Security Council Open Debate on Trafficking of Persons in Conflict Situations, December 2016

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Debate Overview

The Security Council Open Debate entitled, “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Trafficking of Persons in Conflict Situations” was convened by the Council’s current president, Spain, on 20 December 2016. The meeting was framed as an opportunity to strengthen frameworks for the prevention of, and response to, human trafficking. The statements delivered at the debate placed significant emphasis on trafficking committed by terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da’esh) and Boko Haram. Representatives of Member States and UN entities underscored that the instability, poverty, and weak rule of law during times of conflict facilitate trafficking, and particularly victimise vulnerable groups such as women and children or refugees and migrants. Speakers offered widespread condemnation and issued calls for accountability and multi-lateral cooperation to tackle the crime.

General Analysis

The Council unanimously adopted Security Council Resolution 2331 (2016), which calls on Member States to ratify all relevant international instruments to prevent and suppress trafficking in persons, take immediate action to ensure accountability for perpetrators of the crime, implement measures to disrupt trafficking networks, and impose reforms to improve victim identification and assistance. The document emphasises the disproportionate impact of trafficking on women and children, requests that UN entities better coordinate to protect these vulnerable groups, encourages member states to integrate anti-trafficking action plans with Women, Peace and Security action plans, and further encourages member states to collaborate with local women’s organisations in prevention and accountability measures.  

 

Nadia Murad Basee Taha (left), UNODC (UN Office on Drugs and Crime) Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, addresses the Security Council ministerial open debate on the theme “Trafficking in persons in conflict situations”. At her side is Ameena Saeed Hasan, civilian activist for the Yazidi women's rights. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

A total of 74 statements were delivered at the debate. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon introduced the meeting, stating that “war provides oxygen for terrorist groups” and echoing many of the calls for action enshrined in Resolution 2331 (2016). He was followed by briefers from civil society, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and his Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. The briefers spoke to the need to establish sexual violence as a method of terrorism, current levels of impunity for perpetrators and injustice for victims, and the role of law enforcement in disrupting trafficking flows. Among others, representatives from Spain, Angola, Brazil, France, Ireland, and the Russian Federation conceptualised trafficking as an issue of International Peace and Security, rather than a simple criminal activity. Nadia Murad and the representatives of Belgium, Cote D’Ivoire, France, and Nigeria asserted that human trafficking, particularly when directed against specific religious or ethnic groups, constitutes a crime against humanity. Though the statements of  representatives of the UNODC and INTERPOL reflected the complex nexus of human trafficking with other forms of transnational organised crimes such as arms trafficking, no connections were bridged between disarmament and the prevention of trafficking. Only the Secretary-General and the representatives of Afghanistan, Ireland, and the Holy See identified conflict prevention as a fundamental method for preventing human trafficking in conflict.

Other major themes throughout the debate included the need to disrupt financial flows to terrorist groups, end impunity for perpetrators, improve identification programmes along migrant routes, decriminalise acts committed by trafficking victims, and strengthen normative frameworks designed to prevent and suppress trafficking. Notably the representative of Greece outlined the state’s initiative to coordinate stakeholders in efforts to protect vulnerable groups with refugee populations from trafficking. The representative of Brazil provided invaluable perspective regarding international responses to human trafficking, remarking that “there is an ill conceived bias towards military solutions, which only help fuel human trafficking”.

Gender Analysis

 

Though briefers such as the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG SVC) Zainab Bangura, Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, Nadia Murad, and civilian activist for Yazidi women’s rights, Ameena Saeed Hasan, illustrated the horrific and disproportionate impact of trafficking on women and girls, 18 (24 percent) speakers failed to include any gender perspective in their statements.

Though a handful of speakers noted the intersecting vulnerabilities of women refugees, the need to protect women and girls due to their vulnerability, or the need to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeeping forces, most of the gender-sensitive language throughout the debate fell within the categories of General WPS, Sexual and Gender Based Violence, and Justice, Rule of Law, and Security Sector Reform.

  • General WPS
    • Of the 74 statements delivered at the debate 41 (55 percent) referenced general Women Peace and Security. In most cases, these references were comprised of noting the vulnerability of Women and Girls to trafficking. However some representatives, like those of Chile and Ukraine referenced UNSCR 1325.
  • Sexual and Gender Based Violence
    • Of the 74 statements delivered at the debate, 59 (76 percent) referenced sex trafficking or Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). Many speakers spoke to the direct actions of Da’esh, Boko Haram, and even the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), underscoring their policies of sexual enslavement to fund terror activity, incentivise recruits,  and even the incorporation of SGBV to their strategic missions. Other representatives noted the nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking. The representative of the European Union noted that armed groups often consider civilians as resources to exploit and that human trafficking is gender specific. The representative of Ireland stated that “impunity for conflict-related sexual violence allows human trafficking to flourish.”\
  • Justice, Rule of Law, and Security Sector Reform
    • Of the 74 statements delivered at the debate, 29 (39 percent) referenced Justice, Rule of Law, and Security Sector Reform (SSR). Nadia Murad stated that the crimes committed by terrorist organisations like Da’esh are well recorded, yet these groups are granted impunity. She urged that member-states create a commission to document and investigate of conflict related sexual violence and sex trafficking to ensure justice for victims. The SRSG SVC and Ameena Saeed Hasan also condemned impunity for perpetrators and demanded justice for victims. The language employed by many of the remaining speakers echoed these calls, stating that accountability was required for perpetrators of sexual violence, with some outlining the international legal mechanisms capable of aiding these efforts such as the Rome Statute, the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and the Palermo Protocol.

