Addressing Emerging Human Trafficking Trends and Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic

"Human trafficking is always invisible. During a pandemic, it is easier to have cases going on that nobody reports." - Frontline stakeholder from Portugal

Emerging trafficking in human beings (THB) trends and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are marked by gender-specific vulnerabilities and are further exacerbated by already existing gender inequalities that particularly impact girls and women from marginalised communities. Released on the occasion of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2020, this report from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) seeks provide policy recommendations to lawmakers, civil society organisations, and the private sector on how to address risks and challenges that victims of trafficking (VoTs) and survivors of trafficking face during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The report promotes a human-rights-, gender-, and age-sensitive, trauma-informed, and victim-centred approach.

The report is based on data collected through a global survey of frontline organisations from 102 countries and 94 THB survivors from 40 countries, in consultation with a panel of experts.

As the survey findings demonstrate, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and exposed the already existing gaps in national anti-trafficking frame-works overall and particularly in National Referral Mechanisms (NRMs) and equivalent systems. Due to measures put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey found:

• Survivors of trafficking reported lack of access to basic needs, including access to food and water, safe and comfortable accommodation, and lack of access to testing for COVID-19. The specific spheres of life of survivors most negatively affected are psychological and financial well-being. For example, survivors reported a high level of uncertainty, isolation due to restriction of movement, and retriggering of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Overall, survivors were poorly informed about changes in service provision during the pandemic. About half of survivors experienced delays in receiving statutory status of VoT or in other types of legal procedures. These delays negatively affected survivors' ability to access shelter accommodation, reunification with their children, and financial compensation.
• More than half of survivors believe that the pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerability of at-risk groups to human trafficking crime. VoTs who are currently in situations of exploitation may also be facing new or more severe forms of exploitation due to the financial down-turn, which has affected the traffickers' ability to generate profits. They are also at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to their trafficking situation.
• Online forms of recruitment by traffickers have become more prevalent during the pandemic, and survivors still continue to be targeted by traffickers - mostly online. For example, there is evidence that some people in the sex industry moved their operations online due to lockdown measures. The shift towards the internet is linked to additional privacy risks for the individuals concerned, making them more vulnerable to blackmail and further exploitation. In addition, remote working amid the coronavirus outbreak gives abusers new ways to target people online - to both generate demand and to groom vulnerable women and children.
• Survivors globally experienced similar challenges. However, respondents from outside the OSCE region reported the need for a larger number of services and repeatedly prioritised access to NRMs.

To effectively combat THB during and after the pandemic, UN Women and ODIHR offer a comprehensive set of measures, including, for example:

• Strengthen implementation of international legal frameworks, regional instruments, and national legislation - e.g., Ensure anti-trafficking legislation is in place to address THB in cyberspace, and that it reflects gender and age specificity of online crimes related to THB.
• Develop and/or implement NRMs or equivalent systems in light of COVID-19 - e.g., Incorporate the use of technology throughout NRMs to facilitate the accessibility of services to VoTs and survivors of trafficking on online platforms during the pandemic. In order to do this, VoTs and survivors need to have free access to phone lines and online technologies.
• Develop and/or update national strategies and national action plans (NAPs) to combat THB around: (i) THB in cyberspace, especially of women and children; (ii) prevention and addressing of the root causes of trafficking of women and children; (iii) engagement of local communities in combatting THB; (iv) healthcare and educational institution protocols on identification and referral of VoTs; and (v) identification and prevention of THB of at-risk groups post-COVID-19 pandemic.
• Strengthen identification of VoTs.
• Make services accessible to VoTs and survivors of trafficking - e.g., Provide internet access and informational services in refugee camps to ensure reporting and support for VoTs during and post pandemic.
• Provide access to remedies, including justice and information - e.g., Inform VoTs and survivors of trafficking in a timely manner, in a language they understand, of any changes in processes, delays, or postponements in their civil, administrative, or criminal justice procedures.
• Address specific needs of women and girls - e.g., Make NRMs gender specific and tailored, considering that approximately three-fourths of all detected trafficking victims are women and girls.
• Address specific needs of children - e.g., Respond to the increase in online grooming and exploitation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic by developing and enhancing age-appropriate, online THB prevention tools (through social media, mobile applications, and/or joint campaigns in collaboration with service providers) designed to reach parents, educators, social service providers, and children and youth.
• Support and build the capacity of both governmental and non-governmental frontline stakeholders - e.g., Provide capacity-building and resourcing for online provision of support and services to VoTs and survivors of trafficking to frontline stakeholders.
• Strengthen THB prevention efforts related to the pandemic - e.g., Raise awareness of legislators, policymakers, anti-trafficking stakeholders, and civil society on current and emerging challenges, and implement awareness-raising and prevention campaigns designed for the general population on THB and specific risks in the period of restrictive measures related to the pandemic - with a particular focus on increased risks for trafficking with the purpose of sexual and labour exploitation.
• Implement measures to reduce demand for trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation during and after the pandemic - e.g., Drawing from the prevention of violence field, incorporate work on changing harmful masculinities and social norms that promote the commodification and objectification of women and children and promote the idea of men's entitlements to women's bodies.

Eradication of poverty, access to education, and measures to bolster gender equality would also help to achieve the decrease the number of VoTs and the crime of THB overall, according to UN Women and ODIHR. These organisations are working together to ensure a gender-sensitive approach to all work related to CTHB. The present publication was developed as part of ODIHR's mandate to assist OSCE-participating States in implementing longstanding OSCE human dimension commitments.