Human trafficking

Child trafficking

Main article: Trafficking in children

Chronicle

2022: Human trafficking in the world soared by 25%

In 2022, the number of victims of human trafficking worldwide increased by 25% compared to 2019. Rapid growth is driven by poverty, food shortages, humanitarian crises, conflict and forced displacement. This is stated in the report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, which TAdviser got acquainted with in mid-July 2025. According to the study, from 2020 to 2023, 202,478 people around the world became victims of human traffickers.

The number of trafficked children is estimated to have increased by 31% in 2022 compared to 2019, with a 38% jump among girls. Child trafficking is on the rise in high-income countries, where girls are most often sexually exploited.

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Фото: Freepik

Criminals are increasingly engaging people in forced labor, including to participate in complex online scams and cybercrimes. At the same time, women and girls face the threat of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence, "said Gada Wali, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Globally, in 2022, men accounted for 23% of all victims of human trafficking, women - 39%. The proportion of boys and girls is 16% and 22%, respectively. Thus, representatives of the beautiful half of humanity accounted for 61% of the total number of victims worldwide. Among boys, 45% are involved in forced labor, and 47% are subjected to other exploitation, including criminal activity and begging.

From a regional point of view, a significant increase in the detected cases of human trafficking is observed in countries, North America Western Europe To Africa and sub-Saharan. The report highlights that trafficking networks are growing at an alarming rate and are becoming more and more organized.^[1]

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