Assessment:

The December 20 debate was notable in that a majority of speakers displayed a propensity to separate issues of sexual violence in conflict from issues of human trafficking. Though most state representatives referenced the vulnerability of women and girls or the dimension of sex trafficking, the issues remained separated from the main topic of the debate, demonstrating a lack of substantive integration for the WPS Agenda. Furthermore, though this meeting offered a strong platform to highlight women’s issues within International Peace and Security, the role of women was largely relegated to that of victims, rather than agents of change. This is also reflected in Resolution 2331 (2016), where the vulnerability of women and children is stressed, but which virtually lacks measures to engage women in developing policy or otherwise preventing, suppressing, or responding to the crime.

 

Statements:

The Meeting Record is available here.

 

States Represented at this meeting included:  

Nigeria, Ukraine, Japan, Venezuela, Uruguay, Malaysia, New Zealand, China, Russian Federation, United States, United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Angola, Egypt, Senegal, Mexico, Colombia, Germany, Iran, Brazil, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein (also on behalf of  Australia and Switzerland), India, Belgium (also on behalf of Argentina, Netherlands and Slovenia), Austria, Poland, Nicaragua, Thailand, Indonesia, Canada, Romania, Israel, Argentina, Qatar, Australia, Bangladesh, Morocco, Jordan, Paraguay, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Bahrain (on behalf of the Group of Friends against Trafficking), Turkey, Philippines, Peru, Norway (on behalf of the Nordic States), Haiti, Panama, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Rwanda, Eritrea, Chile, Afghanistan and Côte d’Ivoire.

UN Speakers:

The Secretary-General, UNODC, Nadia Murad, SRSG SVC, Ameena Saeed Hasan, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See, the European Union, the International Organization for Migration, Organization of American States, and Interpol.

 

 

Please choose

General Women, Peace and Security
  • Country

    Argentina
  • Extracts

    Argentina would like to point out that, while the threat of trafficking in persons may in fact increase in conflict situations, it is important to bear in mind that the United Nations has already developed a sophisticated system to fight trafficking, which has been designed through resolutions of the General Assembly, in particular under the agenda items entitled “Crime prevention and criminal justice” and “Advancement of women”.

  • Country

    Australia
  • Extracts

    We know that armed conflict and instability — and the resulting economic desperation — amplifies the risk of human trafficking for vulnerable people, especially women and children, people with disabilities, migrants and displaced people. Sadly, refugee and internal displacement camps are particularly fertile ground for human traffickers.

  • Country

    Luxembourg
  • Extracts

    Today they bear witness to the fate of too many civilians — men, women and children — in Syria and Iraq, but also in Nigeria, Somalia and Central Africa. Let us hear their call.

  • Country

    Turkey
  • Extracts

    In connection to this, the nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking needs to be better understood.

    We welcome the strong condemnation in today’s resolution of the activities of Da’esh related to human trafficking and sexual and gender-based violence.

  • Country

    Panama
  • Extracts

    We also thank the Secretary-General and the briefers for their important contributions and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, for her thematic report (A/71/303), aimed at raising the international community’s awareness of the forms and nature of trafficking in persons in situations of conflict and particularly its effects on women and children.

  • Country

    Montenegro
  • Extracts

    It is unfortunate that women and children account for the vast majority of trafficking victims, which also include boys and men, as human traffickers target the most fragile, exhausted, desperate and vulnerable societal groups.

  • Country

    Saudi Arabia
  • Extracts

    Regrettably, the majority of its victims are women, girls and children.

  • Country

    Rwanda
  • Extracts

    The victims, especially children and women are targeted by criminals, many of whom belong to transnational organized crime networks, for sexual exploitation, slavery and other forms of exploitation.

  • Country

    Chile
  • Extracts

    This complex and diverse transnational phenomenon should be addressed from a holistic, coordinated perspective through the system, including in the Council and its subsidiary bodies, as it is linked to the central themes of its agenda, such as the protection of civilians in armed conflict; women and peace and security; children and armed conflict; and the financing of terrorism.

    Secondly, we must address human trafficking linked to the exploitation of mineral resources and promote effective measures relative to the supply chain, such as the commercial due-diligence guidelines on minerals from conflict zones, where many women, boys and girls are forcibly employed.

  • Speaker

    Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • Extracts

    The majority of trafficking victims are women and girls. Our response must include special attention to their rights. States must adopt gender-sensitive and rights-based migration policies.

  • Speaker

    Holy See
  • Extracts

    People of goodwill, whatever their religious beliefs, can never allow women, children and men to be treated merely as objects, or to be deceived, violated, often sold and resold for profit, leaving them devastated in mind and body only to be finally eliminated or abandoned.

Conflict Prevention
  • Country

    Colombia
  • Extracts

    As obvious as it may sound, human trafficking is a crime, tragic and brutal in its disproportionate effects on the most vulnerable: women and girls, migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons.

    With a long internal conflict like ours, we in Colombia have understood that women and girls play a fundamental and proactive role in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, as well as in building stable and lasting peace. That is why we must ensure their rights in a safe and supportive environment. In the peace agreement that is starting to be implemented, with the support of the Security Council, guaranteeing the rights of women and girls has become a common purpose in the work of all the institutions that have been collaborating and incorporating a gender perspective into their various programmes.

