Security Council Open Debate on Forced Labour, Slavery, and Other Similar Practices, March 15

Many Africans, including women and children escaping from persecution and/or searching for a better life in Europe and the Middle East, are falling victims to terrorists and criminals.

It is mainly women and children who are targeted, and the international community must assume its responsibility to protect these populations. 

The Rome Statute identifies trafficking in persons, women and children in particular, as a crime against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population and with knowledge of the attack. Justice, by its punitive and dissuasive nature, is indispensable to our collective action.

We are a target and transit country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and for men and women subjected to forced labour.

It is also important to emphasize that the terrorist organization of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Democratic Union Party (PKK/PYD) also widely employs methods that exploit human beings, particularly through the forced recruitment of children and young women.

As exemplified by the way in which non-State armed groups operate, connections between armed conflict and human trafficking are multifaceted. Non-State armed groups openly advocate for the enslavement of women and children in the attainment of their misguided objectives.

Human trafficking is a global problem affecting the most vulnerable: women, children, internally displaced persons, refugees and minorities.

The link between conflicts and trafficking in persons is clear, as indicated by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in her latest report to the Human Rights Council (A/71/303). The law also includes sentencing and preventive measures to protect victims and convict the perpetrators, with strengthened sentencing against the perpetrators of crimes against children, pregnant women and people in fragile situations.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela believes that it is necessary to point out that crimes of human trafficking, violence, sexual abuse and exploitation, modern slavery and forced labour are, from any standpoint, despicable practices that we firmly condemn, in particular because they have proliferated and spread in ongoing situations of armed conflict throughout the world, especially those promoted by terrorist groups and other violent non-State actors operating in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Da’esh, the Al-Nusra Front and Boko Haram. The terrorist actions carried out by these organizations have caused a human tragedy, whose main victims have unfortunately been the most vulnerable — women, girls, boys — who have been caught up in wars that they did not start and have become commodities for these criminal trafficking networks. 

Venezuela will never relent in its demands on the various actors of the international community to put an end to the supply of financial and logistical support and weapons to terrorist groups and other violent non-State actors that promote the crime of trafficking in persons, enslaving men and women and using them as active participants in armed conflicts, exploiting them in numerous ways and exacerbating the cycle of suffering and death. They are the ones who are primarily responsible for the excesses of war, causing the massive flows of refugees, sexual exploitation against civilians, forced labour and modern slavery.

The problem is global, affecting poor and rich countries alike. Today’s debate is also timely as it is takes place in conjunction with the ongoing sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Women and girls are the most targeted group in terms of human trafficking and exploitation. Human trafficking takes many different forms and targets men, women, girls and boys alike.

The problem of trafficking is woven into many other challenges: conflict, terrorism, organized crime, extreme poverty, sexual violence against women and young girls and migrant smuggling.

Among the issues requiring attention in the context of human trafficking, forced labour, modern slavery, organ removal and other similar practices is that of civilians, including women and children, taken hostage or reported missing in connection with armed conflict. Azerbaijan continues its consistent efforts in that regard, including through the relevant biennial resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission on the Status of Women, of which my country is a main sponsor.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development gives us an important platform to tackle trafficking in a more holistic manner. Sustainable Development Goal 16, on peaceful societies, specifically calls for the end of abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children. Implementation of the women and peace and security agenda brings women’s voices and experience to the table. Again, the peace, security and development architecture needs to be coherent and mutually supportive.

In line with Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 2250 (2015), we also need to engage more women and young people in both peacebuilding activities and actions to combat human trafficking.

Victims of trafficking, especially women and children, are vulnerable to prostitution, forced labour, servitude, forced marriages and even the use of sexual violence as a weapon of conflict.

Therefore, Namibia believes that using the guiding principles of the women and peace and security agenda can also enhance the effectiveness of the Security Council and the whole United Nations system in its coordinated efforts in tackling trafficking in persons, forced labour and modern slavery. The global study on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), for instance, has shown that women peacekeepers elicit positive responses from victims of sexual exploitation, rape, forced marriage and even trafficking. The United Nations systems should therefore work to ensure the inclusion of women peacekeepers and improve victim access to them.

