The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) 2024 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons reveals a rise in victims worldwide, particularly in the categories of child and forced labour trafficking, since 2022 (following a marked decrease in the detection of victims during the COVID-19 pandemic). Since 2022, global victims increased by 25% (compared to 2019), surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Globally, women and girls continue to make up the majority of detected victims. Organized crime groups continue to perpetrate most trafficking, with African victims being most affected. The primary factors affecting the vulnerability of Africans to trafficking include displacement, insecurity and climate change.
Trafficking in persons is a serious issue involving migrants and refugees travelling on land and sea routes through, from and to Africa. UNODC has been researching smuggling along these routes since 2019. The study indicates that migrants and refugees along African migration routes are at high risk of trafficking, with mixed migration scenarios involving criminal offences and violations of individual rights. In 2023, at least 230,000 people were subject to smuggling or attempted smuggling, with most arriving in the Northwest African Atlantic route. However, the smuggling of Nigerians by sea to Europe has significantly decreased in recent years.
According to the Report, major crimes against migrants are committed in the context of migrant smuggling, ranging from the sale of a person and denial of liberty for extortion to trafficking in persons for forced labour and sexual exploitation. For instance, one out of every 746 Nigerians polled for an observatory study in 2021 reported being deprived of their freedom due to extortion. Nearly half of the Nigerian adults polled (48%) said that trafficking and exploitation posed a serious risk to Nigerian children travelling via mixed migration pathways. The observatory’s research on the Western Mediterranean route from North Africa to Spain also found cases of forced labour, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, and human trafficking for sale. Trafficking in Persons may also take place in the context of armed conflict and related cross-border displacement.
The research indicates that some people who are escaping violence and conflicts turn to smugglers to help them get to safe areas when there are no legal routes for them to do so, which makes them more susceptible to human trafficking. According to the UNODC interviewees, those engaged in migrant smuggling were also engaged in labour exploitation, drug trafficking, and sexual exploitation. Smugglers, governmental officials, private persons, and non-state armed organizations are among the actors who commit these crimes in the Central Sahel.
A key highlight of the Report is the comprehensive research conducted by ‘Generation 30 Researchers’ carried out between 2018 and 2020. It meticulously documented the harrowing experience of Nigerian female victims trafficked from Nigeria to Italy from 2016 to 2018. It featured findings on the role of family members in trafficking in persons, the role of juju rituals as a tool of control and liberation for Nigerian victims of human trafficking, the continuous violence experienced by victims of trafficking during their trajectories, and the persistent experience of stigma specifically sexual stigma and labelling.
The researchers made the following conclusions and policy recommendations:
- Family involvement in varying capacities is prevalent in human trafficking. It highlights the key roles that family members play and the power that they have.
- There are other strategies to consider when tackling trafficking in persons, such as how the Oba of Benin’s 2018 proclamation against traffickers served to support several participants in escaping their traffickers.
- Physical and sexual violence continues even after arrival in the destination country and is sometimes perpetrated by caregivers. This leaves the participants in a cycle of multiple violent experiences and stigma.
- Sexual stigma and labelling are highly prevalent and in turn, cause the victims to ostracize themselves from the society they live in.
Summarily, the intricacies of human trafficking are extensive and multifaceted. The role of family members, the efficacy of alternative strategies like community-led initiatives, and the pervasive nature of physical and sexual violence all underscore the need for comprehensive approaches to curbing trafficking. Also, aiding victims’ healing and reintegration into society requires tackling the pervasive sexual stigma and labelling their experience. In the end, these results emphasize how crucial it is that communities, practitioners, judicial systems and legislators collaborate to halt human trafficking, safeguard victims, and advance justice and healing.
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