13 February 2009 | 00:56 | Source: Tanjug
Vienna – Every fifth victim of human trafficking is a child, while two-thirds of them are women, according to the UN Report on Human Trafficking
In UNODC’s Report, many states that ignore the problem are criticized. It is said that the real dimension of human trafficking is not known, because the number of victims of global human trafficking is not known, but it reaches several millions.
In that respect, the UNODC Director Carlos Maria Costa stressed that many large states did not share data, for example China.
“Some states are still ignoring the reality”, he said, adding that even the legal systems sometimes tend to diminish the gravity of this form of crime.
In two our of five states, according to the report, no judgment for human trafficking was rendered in 2007/2008. “These states are either blind regarding the problem or do not have resources to work on it, i.e. this is about both these problems”, Costa said.
Sexual slavery is the most frequent form of human trafficking, which affects four-fifths of all the victims.
It is said in the Report that interestingly 30% of the perpetrators of this offence were women. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the share of women convicted for human trafficking is as much as 60%.
“It is shocking that former victims have become the perpetrators”, Costa explained.
Forced labour, with 18%, is the second form of trafficking according to the number of victims, while forced prostitution is more visible than forced labour, Costa said and added that forced labour takes place invisibly, in the fields, factories or households.
Boys and girls are affected by both forms of trafficking. According to the Report, they are forced into prostitution, abused for pornography, have to produced luxurious items, work on cocoa harvests and the like.
“The exploitation of children is the most horrifying side of the crime, which is a shame for us all”, said Costa in the UNODC Report.
According to his words, human trafficking seems to become increasingly widespread, because many states are ignoring the problem. “We fear that the problem is getting worse, but we cannot prove it because of the lack of data and because of the obstructions by many states”.