Participation
  • Country

    Austria
  • Extracts

    Conflict-related sexual violence and sex as payment for passage for women and girls on the move, as well as the sexual enslavement of and trading in women and girls by terrorist groups, are a shockingly common reality. Austria hosted an international conference in June this year, entitled “Fighting Conflict-Related Sexual Violence — Grassroots Women as Agents of Change”, which focused specifically on the contribution and the role of women in civil society in Syria and Iraq. We reiterate our support for the important work on that topic by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict.

  • Country

    Ireland
  • Extracts

    It will mean a focus not only on target 8.7, which addresses modern slavery and human trafficking directly, but also on Goal 5, to ensure women’s empowerment, and Goal 16 to prioritize the building of strong and inclusive institutions.

    Through our support to Justice Rapid Response and UN-Women, we heard last year harrowing accounts of investigations into sexual violence and human trafficking by Boko Haram.

     This applies in particular to women, but also to young people, including former child combatants.

Protection
  • Country

    Uruguay
  • Extracts

    By way of conclusion, we believe, in short, that fighting trafficking in persons in conflict situations requires efforts and cooperation from the international community as a whole in order to address the needs of those who are most vulnerable, such as women and children.

  • Country

    China
  • Extracts

    Resolution 2331 (2016), unanimously adopted today by the Security Council, will help the international community combat trafficking in persons in conflict areas and protect the rights and interests of women and children in a joint endeavour. Today, we are witnessing the swift emergence of problems in regional hotspots, the start of new conflicts and the continuance of protracted ones, which all pose a serious threat to the survival and dignity of the people in conflict situations, in particular vulnerable groups such as women and children, making them easier prey to violence and crime. It is incumbent upon the international community to build synergies to enhance the protection of the rights of women and children in areas of armed conflict and strive to end the trafficking of persons in such areas.

    First, we must eradicate the root causes of conflict. While fighting transnational organized crime with great intensity and providing safety assurances for women and children in conflict situations, the international community should pay close attention to addressing the root causes of conflict.

    Thirdly, we should help conflict-torn countries to strengthen their capacity-building. They bear the primary responsibility for protecting the safety of their women and children and combating human trafficking.

    China will continue to strengthen its cooperation with Governments and the relevant international organizations in order to effectively protect the rights and interests of women and children, to combat human trafficking in conflict situations and to jointly safeguard international and regional peace, security, stability and development.

  • Country

    Greece
  • Extracts

    The comprehensive protection of vulnerable persons, including women, girls and unaccompanied children, figures high in our priorities.

  • Speaker

    Civil Society Speaker
  • Extracts

    The Yazidi religious leaders adopted a declaration facilitating the reintegration victims and their provision of special assistance. We are very grateful, but there are more than 3,000 abducted women who are not treated as prisoners of war. but used as sexual slaves, shared and exchanged among fighters. We understand that the international community has expressed sympathy for our plight, but it must act to stop the genocide and to protect our women so that they do not become objects of such slavery.

    To ensure the freedom of more than 3,000 Yazidi women who remain in the hands of Da’esh, I request that Yazidi areas be protected. I also ask for the protection of other minorities to prevent the recurrence of genocide and the enslavement of women. 

  • Speaker

    United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Member
  • Extracts

    Human trafficking in our hemisphere focuses on sexual exploitation, mainly of women and girls or adolescents. The Work Plan takes into account the different manifestations of exploitation considered as human trafficking, and pays special attention to vulnerable, at-risk groups and indigenous populations and other traditional communities, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons groups. The mandates and guidelines of the Second Work

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
  • Country

    Ukraine
  • Extracts

     In different parts of the world affected by conflict, sexual violence is used as a destructive tactic of war or terrorism, as well as one of the key elements of the ideology and activities of extremist groups, such as Boko Haram and Da’esh. The terrorist groups that I just mentioned are openly promoting human trafficking as part of their military strategy or as a source of funding. That is why the connection between phenomena like human trafficking, sexual violence in conflict situations and the activities of terrorist organizations requires special attention from the Security Council. The adoption of resolution 2331 (2016) is a timely measure that demonstrates the ability of the Security Council to respond to the new challenges and threats that arise in the area of peace and security.

     

    We cannot close our eyes in the face of the situation on the ground. We cannot wait for the number of victims of sexual exploitation and sexual violence related to trafficking to reach the terrible numbers of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina or the genocide in Rwanda. A constant problem is the underestimation of data on sexual violence in conflicts.

  • Country

    Venezuela
  • Extracts

    We especially wish to thank Ms. Ameena Saeed Hasan and Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha for their courage and for reminding us once again today of the consequences and trauma experienced by victims of war and terrorism, in this case in one of its most perverse forms: trafficking in persons and sexual violence.

    We are witnessing a tragedy that is being experienced by thousands of people, especially women and children. In addition to the horrors of armed conflict, they are victims of trafficking and sexual violence: crimes that attack human dignity in the most perverse of ways and, depending on the circumstances, constitute flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and international conventions on human rights and on transnational organized crime.

    Nevertheless, it is necessary to highlight that the reasons for and causes that promote this type of crime — and the fact that extremist and terrorist groups use trafficking in persons and sexual violence as part of their strategic goals and to finance their criminal activities — have been exacerbated in recent years due to situations of armed conflict in various regions of the world, such as the Middle East and North Africa, and in particular in Iraq, Syria, Libya and the Sahel.