Namibia has also been a strong proponent of female negotiators in conflict resolution. In that regard, the Council can play an essential role by insisting that delegations are gender-balanced. In that context, we commend Secretary-General Guterres for his strong and consistent appeal for Member States to include more women in United Nations missions.

This is an issue that affects more than 21 million people worldwide, more than 5 million of them women and children, and it is therefore incumbent on us to do everything we can to address it. First responders must be sensitized in order to ensure that victims, especially women and girls, receive the medical and psychosocial care that they urgently need. The effects on women and girls can be particularly harrowing. This does not simply entail instituting extra security and response measures; it also means ensuring women’s participation in policies and programmes aimed at combating and preventing human trafficking.

It is only appropriate that we are discussing this important issue at a time when the sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women is taking place here at Headquarters. It is indeed women, children and refugees who are the most vulnerable victims of human trafficking in conflict situations. As the concept note (S/2017/198, annex) rightly points out, this scourge is imposed on women and children through early and forced marriage, exploitative domestic work, sexual violence and other similar practices.

Finally, the lack of durable solutions to internally displaced persons and refugees, particularly women and children, no doubt increases their vulnerability to trafficking in persons.

I particularly deplore the hypocrisy and lip service that many Governments display with regard to the plight of the women and girls who are major victims of human trafficking. I urge that they abandon such behaviour and get down to business.

Trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation is still the most widespread form of trafficking, and the majority of its victims are women and girls. That is why we need to think about a more gender-specific, targeted approach in all actions against trafficking.

In that regard, Ukraine fully supports the commitments in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants to combatting human trafficking, including through targeted measures to identify, protect and assist victims, and to prevent human trafficking among those affected by displacement, taking into account the particular vulnerabilities of women and children.

It is mainly women and children who are targeted, and the international community must assume its responsibility to protect these populations. 

The Rome Statute identifies trafficking in persons, women and children in particular, as a crime against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population and with knowledge of the attack. Justice, by its punitive and dissuasive nature, is indispensable to our collective action.

Resolution 2331 (2016), put forward by Spain here at the Security Council, strengthens the legal framework in various areas, including with regard to sanctions, accountability, financial flows, and protection and assistance to victims, paying special attention to women and girls, especially when trafficked for sexual exploitation — and without forgetting that men and boys are also victims of trafficking. Spain is committed to the fight against trafficking in persons and sexual slavery.

The trafficking of vulnerable people, especially women and children, who should be protected in conflict situations, is a dreadful crime. Trafficking in persons is a serious violation of human rights that must continue to be condemned in the strongest sense possible. There is an immediate obligation to identify and provide safety and protection to victims of human trafficking while addressing the needs of vulnerable groups, including women and children, and taking into account prevailing national laws and circumstances.

The statements we have heard this morning paint a picture of the horror that millions of people suffer due to trafficking of persons in armed conflicts and the challenges that the international community confronts in effectively addressing that phenomenon, which especially afflicts women and children. The trafficking of persons is the slavery of our times. It is not only an abomination of the past; millions of people today live in conditions of slavery. Most trafficking victims are vulnerable women and children, almost always tricked or abducted and forced to live a life of suffering, exploitation, torture or servitude.

Human trafficking and slavery in all their forms are among the most despicable crimes known to humanity, as they affect those most vulnerable, such as migrants and internally displaced persons, especially women and girls. When committed in conflict situations, such acts might even amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity. The victims of these crimes are often subjected to organ harvesting, sexual exploitation, forced labour or forced marriage.

The International Organization for Migration estimates that up to 76 per cent of them have fallen victim to practices amounting to human trafficking. Women and children usually bear the brunt of those crimes. Over 70 per cent of trafficking victims are women and girls. This is why it is particularly important to explore the gender dimensions of modern slavery — which was the main topic of a ministerial-level side event organized jointly by the United Kingdom, Nigeria and Liechtenstein this past Monday.

Secondly, the international community needs to scale up protection efforts to ensure that those affected by conflict situations, especially women and girls, do not become vulnerable to traffickers. To achieve this, Estonia calls for better coordination among stakeholders and institutions. The Security Council could lead this process and foster greater normative, operational and strategic coherence across the United Nations system on the topic by engaging directly with relevant United Nations mandate holders, including the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and its consequences, the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and for Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant agencies.

