The report covers 142 countries and provides an overview of patterns and flows of trafficking in persons at global, regional and national levels, based primarily on trafficking cases detected between 2014 and 2016. As UNODC has been systematically collecting data on trafficking in persons for more than a decade, trend information is presented for a broad range of indicators.

The report finds that most of the victims detected across the world (more than 70%) are females; mainly adult women, but also increasingly girls. Almost three-quarters of the detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation are females, and 35 %cent of the victims trafficked for forced labour are also females, both women and girls.

The report also focus on the impact of armed conflict on trafficking. In conflict zones, where the rule of law is weak, and civilians have little protection from crime, armed groups and criminals may take the opportunity to traffic them. One example given in the report is the phenomenon of girls and young women in refugee camps in the Middle East being “married off” without their consent and subjected to sexual exploitation in neighbouring countries.