    The report of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in armed conflicts (S/2016/361) highlighted the fact that in the past two years sexual violence has been increasingly linked to the strategic, ideological and financial objectives of extremist and terrorist groups. Venezuela recognizes that trafficking in persons and sexual violence are being used by some extremist and terrorist groups as a terror tactic and also to finance this scourge. Moreover, the enslavement and trafficking of women and children demonstrates their absolute disregard towards women and their intolerance and hatred of other races, cultures and religions. It is the clearest sign of the brutal and despicable nature of those extremist groups, which will have to be brought to justice.

    That way we can effectively decrease their operational capacity and, consequently, reduce the number of various crimes related to trafficking in persons and sexual violence. Ending trafficking in persons and sexual violence in armed conflicts means being fully committed to resolving armed conflicts wherever such crimes occur.

    Also, it clearly points to the need to have better strategic coordination of efforts in order to prevent trafficking in persons and sexual violence and also to confront it, in line with efforts to combat violent extremism, which could lead to terrorism.

  • Country

    Uruguay
  • Extracts

    According to the World Report on Human Trafficking of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), that phenomenon affects practically all regions of the world. UNODC has identified at least 510 flows of transnational trafficking in persons. Most of those victims are targeted for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

    Thirdly, the resolution addresses sexual violence and the strengthening of the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Uruguay condemns the use of sexual violence by any party as a terrorist tactic to further such an agenda. Those practices have led to the development of a growing nexus between trafficking in persons and conflict, thereby violating the rights ofthousands of women and children within the context of war.

  • Country

    Malaysia
  • Extracts

    Da’esh and its ilk have shown that they are capable of immense cruelty through the prevalant use of sexual violence and the enslavement and trade of women and girls for recruitment and financial purposes. In that regard, the practices of groups such as Da’esh and Boko Haram in perpetuating sexual violence, including through the trafficking of women and children, demands heightened and greater attention and responses from the Council.

    Women and children subjected to any violations and abuses, 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 assistance.

  • Country

    New Zealand
  • Extracts

    The callous barbarity of the treatment meted out to innocent people, most often women, girls and young men, is mind-numbing: being kidnapped, forced into marriage, raped, sexually molested and abused; sold into slavery, forced into prostitution; forced to be a suicide bomber, a combatant, a labourer; and even sent into battle with your baby strapped to your back.

    That means ensuring that the effects of trafficking and sexual violence against women, men, and children are appropriately reflected in our consideration of specific mandates and country situations.

    Finally, we must not lose sight of the needs of those most affected by conflict-related trafficking and sexual violence — the victims and the survivors. In that regard, Nadia Murad laid down a very specific challenge to the Council today. To establish an effective mechanism to gather and protect evidence of the crimes that have been committed in Iraq and Syria.

  • Country

    United States of America
  • Extracts

    Yet those of us who were in the Chamber a year ago, and again today, will never forget Nadia Murad’s testimony about Da’esh’s institutionalization of slavery and sexual violence, and the nihilistic use of Yazidi women as “trafficked flesh” to recruit male fighters.

    In Da’esh-held territory, the depravity of sexual slavery has continued to shock. Thanks to the courageous work of Special Representative Bangura and her staff, the United Nations has incontrovertible proof that young women are bought, sold and horrifically abused on a daily basis.

  • Country

    United Kingdom
  • Extracts

    I would also like to pay tribute to the Spanish delegation for bringing resolution 2331 (2016) forward, and to the analytical clarity with which Ms. Zainab Bangura in particular, and the Spanish Government in drafting the resolution, has brought to our analysis this problem, by which I mean specifically the ways in which, in paragraphs 8 and 9, we focused on the mechanics of human trafficking in conflict — on the ways in which it is used for recruitment, for financing, for destroying communities, for displacing communities, for gathering intelligence, for advancing ideology; the ways in which this violence can be perpetrated through rape, through sexual slavery, through forced prostitution and pregnancy.

  • Country

    Greece
  • Extracts

    Trafficking in women and girls has become a tactic of terrorism, with terrorist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Boko Haram openly and systematically promoting the trafficking and sexual enslavement of women and girls. To address the nexus between human trafficking, conflict, sexual violence and violent extremism requires a holistic approach. Trafficking as a financial resource for terrorism must not be underestimated.

  • Country

    Spain
  • Extracts

    We have also heard from someone who risked her life to rescue many of those victims, Ms. Ameena Saeed Hasan. Both of them, along with Special Representative of the Secretary- General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Zainab Hawa Bangura, have explained how Da’esh is openly promoting the trafficking and enslavement of women and children, thereby defying the most elemental norms of international law.

    Like many other countries, at the end of 2015, Spain adopted a new comprehensive plan to fight human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

    I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his efforts in combating sexual exploitation and abuse and his zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual violence, which in some cases is perpetrated by Blue Helmets.

  • Country

    Angola
  • Extracts

    Trafficking in human beings in conflict situations leads to sexual slavery, to the trade in women and girls, to forced marriage and to the most appalling human rights violations.

  • Country

    Egypt
  • Extracts

    Fourth, we have to distinguish between the crime of sexual exploitation, which is one of the objectives of human trafficking, and sexual violence.

    Fifth, human trafficking crimes, especially in women and girls, are not associated with any religion, nationality or civilization.

  • Country

    Senegal
  • Extracts

    The phenomenon becomes an even greater source of concern because these people are often subjected to forced marriage or even sexual slavery, for women and girls, or to forced labour, for men and boys, including in the mining sector, if they have not already become slaves or combatants.

