ICAT highlights child trafficking and survivor voices in briefing at UNTOC Conference of the Parties

Ending child trafficking, engaging with practitioners in the field and having survivors of trafficking at the table took center stage during a briefing  of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) in the margins of the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime held in Vienna, Austria.

Year 2024 in Focus

Ms. Heather Komenda, Senior Regional Migration Protection Specialist at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), speaking on behalf of the ICAT 2024 co-chairs, kicked off the session by outlining the ICAT priorities for the year.

ICAT’s work in 2024 is guided by three main workstreams, these being:

1. fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships to systematize cooperation and coordination and enhance the effectiveness of anti-trafficking measures;
2. exploring the links between sudden- and slow-onset climate disasters and trafficking in persons; and
3. strengthening approaches to, and understanding of, trafficking in persons in crisis contexts.

“Child protection is a cross-cutting theme throughout all these areas, each of them aiming to address the multifaceted nature of trafficking in persons and always centred on protecting the most vulnerable,” Ms. Komenda said.

Responses must match the multifaceted nature of trafficking

The briefing underscored that trafficking in persons is a complex crime that requires the full cooperation of diverse stakeholders, including governments, civil society organizations and the private sector.

“If the challenge [of trafficking in persons] is cross-cutting, so too must our responses be,” said Ms. Silke Albert, Team Leader on Child Trafficking, Survivor Engagement and Partnerships at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

She further highlighted the importance of ICAT in providing the platform for such collaboration to counter trafficking in persons.

“ICAT is proof that it is not only necessary but also possible to bring together different mandates, expertise and sectors to develop coherent and comprehensive responses on an issue like trafficking in persons,” Ms. Albert added.

Survivor engagement is smart

The inclusion of perspectives of survivors of trafficking in developing and implementing initiatives to counter trafficking in persons has been at the core of ICAT work over the years.

This recognizes that every trafficking victim’s experience is unique, as are their personal needs after their ordeal. It is critical to take into account their perspectives and voices when designing and implementing anti-trafficking responses.

Ms. Kari Johnstone, the Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Persons at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), emphasized the importance of integrating survivor voices in anti-trafficking responses.

The insights of survivors of trafficking “are not only invaluable in understanding traffickers’ tactics, but essential to develop policies and interventions that are truly effective in preventing and combating [trafficking], while protecting and supporting victims on their path to recovery,” Ms. Johnstone said.

“Elevating survivor leaders and integrating their expertise into our anti-trafficking laws, policies, and actions is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do to more effectively combat human trafficking and protect victims and survivors,” she added.

Child trafficking: serious and widespread violation of children's rights

Traffickers target people in vulnerable situations for exploitation, including children who, because of their age and circumstances, are uniquely vulnerable to trafficking.

Several factors exacerbate their vulnerability. These include “armed conflicts, economic instability, political crises, and even the impacts of climate change”, said Ms. Albert.

In most cases, these crises overlap further pushing children into precarious situations where traffickers exploit their plight, targeting them for sexual exploitation, forced labour and even forcing them to commit other criminal activities.

According to the Global Report in Trafficking in Persons 2022, children comprise approximately 35 percent of detected victims of trafficking. Considering the challenges with detection and reporting, this underscores the gravity of the problem, calling for urgent measures to strengthen response to child trafficking.

This realization led ICAT to preparing a Call for Accelerated Action by 2025 to prevent and end child trafficking in 2023, which proposes 10 action points for States and relevant stakeholders. A child-friendly version of the Call to Action has also been published to make children easily understand, in a language easy to comprehend, the crime of child trafficking.

Field outreach

ICAT has also initiated processes of engaging with regional processes in fighting trafficking in persons. In recent years, ICAT has engaged in a systematic policy dialogue with the Office of the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, the last one in July 2023.

“In order to address trafficking in persons, we need a holistic and coordinated approach at every level,” said Ms. Diane Schmitt, the European Union Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, who emphasized the benefits of the cooperation between her Office and ICAT.

In particular, Ms. Schmitt appreciated ICAT’s inputs to the review of the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive.

The ICAT Briefing to States was held on 17 October 2024. It was moderated by Ms. Malaika Oringo, Survivor and Founder and CEO of Footprint to Freedom, a survivor-led non-profit organization.