My delegation wishes to thank the United Kingdom presidency for convening today’s debate, which derives added importance now, given the current annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 79 per cent, almost 80 per cent, of the victims of trafficking are women and children, which is why combating that menace is both urgent and critical.

Large sections of the respective populations, especially women and children, remain especially vulnerable.

The scourge of slavery is an abomination, for it perpetuates the domination and degradation of human life. Modern slavery, unlike its traditional form, does not seek to own people. Rather, it aims to control them by exploiting their lives or the fruits of their labour. Sexual slavery in conflict situations, the trafficking of women and girls, and bonded and forced labour are all manifestations of that evil.

Heinous crimes such as the enslavement of women and children, their sexual exploitation and their recruitment in armed groups are an outrage, not only to all norms of international law, but also to humankind itself. We must work together to find an end to that perversion.

Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation still constitutes more than half of all trafficking cases, and women and girls are overwhelmingly affected by it. Violence against women, sexual exploitation and forced marriage — as often displayed in conflict settings — illustrate that gender inequality forms part of the overall problem.

My delegation sponsored it because we believed that it contributes to rendering more visible the horror in which thousands of men, women and children live as victims of forced labour, slavery and other similar practices, committed by terrorist organizations that are linked in networks of transnational organized crime. By integrated, we mean that there should be a holistic approach to prevention, to the prosecution of those responsible and to assistance to their victims, particularly the most vulnerable, such as children, adolescents and women.

First, how can the United Nations and its Member States better address vulnerable women and girls, children, and displaced persons? 

On the second issue, the fight against impunity is a core component of our national action plan on women, peace, and security. One of the priorities of the plan is the protection of women and girls from all forms of violence, including sexual violence. This is a topic that we also address in our commission on the status of women. Since human trafficking during conflicts is often for sexual exploitation, a section of the action plan details several concrete actions for those cases, including support for and cooperation with bilateral partners in order to embed attention for and expertise on the matter in national police and justice apparatuses, and the promotion of practical international legal cooperation tools.

Human trafficking affects women, children and men, subjecting people to cruel forced labour and sexual exploitation. The victims of human trafficking, particularly women and children, have a fundamental right to be protected in accordance with international law. In this context, it is necessary to ensure the provision of medical and psychological services to victims of sex trafficking and forced labour trafficking, while ensuring economic support to trafficking victims through training and job-placement programmes.

It is evident that the most vulnerable people are those caught in conflict: women, children, refugees.

Trafficking is a gendered phenomenon, and the majority of the victims are women and girls. In Bulgaria, as elsewhere in the world, the majority of victims trafficked for sexual exploitation are women and girls. In view of that, the national anti-trafficking commission of Bulgaria provides specialized assistance to women victims of trafficking in three Government- funded shelters.

The problem is global, affecting poor and rich countries alike. Today’s debate is also timely as it is takes place in conjunction with the ongoing sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Women and girls are the most targeted group in terms of human trafficking and exploitation. Human trafficking takes many different forms and targets men, women, girls and boys alike.

The report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of measures to counter trafficking in persons (S/2016/949) has revealed that traffickers mainly take advantage of women, young people and boys and girls, in particular those traveling alone, making that group account for 79 per cent of the victims of a terrible crime that affects all countries.

In addition, the Iraqi Constitution contains articles that prohibit forced labour, slavery and trafficking in women and children.

Trafficking in persons, slavery and forced labour are practices that help to finance terrorist groups. Da’esh criminal gangs have kidnapped thousands of Iraqi citizens, in particular Yazidi women and children and have exposed them to human trafficking and slavery.

It is a complex threat that targets vulnerable groups, particularly women and children, in addition to persons with disabilities and the elderly.

The exploitation of the vulnerable, particularly women, is fundamentally tied to extremist ideologies that pose an existential threat to our region and our way of life.

In order to tackle this global phenomenon, we have to start with what is possible within our national borders and build on that effort with others in a network of coalitions. As a champion of gender equality, the United Arab Emirates is particularly concerned about the disproportionate impact that this crime has on women and girls. So we have beefed up our support for victims, whether women, men or children, by opening shelters across the Emirates that offer medical, psychological and social assistance, and by establishing a private fund to support victims’ recovery and resettlement.