    Even more unacceptable are the various forms of sexual violence and exploitation, particularly when they are linked to trafficking in persons in the context of armed conflict. This is a centuries-old phenomenon that unfortunately continues, as we have seen with respect to the fates of the Chibok schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria in 2014, and of the Yazidi women and the women sold at the Raqqa market by Da’esh. In addition, such trafficking is facilitated through social networks.

    Senegal reiterates its firm condemnation of all forms of sexual violence and exploitation.

    Finally, I should like to recall that parties to conflict bear the responsibility, with the support of the international community, to put an end to sexual violence in armed conflict, through a number of efforts, including in the areas of prevention, assistance and protection.

  • Country

    Mexico
  • Extracts

    We must emphatically condemn the fact that, in armed conflict, refugees, displaced persons and immigrants — particularly women and girls — are consistently extremely vulnerable to human trafficking, in addition to frequently being victims of abduction, sexual violence and abuse.

    Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, enables international legal cooperation and bolsters common efforts to prevent, punish and investigate this offence.

    We can no longer allow the trafficking of women and girls to finance criminal activity.

  • Country

    Germany
  • Extracts

    Human trafficking can constitute a war crime and is often connected to sexual violence as a method of warfare against civilians. Displaced persons are particularly vulnerable and prone to becoming the prey of criminals specializing in human trafficking for labour or sexual exploitation.

  • Country

    Iran
  • Extracts

    To that end, demand for trafficking victims should be addressed and suppressed, and protection for victims should be ensured, particularly for women and children, who are mostly subject to forced labour, exploitation, violence and sexual abuse.

    The abhorrent reports of sexual enslavement of innocent women and girls and other atrocities committed by those criminals are the tragedies of our age and of the twenty-first century. Those Governments and individuals that are supporting those criminals financially, logistically or ideologically should be held accountable and brought to justice.

    In that regard, takfiri ideologies that justify such abhorrent acts are to be blamed first, as they provide the necessary mental grounds. The sad trafficking of women and girls in the Middle East and Africa by terrorist groups could only have happened within such horrendous mindsets.

  • Country

    Brazil
  • Extracts

    Brazil is particularly appalled by the incidents of human trafficking committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations, which are frequently associated with sexual enslavement.

    Trafficked persons are treated as objects, not as human beings. They are often subject to organ harvesting, sexual exploitation, domestic service and forced marriages.

  • Country

    Liechtenstein
  • Extracts

    Sexual and gender-based violence are exacerbated in armed conflict. Trafficking in situations of armed conflict has a particular impact on women and girls. Reports from refugees and migrants arriving in Europe suggest that a vast majority of women and girls have been sexually exploited during their flight from conflict.

    We wish to highlight that men and boys should be guaranteed the same access to reparations and services. Recent studies on sexual violence against men and boys suggest that they also suffer from a non-recognition of sexual violence committed against them as sexual violence. That wrong needs to be corrected.

  • Country

    India
  • Extracts

    Situations of armed conflict provide fertile ground for trafficking in persons, in particular those belonging to vulnerable groups such as women, children and refugees. They are victims of sexual slavery and forced labour, including in the mining sector or as fighters. In recent times, the heinous actions of terrorist groups, such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Boko Haram, specifically target vulnerable groups, such as women and children, in situations of armed conflict as a deliberate tactic of war, adding another even more serious dimension to such crimes. Such terrorist groups continue to act with impunity.

  • Country

    Belgium
  • Extracts

    In recent years and in too many parts of the world, widespread conf lict-related sexual violence, enslavement and other acts of human trafficking have been reported.

    We welcome the reports of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2016/361) and on the implementation of measures to counter trafficking in persons (S/2016/949).

    In this brief intervention, we wish to give some elements of an answer to two of the main questions asked in the concept note (S/2016/1031, annex), including what Members States can do to better prevent and combat trafficking in persons, particularly as that relates to conflict-related sexual violence, and how we can ensure the accountability of those who engage in trafficking in persons in conflict situations.

    Enslavement and conf lict-related sexual violence are forbidden by a number of treaties and by customary international law. Moreover, in addition to the statutes and decisions of various international criminal courts and tribunals, most States Members of the United Nations, in their national legal frameworks, consider enslavement, conf lict-related sexual violence and other acts that derive from human trafficking in conflict situations to amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

  • Country

    Austria
  • Extracts

    Conflict-related sexual violence and sex as payment for passage for women and girls on the move, as well as the sexual enslavement of and trading in women and girls by terrorist groups, are a shockingly common reality. Austria hosted an international conference in June this year, entitled “Fighting Conflict-Related Sexual Violence — Grassroots Women as Agents of Change”, which focused specifically on the contribution and the role of women in civil society in Syria and Iraq. We reiterate our support for the important work on that topic by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict.

  • Country

    Poland
  • Extracts

    Civilian populations, notably women and often children, often war refugees and migrants, are subjected to a wide range of forms of exploitation, including sexual violence, forced and compulsory labour, enslavement, as well as forcible recruitment into armed services.

    Particularly disturbing is the nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking, acknowledged earlier in the Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2016/361/Rev.1). Abductions of women and children, systematic and widespread exploitation and abuse, including rape, sexual violence, forced marriages and sex slavery, perpetrated by Da’esh, Boko Haram and other terrorist and armed groups, are horrifying and deeply deplorable, and demand our immediate response.

