99 per cent of all victims of forced sexual exploitation. In fact, women and girls are overwhelmingly at risk of sexual exploitation regardless of the form of modern slavery they are subjected to. These findings reflect highly gendered patterns of employment and migration and point to the relevance of broader patterns of human rights abuses that disproportionately affect women and girls.

The global community has long condemned the abhorrent practice of trafficking in persons (TIP), and many States have considerably strengthened their efforts to prevent and prosecute TIP and protect its victims. While great strides have been made, much more remains to be done. As with other crimes, addressing the demand side of trafficking, for example, has proven particularly challenging. Often, even identifying persons who have been trafficked is difficult – for example, when they are males who do not fit stereotypical notions of a TIP victim. And, despite the laudable and significant increase in anti - traffic king laws on the books in many states, there are still far too few successful prosecutions of traffickers. This paper outlines the key challenges faced by States and the anti - trafficking community in preventing and responding to TIP , including protecting victims, and makes recommendations for concrete actions and commitments that should be addressed in the Global Compact on Migration.