This is an issue that affects more than 21 million people worldwide, more than 5 million of them women and children, and it is therefore incumbent on us to do everything we can to address it. First responders must be sensitized in order to ensure that victims, especially women and girls, receive the medical and psychosocial care that they urgently need. The effects on women and girls can be particularly harrowing. This does not simply entail instituting extra security and response measures; it also means ensuring women’s participation in policies and programmes aimed at combating and preventing human trafficking.

That is further compounded by the fact that vulnerable groups such as women, children, refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons are the most susceptible to human trafficking in conflict situations. Furthermore, women and youth, the most vulnerable groups to human trafficking, are also high on the agenda of the PBC.

Sadly, we witness all too frequently a tragedy affecting thousands of persons, particularly women and children. Over 90,000 men, women and children from neighbouring countries transit through Djibouti en route to Yemen and other locations in the Middle East.

Realizing the increased vulnerability of populations in conflict areas, the Government has activated a structure called the gender-based violence cluster, composed mainly of law enforcers and social welfare service providers who specialize in gender issues, and civil society representatives. The cluster is tasked to address the needs of women and children in conflict situations, especially in mitigating vulnerabilities to sexual violence and trafficking.

Today, it is estimated that more than 60 million women, children and men are fleeing conflicts, escaping wars or seeking a better life. Having established that most victims of trafficking are women and girls, it is only appropriate for our responses to include special attention to their rights.

I particularly deplore the hypocrisy and lip service that many Governments display with regard to the plight of the women and girls who are major victims of human trafficking. I urge that they abandon such behaviour and get down to business.

Trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation is still the most widespread form of trafficking, and the majority of its victims are women and girls. That is why we need to think about a more gender-specific, targeted approach in all actions against trafficking.

In that regard, Ukraine fully supports the commitments in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants to combatting human trafficking, including through targeted measures to identify, protect and assist victims, and to prevent human trafficking among those affected by displacement, taking into account the particular vulnerabilities of women and children.

According to the 2016 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 79 per cent of the victims of human trafficking are women and children, with a clear example being the Yazidi women and girls who were submitted to various kinds of slavery and torture by the so-called Islamic State. Due to that situation, a lot of them have had to leave their countries of origin to find more favourable living conditions. Similarly, against the backdrop of the sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which is now under way, we are deeply concerned to note that, according to the UNODC report I just mentioned, 20 per cent of the victims of forced labour and 72 per cent of those of sexual exploitation are women — a situation that clearly cannot be ignored. My country, too, is a victim of such crimes, in particular sexual exploitation and forced labour.

Also, in July 2016 we convened for the first time the Federal Council for Combating Trafficking, which I have the honor of coordinating, with the aim of designing a federal strategy to eradicate human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women in prostitution.

Eradicating slavery and sexual violence, in particular in conflict situations, is an essential precondition for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Canada has taken a strong stance on the prevention of all forms of exploitation and violence against women and girls in situations of conflict. In particular, Canada will welcome approximately 1,200 vulnerable Yazidi women and children who have been subjected to the most heinous forms of sexual exploitation.New Zealand has secured a landmark trafficking conviction, which resulted in a substantial sentence and an order to pay reparations.

A draft law that aims to punish the clients of victims of trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation is being considered by Parliament. Let us recall here the words (see S/PV.7685) of Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha, who exposed the sexual slavery perpetrated by Da’esh against civilian populations, in particular Yazidis in Iraq.

Resolution 2331 (2016), put forward by Spain here at the Security Council, strengthens the legal framework in various areas, including with regard to sanctions, accountability, financial flows, and protection and assistance to victims, paying special attention to women and girls, especially when trafficked for sexual exploitation — and without forgetting that men and boys are also victims of trafficking. Spain is committed to the fight against trafficking in persons and sexual slavery.

We are a target and transit country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and for men and women subjected to forced labour.

In the crises in our region, criminal and terrorist networks resort to different forms of exploitation of human beings and commit gender-based sexual violence and the forced recruitment of adults and children to fund and sustain their operations.

Women and children are particularly exposed to trafficking, often in the form of sexual slavery and forced labour or recruitment as child soldiers. The Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2016/361) confirms the existence of an evolving criminal infrastructure designed to exploit refugees and migrants through human trafficking, and sexual slavery. We also need better gender-disaggregated data and documentation in order to develop effective responses and services for female and male victims of sexual exploitation.