    Fighting sexual and gender- based violence must be better reflected in counter- terrorist efforts.

  • Country

    Thailand
  • Extracts

    We share wth previous speakers the concern regarding the nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking, particularly the cases that involve United Nations personnel and peacekeepers. As a troop-contributing country, the Kingdom of Thailand welcomes the efforts of the Security Council and the United Nations system to address and respond to reports of trafficking in persons, as well as sexual exploitation and abuse, in the context of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

  • Country

    Indonesia
  • Extracts

    The trafficking of vulnerable people, especially women and children, who should be protected in conflict situations, is an even more heinous crime; they are deceived or abducted into exploitation, torture and servitude.

  • Country

    Canada
  • Extracts

    In situations of conflict, civilians, particularly women and girls, are extremely vulnerable to being trafficked and to sexual violence.

    Canada has been working to keep the issue of violence against women and girls, including the appalling atrocities committed by Da’esh, at the top of the global agenda.

    Our Parliament unanimously adopted a motion to provide asylum to the most vulnerable Yazidi women and girls.

  • Country

    Romania
  • Extracts

    It is well known that internally displaced and refugee women and girls in areas controlled by Da’esh have been sold or forcibly married to fighters in armed groups. The horrendous crimes committed against Yazidi women and girls in particular have generated deep sympathy worldwide.

  • Country

    Israel
  • Extracts

    We must condemn those acts and demand that the Syrian Government uphold its international obligations by refraining from using child soldiers, protecting women who have been sold as sex slaves and prosecuting traffickers, whether they are Government officials or terrorists. We must be the voice of women such as Marwa and Nadia and so many others.

  • Country

    Argentina
  • Extracts

    The executive committee develops and implements awareness-raising campaigns and is in charge of training civil servants to address the problem of trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation and related crimes in order to understand the complexity of the crime and its direct links to drug trafficking and organized crime.

  • Country

    Bangladesh
  • Extracts

     Asustained, coordinated and coherent response by the international, regional and national entities concerned is required to effectively pre-empt and disrupt that nexus, especially when it involves women and children.

    Any possible linkage with trafficking in case of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers must be based on credible information and evidence.

  • Country

    Morocco
  • Extracts

    During conflict, traffickers take advantage of the lack of normalcy and the rule of law to exploit the existing vulnerabilities of people and act with impunity to finance war, provide sexual services and reduce, if not eliminate, ethnic or religious minorities.

    While it is true that non-State armed groups have long exploited vulnerable people for sexual purposes, military service and forced labour, those groups, particularly Da’esh and Boko Haram, encourage and run a slave trade of unprecedented dimensions.

    Members heard, for the first time, the poignant testimony of Nadia Murad Basee Taha, a Yezidi survivor of sexual slavery at the hands of Da’esh.

    We must continue to work on identifying individuals and groups that fund terrorist groups through their sexual trafficking and violence.

  • Country

    Paraguay
  • Extracts

    That system must also take into account mechanisms for dealing with and combating the trafficking in persons and sexual violence in its broadest sense, as well as violent extremism in relation to situations of armed conflict.

  • Country

    Slovakia
  • Extracts

    Trafficking for forced labour or sexual exploitation or for harvesting tissue, cells and organs represents the cruellest type of international organized crime and is well fuelled by poverty or conflict.

  • Country

    Luxembourg
  • Extracts

    First, at the United Nations level, we must strengthen the link between combating human trafficking and the implementation of efforts to end sexual violence and grave violations of children’s rights in conflict situations.

  • Country

    Turkey
  • Extracts

    In connection to this, the nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking needs to be better understood.

    We welcome the strong condemnation in today’s resolution of the activities of Da’esh related to human trafficking and sexual and gender-based violence.

  • Country

    Montenegro
  • Extracts

    As the Secretary-General has made clear, the trafficking of women and girls and their sexual enslavement are a source of financing for the Islamic State and a recruitment tool.

  • Country

    Kazakhstan
  • Extracts

    We believe that it is critical and mandatory to train all peacekeeping and other personnel deployed in conflict and post-conflict zones to respond effectively to trafficking in persons, with training in gender sensitivity and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, especially those perpetuated by peacekeepers.

  • Country

    Portugal
  • Extracts

    Every year, millions of men, women and children are victims of human trafficking for exploitation, which includes prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor and services, slavery and similar practices, involuntary servitude, and removal of organs and other forms of exploitation.

    We note with concern that trafficking in persons in situations of conflict-related sexual violence has become a war tactic by violent extremist groups. It turns individuals into commodities, dehumanizes them and exacerbates the multiple and protracted harmful effects of conflict-related violence on victims. And it must be stressed that a consistent mark of this crime is that most victims are women and girls.

  • Country

    Ireland
  • Extracts

    We have seen it in horrific cases involving the trafficking and sexual abuse of women by the so-called Islamic State and Boko Haram.

  • Country

    Uganda
  • Extracts

    The conflicts in the Central African Republic, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and, more recently, South Sudan continue to expose the most vulnerable sections of our population to the criminal networks that traffic in them for mainly cheap labour, sexual exploitation and, in other cases, slavery.

    A number of reports have recently revealed some of the most horrific experiences that the children and women who have been trafficked go through in some of the countries where they end up being sold as objects. Uganda itself has been a victim of this scourge, whereby some our children, particularly girls and young women, who have been trafficked have endured torture and sexual abuse at the hands of their tormentors.

