{"id":2722,"date":"2022-02-28T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T05:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ludci.eu\/magazine\/?p=2722"},"modified":"2022-02-24T16:32:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T13:32:14","slug":"a-look-at-the-2021-trafficking-in-persons-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ludci.eu\/magazine\/a-look-at-the-2021-trafficking-in-persons-report\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look at the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Zeus, Content Writer, Citizend Diplomat eMagazine<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Trafficking in persons, otherwise known as human trafficking, has been on the rise since the Covid-19 pandemic emerged. Despite the difficult situation brought about by the global health crisis, anti-trafficking efforts are waxing stronger, but a lot still needs to be done to address the emerging trends in this modern slavery.<\/p>\n

A double-headed monster<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime<\/a> (UNODC) defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of people through force, fraud, or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit. The exploitation can be in form of sex or slave labor, and anyone can become a victim of this crime \u2014 men, women, and children of all ages and from all backgrounds. Every year, thousands fall into the hands of traffickers, either in their own countries or abroad.<\/p>\n

Human trafficking has been described as a doubled-headed monster<\/a> \u2014 on one hand, a slave labor issue and on the other, sex trafficking. Traffickers often use violence or fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims but end up pushing them into sex or labor slavery.<\/p>\n

Just about every country in the world is affected by trafficking and can be a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims. Unfortunately, the crime keeps expanding into new territories and adapting to new situations.<\/p>\n

How the Covid-19 crisis worsened the scourge<\/strong><\/h3>\n

With its unprecedented effects on socio-economic development across the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on human trafficking<\/a>. It not only created conditions that made more people vulnerable to human trafficking but also severely affected anti-trafficking efforts.<\/p>\n

Given the nature of the health and economic crises brought about by the pandemic, governments around the world channeled most of their resources into fighting the pandemic, leaving the anti-trafficking efforts inadequately funded and equipped. Expectedly, this resulted in the reduction of preventative efforts, decreased protection measures and service provision for victims, and difficulty in investigating and prosecuting offenders. Moreover, traffickers quickly found a way to exploit the vulnerabilities exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The 2021 Trafficking Persons Report<\/a> classified the impacts of the pandemic into these two categories:<\/p>\n

1. Increased vulnerability and opportunities for exploitation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The report noted that during the year under review:<\/p>\n