Every year, millions of men, women and children are victims of being trafficked for various kinds of abuses and exploitation. We note with concern the increasing trend of trafficking in persons, particularly women and girls, in situations of conflict-related sexual violence used as a tactic of war by violent extremist groups.

Human trafficking and slavery in all their forms are among the most despicable crimes known to humanity, as they affect those most vulnerable, such as migrants and internally displaced persons, especially women and girls. When committed in conflict situations, such acts might even amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity. The victims of these crimes are often subjected to organ harvesting, sexual exploitation, forced labour or forced marriage.

It identified a correlation between human trafficking, sexual violence, armed conflict, terrorism and transnational organized crime. It also highlighted the gender-specific implications of human trafficking in conflict.

The nexus between conflict-related situations and human trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery and other similar practices and their cross-border dynamics have been well recognized and acknowledged by the Secretary-General in his report (S/2016/949) as a global challenge.

They are subjected to widespread targeting and killing of ethnic and religious minorities, abductions and cross-border trafficking of women and children, internally displaced and refugee women and girls, as well as forced marriages to fighters or wealthy foreigners, as in cases involving Da’esh, Boko Haram and similar terrorist and extremist groups.

Secondly, the international community needs to scale up protection efforts to ensure that those affected by conflict situations, especially women and girls, do not become vulnerable to traffickers. To achieve this, Estonia calls for better coordination among stakeholders and institutions. The Security Council could lead this process and foster greater normative, operational and strategic coherence across the United Nations system on the topic by engaging directly with relevant United Nations mandate holders, including the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and its consequences, the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and for Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant agencies.

My delegation wishes to thank the United Kingdom presidency for convening today’s debate, which derives added importance now, given the current annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 79 per cent, almost 80 per cent, of the victims of trafficking are women and children, which is why combating that menace is both urgent and critical.

Large sections of the respective populations, especially women and children, remain especially vulnerable.

The scourge of slavery is an abomination, for it perpetuates the domination and degradation of human life. Modern slavery, unlike its traditional form, does not seek to own people. Rather, it aims to control them by exploiting their lives or the fruits of their labour. Sexual slavery in conflict situations, the trafficking of women and girls, and bonded and forced labour are all manifestations of that evil.

Heinous crimes such as the enslavement of women and children, their sexual exploitation and their recruitment in armed groups are an outrage, not only to all norms of international law, but also to humankind itself. We must work together to find an end to that perversion.

Women and children are particularly vulnerable to this risk; they make up, in fact, 79 per cent of all detected trafficking victims. We must follow a comprehensive, multidisciplinary and cross-border approach. We must increase synergies among United Nations agencies and develop a comprehensive joint United Nations response that includes the Special Representatives of the Secretary- General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and on Children and Armed Conflict. On a more general note, in 2016, we passed legislation to strengthen the protection of women and children.

Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation still constitutes more than half of all trafficking cases, and women and girls are overwhelmingly affected by it. Violence against women, sexual exploitation and forced marriage — as often displayed in conflict settings — illustrate that gender inequality forms part of the overall problem.

According to International Labour Organization (ILO) data, today almost 21 million people are victims of forced labour. Of those exploited by individuals or enterprises, 4.5 million are victims of forced sexual exploitation.

First, how can the United Nations and its Member States better address vulnerable women and girls, children, and displaced persons? 

On the second issue, the fight against impunity is a core component of our national action plan on women, peace, and security. One of the priorities of the plan is the protection of women and girls from all forms of violence, including sexual violence. This is a topic that we also address in our commission on the status of women. Since human trafficking during conflicts is often for sexual exploitation, a section of the action plan details several concrete actions for those cases, including support for and cooperation with bilateral partners in order to embed attention for and expertise on the matter in national police and justice apparatuses, and the promotion of practical international legal cooperation tools.

Human trafficking affects women, children and men, subjecting people to cruel forced labour and sexual exploitation. The victims of human trafficking, particularly women and children, have a fundamental right to be protected in accordance with international law. In this context, it is necessary to ensure the provision of medical and psychological services to victims of sex trafficking and forced labour trafficking, while ensuring economic support to trafficking victims through training and job-placement programmes.