  • Country

    Eritrea
  • Extracts

    It must be underscored that human trafficking has recently become more acute along migration routes, where vulnerable communities and individuals continue to be subjected to sexual violence, degrading treatment, organ harvesting, murder and kidnapping for ransom.

  • Country

    Chile
  • Extracts

    The use of victims of trafficking in combat, sexual exploitation and forced labour has very much become a hallmark of armed conflict and humanitarian crises. The link between sexual violence and trafficking is plain to see. We have watched with horror how armed groups use sexual violence, the commercialization and the enslavement of girls and women as a tool of terrorism and a source of financing. Our repudiation of these acts must be unequivocal and compelling and must be backed up by measures to prevent them and to provide rehabilitation and reintegration to the victims.

  • Speaker

    Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • Extracts

    Trafficking is a global problem, but the most vulnerable people are those caught in conflict: women, children, internally displaced persons and refugees. War provides oxygen to terrorist groups. It gives them space to flourish. the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and others are using trafficking and sexual violence as weapons of terror and an important source of revenue. Both ISIL and Boko Haram have engaged in the sexual enslavement of women and girls through trafficking. Yazidi girls captured in Iraq are trafficked into Syria and sold in open slave markets as if they were things, not people.

  • Speaker

    NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG on WPS)
  • Extracts

    When I was here in December 2015, I testified about crimes of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) committed against me and the Yazidi community. I told the Council about how ISIS attacked my village of Kocho, how they rounded up all the men and killed more than 700 of them in a single day, including six of my brothers. I told the Council that my mother was killed along with other older women. I also recounted that I was enslaved by ISIS for sexual slavery, along with more than 6,000 other Yazidi women and children. I spoke about my ordeal — how we were bought, sold and treated like property. I also explained how I was raped by ISIS militants multiple times per day.

    Since I first sat before the Council, the ISIS genocidal campaign against Yazidis has continued. As of today, more than 3,000 Yazidis remain in captivity. More than 350,000 Yazidis, along with more than 1.5 million other refugees, continue to live under difficult conditions in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. In my own family, two of my sisters-in-law, two nieces and two nephews are still hostages of ISIS. A year ago, my beloved niece Katherine was killed in an explosion as she attempted to escape ISIS territory on foot. She was just 18-years old.

    Women and children in conflict areas are sacrificed instead of being protected.

     

  • Speaker

    Civil Society Speaker
  • Extracts

    Indeed, the terrorist organization Da’esh abducted over 6,500 Yazidi women and children. For two years, four months and eighteen days, our women and girls have been sold in slave markets and have been subjected to sexual slavery and the slave trade in the worst phenomenon of modern history, because Da’esh has taken us back to the age of slavery and the slave trade, where a twelve-year- old girl is sold for a pack of cigarettes. Those crimes are an embarrassment to humankind. The international community remained silent in the face of all that has happened and is happening still.

    Since 3 August 2014, the suffering of Yazidi has continued. Women, in particular, and indeed, Yazidi mothers have to choose between being raped themselves or having their own children raped before their very eyes. That is how we are treated by Da’esh. The virginity of our girls has become the portal to paradise, according to the laws and ideals of Da’esh.

    When selected areas have been reopened, we find the mass graves of Yazidi men, women and even disabled people. Yazidis have often been the victims of murder. If the international community does not provide us with protection, other groups will commit similar crimes and once again thousands of women and girls will become sexual slaves.

    We cannot compromise with the honour and dignity of our women and girls. I would ask members to imagine for a few seconds that their son or daughter became the object of a lucrative trade by terrorists or was brainwashed and became a terrorist. Those are very sad images, but unfortunately we them experience every day. That is the reality we witness daily; it is a twenty-first century reality. Our women and our children are brought to slave markets, much like in medieval times. How can the human conscience stand for that? More than 6,500 Yazidi women were abducted but no military operation was carried out to free them. Where is justice? More than 3,000 women and children were freed by various means through the help of an office of the Government of Kurdistan entrusted with the affairs of kidnapped individuals and others.

    They need to be provided with consistent support to face the problems of genocide and sexual enslavement.

  • Speaker

    European Union
  • Extracts

    We welcome the reports of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2016/361and S/2016/361/Rev.1) and on the implementation of measures to counter trafficking in persons (S/2016/949). We especially note the nexus between conf lict- and post-conf lict-related sexual violence and human trafficking. In that context, trafficking takes many despicable forms, from sexual slavery to labour exploitation or organ removal. The list is long and gruesome. We are concerned by the references to armed groups that regard the civilian population as a resource to be exploited, viewing women’s sexuality and fertility as commodities to be trafficked and traded as part of the political economy of war.

    Importantly, trafficking is gender-specific. The most recent EU data show that trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is still the most widespread form and that the majority of its victims are women and girls. In that respect, we call for a more gender-specific, targeted approach in all actions against trafficking. 

    We remain committed to the implementation of the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, as defined in the Secretary- General’s Bulletin (ST/SGB/2003/13) on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse.

    It is well known that Da’esh uses sexual violence systematically to fund its operations.

