Statement of the Secretary General at the March 15 Debate on Forced Labour
SGBV
Women and girls in particular are targeted again and again and again. We see brutal sexual exploitation, including forced prostitution, forced marriage and sexual slavery. Smugglers often coerce and manipulate individuals for profit and make them victims of sex or labour trafficking. Terrorists and violent extremists use sexual enslavement as a tool for recruitment. I continue to take steps to strengthen our efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse committed under the United Nations flag. The 2030 Agenda for sustainable Development can also help us break the chains of exploitation. Three of the goals explicitly address human trafficking, including sex trafficking, forced labour, child labour and the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
HR
In Syria, Da’esh has organized slave markets and even published manuals instructing its fighters on how to capture, control and trade enslaved women and girls. The leaders of Boko Haram have also argued that slavery is legal. In other conflicts, other groups force men, women and children under their control to labour in unsafe mines, as porters and domestic servants, and on the frontlines.