UNITED NATIONS: The global report on Trafficking in Persons, released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna on Monday, says one in three known victims of human trafficking is a child, and girls and women are particularly targeted and forced into “modern slavery”.

“There is no place in the world where children, women and men are safe from human trafficking,” said UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov.

“Official data reported to UNODC by national authorities represent only what has been detected. It is very clear that the scale of modern-day slavery is far worse,” he added.

The situation is particularly bad for girls and women. According to the report, girls make up two out of every three child victims. And together with women, they account for 70 per cent of overall trafficking victims worldwide.

Published in Dawn, November 25th , 2014