According to the International Labor Organization, 71 percent of victims of human trafficking worldwide are women and girls, while the remaining 29 percent are men and boys. The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek reported today.
According to experts, 30.2 million victims (75 percent) are aged 18 and above.
The number of children under 18 is estimated at 10.1 million (25 percent).
If earlier the human trafficking industry took the third place in the world in terms of profitability, to date it has overtaken the arms trade and drug trafficking industries, taking the first place globally for the first time. Unfortunately, this is an indication of the rapid and enormous growth and demand for human trafficking.
The human trafficking industry is very extensive and includes sexual slavery (women and children), illegal organ transplantation, forced marriages abroad, begging and more.
Human trafficking in Kyrgyzstan, like elsewhere in the world, remains a largely hidden phenomenon, with only a few cases officially registered annually. The reason for this is the decision of victims of human trafficking not to make their stories public.
The World Day against Trafficking in Persons is marked every year on July 30.