  • Speaker

    United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Member
  • Extracts

    Human trafficking in our hemisphere focuses on sexual exploitation, mainly of women and girls or adolescents. The Work Plan takes into account the different manifestations of exploitation considered as human trafficking, and pays special attention to vulnerable, at-risk groups and indigenous populations and other traditional communities, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons groups. The mandates and guidelines of the Second Work

Peacekeeping
  • Country

    Thailand
  • Extracts

    We share wth previous speakers the concern regarding the nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking, particularly the cases that involve United Nations personnel and peacekeepers. As a troop-contributing country, the Kingdom of Thailand welcomes the efforts of the Security Council and the United Nations system to address and respond to reports of trafficking in persons, as well as sexual exploitation and abuse, in the context of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

  • Country

    Bangladesh
  • Extracts

     Asustained, coordinated and coherent response by the international, regional and national entities concerned is required to effectively pre-empt and disrupt that nexus, especially when it involves women and children.

    Any possible linkage with trafficking in case of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers must be based on credible information and evidence.

  • Country

    Kazakhstan
  • Extracts

    We believe that it is critical and mandatory to train all peacekeeping and other personnel deployed in conflict and post-conflict zones to respond effectively to trafficking in persons, with training in gender sensitivity and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, especially those perpetuated by peacekeepers.

Displacement and Humanitarian Response
  • Country

    Brazil
  • Extracts

    Human trafficking is among the most despicable crimes known to humankind, as it affects the most vulnerable, such as migrants and internally displaced persons, especially women and girls.

     

  • Country

    Liechtenstein
  • Extracts

    Sexual and gender-based violence are exacerbated in armed conflict. Trafficking in situations of armed conflict has a particular impact on women and girls. Reports from refugees and migrants arriving in Europe suggest that a vast majority of women and girls have been sexually exploited during their flight from conflict.

    We wish to highlight that men and boys should be guaranteed the same access to reparations and services. Recent studies on sexual violence against men and boys suggest that they also suffer from a non-recognition of sexual violence committed against them as sexual violence. That wrong needs to be corrected.

  • Country

    Austria
  • Extracts

    Those displaced by conflict, especially women and girls and minorities, are particularly vulnerable to that form of crude exploitation.

  • Country

    Poland
  • Extracts

    Civilian populations, notably women and often children, often war refugees and migrants, are subjected to a wide range of forms of exploitation, including sexual violence, forced and compulsory labour, enslavement, as well as forcible recruitment into armed services.

    Particularly disturbing is the nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking, acknowledged earlier in the Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2016/361/Rev.1). Abductions of women and children, systematic and widespread exploitation and abuse, including rape, sexual violence, forced marriages and sex slavery, perpetrated by Da’esh, Boko Haram and other terrorist and armed groups, are horrifying and deeply deplorable, and demand our immediate response.

    Fighting sexual and gender- based violence must be better reflected in counter- terrorist efforts.

  • Country

    Australia
  • Extracts

    We know that armed conflict and instability — and the resulting economic desperation — amplifies the risk of human trafficking for vulnerable people, especially women and children, people with disabilities, migrants and displaced people. Sadly, refugee and internal displacement camps are particularly fertile ground for human traffickers.

  • Country

    Turkey
  • Extracts

    The rising trends in forced displacement is heightening the risks for the human trafficking of those displaced. Women and children are particularly more affected by these developments.

Human Rights
  • Country

    Angola
  • Extracts

    Trafficking in human beings in conflict situations leads to sexual slavery, to the trade in women and girls, to forced marriage and to the most appalling human rights violations.

Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform
  • Country

    Venezuela
  • Extracts

    We cannot accept impunity for this kind of crime. Venezuela is in favour of effective accountability for all forms of sexual violence

  • Country

    Iran
  • Extracts

    To that end, demand for trafficking victims should be addressed and suppressed, and protection for victims should be ensured, particularly for women and children, who are mostly subject to forced labour, exploitation, violence and sexual abuse.

    The abhorrent reports of sexual enslavement of innocent women and girls and other atrocities committed by those criminals are the tragedies of our age and of the twenty-first century. Those Governments and individuals that are supporting those criminals financially, logistically or ideologically should be held accountable and brought to justice.

    In that regard, takfiri ideologies that justify such abhorrent acts are to be blamed first, as they provide the necessary mental grounds. The sad trafficking of women and girls in the Middle East and Africa by terrorist groups could only have happened within such horrendous mindsets.

  • Country

    Canada
  • Extracts

    Canada commends the comprehensive approach taken by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Zainab Bangura, as well as the work of t the Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, and UN Action. We also commend the partnership between UN-Women and Justice Rapid Response and their work in deploying experts to investigate and document such crimes with a view to supporting prosecutions by national or international tribunals.

  • Country

    Luxembourg
  • Extracts

    Finally, at the national level, we are in the process of completing our legislative arsenal. A bill is currently before Parliament that proposes in particular to punish any client soliciting the services of a sexually exploited victim of human trafficking.

  • Country

    Ireland
  • Extracts

    In addition, the Council can serve to bolster other accountability measures, for example, by supporting Special Representative Bangura, by active deployment of women-protection advisers in peacekeeping missions, by referring cases to the International Criminal Court, and by supporting regional and national systems of accountability.

Implementation
  • Country

    Ukraine
  • Extracts

    Resolution 2242 (2015), the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security, which was established by the delegations of Spain and Great Britain, and the launch of the Network of National Coordinators for Women and Peace and Security are just a few of the examples of real achievements made by Spain to improve the efficiency of the Organization, particularly of the Security Council I would also like to emphasize the importance of the topic proposed for discussion in today’s open debate.

  • Country

    Chile
  • Extracts

    Thirdly, we must incorporate the issue of the trafficking of women and girls in conflict in the agenda of the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security, known as the 2242 Group, created by Spain, since this is considered to be a challenge in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).