The particular impact that the trafficking in persons in situations of armed conflict has on women and children, increasing their vulnerability to gender- based and sexual violence, is of particular concern.

During the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, sexual violence was systematically used to strike terror and humiliation into civilian populations. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab are using human trafficking and sexual violence, with full impunity, as a weapon of terror, but also as an important source of revenue, with low risk and extraordinary profit.

Victims of trafficking, especially women and children, are vulnerable to prostitution, forced labour, servitude, forced marriages and even the use of sexual violence as a weapon of conflict.

Therefore, Namibia believes that using the guiding principles of the women and peace and security agenda can also enhance the effectiveness of the Security Council and the whole United Nations system in its coordinated efforts in tackling trafficking in persons, forced labour and modern slavery. The global study on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), for instance, has shown that women peacekeepers elicit positive responses from victims of sexual exploitation, rape, forced marriage and even trafficking. The United Nations systems should therefore work to ensure the inclusion of women peacekeepers and improve victim access to them.

Namibia has also been a strong proponent of female negotiators in conflict resolution. In that regard, the Council can play an essential role by insisting that delegations are gender-balanced. In that context, we commend Secretary-General Guterres for his strong and consistent appeal for Member States to include more women in United Nations missions.

Trafficking is a gendered phenomenon, and the majority of the victims are women and girls. In Bulgaria, as elsewhere in the world, the majority of victims trafficked for sexual exploitation are women and girls. In view of that, the national anti-trafficking commission of Bulgaria provides specialized assistance to women victims of trafficking in three Government- funded shelters.

Some 60 per cent of the victims of trafficking are foreigners from the country with which they identify and the majority are migrants for sexual exploitation, forced labour and modern-day slavery.

We must insist on, promote and monitor the United Nations zero-tolerance policy towards sexual offenses, as a clear sign of the serious commitment and political will of all its constituent bodies and staff as well as its Member States.

Iraq calls upon member States to implement the relevant resolutions, including resolutions 2195 (2014) and 2242 (2015). In those two resolutions, the Council indicated that sexual violence is a part of the strategic and ideological objectives advocated by terrorist groups.

In order to implement those two resolutions, Iraq started work with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and those efforts led to the signing of a joint statement with Ms. Zainab Bangura on 23 September 2016 at United Nations Headquarters.

It is linked to the spread of terrorism, which exploits the most vulnerable in communities, in particular women and children who are victimized and fall into the trap of slavery, sexual exploitation, forced labour and trafficking in human organs. Syrians in the areas under the control of armed terrorist groups are enslaved. Women are being abducted and are forced to marry terrorists, especially foreign terrorist fighters. Those terrorist groups have issued fatwas that allow for the sexual exploitation of women.

From our own experience, we know that the key to saving lives lies in the protection of those that are most vulnerable, enacting and enforcing laws and encouraging rehabilitation. In Israel in 2010, we were finally able to put an end to the trafficking of women for prostitution. Terrorist groups like Da’esh regularly coerce girls into sex slaves and force boys as young as eight years old to carry out terrorist acts such as suicide bombing. With the bitter memories of slavery forming our collective memories, Israel is more committed than ever to cooperating with the Council to fight against terror, slavery, forced labour, sexual slavery and other similar practices.

Women and children subjected to any violation or abuse, including trafficking and sexual violence, at the hands of Da’esh and similar groups, should be considered as victims and given access to funding and as the principal foundation for our considered action to do so as soon as possible. Da’esh and its ilk have shown that they are capable of immense cruelty through the prevailing use of sexual violence, enslavement and the trade in women and girls for recruitment and financial purposes. In that regard, the practices of groups such as Da’esh and Boko Haram in perpetrating sexual violence, including through the trafficking of women and children, demand heightened and greater attention and responses from the Council.

The sexual exploitation of women and girls, including sexual enslavement, forced marriage and forced prostitution are among the grave factors underpinning human trafficking during and in the wake of conflicts. Such exploitation is used by extremist groups, such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), Boko Haram and their affiliates to generate revenue, as well as reward and retain terrorist fighters. The unanimous adoption of resolution 2331 (2016) condemned the sale of, or trade in, persons seized by terrorist organizations and other groups for purposes of sexual slavery and exploitation and forced labour. 

