International Forced child labor on the rise according to UN report

According to the United Nations, the forced labor and smuggling of children has increased significantly in recent years. Boys, who are often traveling alone as migrants, are also increasingly among the victims, according to a UN report.

"The smuggling of girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation is increasing at an alarming rate in many regions of the world," says the new human trafficking report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The Vienna-based UN agency recorded a total of 75,000 cases of human trafficking in 2022. More recent data is not yet available. These included 25,000 children. This is an overall increase of 25 percent compared to the years before the coronavirus pandemic. The trend now applies not least to rich countries - and therefore also to Western and Southern Europe and North America.

Hundreds of routes for human trafficking

The data comes from 156 countries. In view of ongoing conflicts and weather-related disasters that uproot populations, there is a risk of a further increase in human trafficking, it said.

The UNODC experts identified almost 440 routes for transnational human trafficking. According to the report, most of the victims come from Africa. In three out of four cases, organized crime gangs are responsible for the crimes. Many girls and women have to work as prostitutes or for online scammers who make their money from erotic and dating offers, among other things.

There are repeated cases in which companies behind a legal façade - including in the construction sector, fishing, agriculture or recruitment agencies - are actually involved in human trafficking. "The crime has become more complex," said UNODC expert Angela Me.