At this moment, when the Commission on the Status of Women is holding its sixty-first session, and against the backdrop of the empowerment of women, my delegation hopes that today’s debate will help to give hope to all victims of trafficking in human beings in situations of conflict.  Since this morning, many speakers have recalled such practices, which are well known and varied. They include sexual slavery, the use of victims for labour, forced domestic work and forced recruitment into armed groups.

The conflicts in our region have made the majority of our people, particularly women and children, more vulnerable to organized criminal networks that engage in human trafficking to destination countries for mainly forced and cheap labour, sexual exploitation and, in some cases, slavery.

A number of reports have recently revealed some of the most horrific experiences of women and girl children who have been trafficked in some of the destination countries, where they end up being sold as objects. These trafficked persons, particularly women and girls, have endured untold torture and sexual abuse at the hands of their tormentors.

Human trafficking and slavery in all their forms are among the most despicable crimes known to humanity, as they affect those most vulnerable, such as migrants and internally displaced persons, especially women and girls. When committed in conflict situations, such acts might even amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity. The victims of these crimes are often subjected to organ harvesting, sexual exploitation, forced labour or forced marriage.

We also started an initiative with the United Nations Children’s Fund and multiple national partners to protect those staying in refugee accommodations — in particular women and children — from violence, including trafficking.

United Nations reports, particularly the reports of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, have pointed out that there is a continued rise in the activities of transnational organized criminals within those camps involving human trafficking, rape, the forced marriages of women and minors and organ- trafficking networks that exploit children.

That is further compounded by the fact that vulnerable groups such as women, children, refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons are the most susceptible to human trafficking in conflict situations. Furthermore, women and youth, the most vulnerable groups to human trafficking, are also high on the agenda of the PBC.

That brings me to my second issue, that of protection during conflict. Here, one specific area of focus should be the protection against human traffickers of vulnerable groups among refugees and internally displaced persons, especially women and children.

Another important aspect of good governance and the maintenance of peace and security is to ensure that our youth and women have access to economic advantages such as education and employment.

As part of the priority given by the Government of Peru to combating this scourge, on 6 January the Peruvian Congress enacted a law incorporating in our Criminal Code the crimes of sexual exploitation and slavery and other forms of exploitation, with sentences of 10 to 15 years imprisonment.

Our actions need to be tailored to the specific case at hand. Moreover, our response has to be gender- and age-sensitive, as well as specific to the type of exploitation in question.

That is further compounded by the fact that vulnerable groups such as women, children, refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons are the most susceptible to human trafficking in conflict situations. Furthermore, women and youth, the most vulnerable groups to human trafficking, are also high on the agenda of the PBC.

It is in this context that we in Ethiopia have been trying to take various measures to prevent and fight trafficking in persons, including by ratifying relevant legal frameworks, such as the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

That is why, for instance, instruments such as the Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, agreed between the African Union and the European Union, are important.

Indonesia is also in the process of ratifying the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

As part of the priority given by the Government of Peru to combating this scourge, on 6 January the Peruvian Congress enacted a law incorporating in our Criminal Code the crimes of sexual exploitation and slavery and other forms of exploitation, with sentences of 10 to 15 years imprisonment.

In this regard, Cambodia would like to emphasize the importance of the full implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5.2, which focuses on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, including trafficking; SDG 8.7, which focuses on the eradication of forced labour, slavery and human trafficking; and SDG 16.2, which aims to end trafficking and all forms of violence against children. In this context, my delegation supports the establishment of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and encourages States that are in a position to do so to contribute to the Fund.

The Charter is further complemented by the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, which make specific provisions for the protection of women and children against slavery.

Furthermore, the Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, adopted by the African Union in 2006, reaffirmed the provisions, provided for an international instrument on human trafficking and encouraged African States to adopt legislation and institutional measures to combat trafficking in human beings.

We should also strengthen the Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, in particular for women and children, established by the General Assembly; not to revictimize or punish the people who have endured that crime, but rather to support and help them, guarantee their security and accept them in the countries to which they have been taken.

Realizing the increased vulnerability of populations in conflict areas, the Government has activated a structure called the gender-based violence cluster, composed mainly of law enforcers and social welfare service providers who specialize in gender issues, and civil society representatives. The cluster is tasked to address the needs of women and children in conflict situations, especially in mitigating vulnerabilities to sexual violence and trafficking.