15 Years of the United Nations Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Its Causes and Consequences (pdf)
This report reviews the status of violence against women as researched in 14 annual reports, 32 country mission reports, and 11 communication reports published as recently as December 2008. The report focuses on reproductive health and rights, poverty, migration, internally displaced persons (IDPs), women refugees, trafficking, aging, and adolescent girls. It also highlights how the mandate on violence against women has changed, what has been learned, and problems still to be addressed.
2012 Report on States' Anti-Trafficking Laws
Polaris Project has rated all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 10 categories of laws that are critical to a basic legal framework that combats human trafficking, punishes traffickers and supports survivors. View a quick overview or download the entire report.
2012 Trafficking in Persons Report (pdf)
2012 edition of the US Department of States annual report of the condition of trafficking around the globe. This report outlines the continuing challenges faced regarding human trafficking in all its forms.
A Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (pdf)
"A new report on human trafficking that provides a global overview on legislation, the criminal justice response, trafficking patterns, intra-and-international flows, and monitoring. The UNODC also highlights the situation of a variety of countries from all regions of the world."
An online bilingual guide in English and Spanish for helping a girl caught in prostitution or sex trafficking. The guide includes warning signs, resources, how to get help from the justice system, what to do if the girl is arrested, what to do if the girl is found deceased and more. The guide is based on the view that mothers, grandmothers, and others close to prostituted girls have been a neglected, yet powerful resource in the fight to end sexual exploitation. The guide seeks to give them the tools they need.
A Handbook on Planning Projects to Prevent Child Trafficking
This handbook highlights improvements in child trafficking prevention strategies, and drawing on from some of the lessons which have already been learnt by many different organizations.
Addressing Gender-based Violence: UNFPA Strategy and Framework for Action (pdf)
This report, grounded in UNFPA's overarching goal of eliminating violence against women and girls, identifies particular areas where action is most urgently needed and proposes general policy frameworks for combating gender-based violence.
Anti-Human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners
"The purpose of this manual is to support criminal justice practitioners in the prevention of human trafficking, the protection of its victims, the prosecution of its culprits and in the international cooperation needed to achieve these goals. The manual is divided into fourteen modules which outline the indicators of human trafficking, the impact of abuse on victims, international cooperation in prosecuting cases, how to engage with trafficked persons, and victims’ needs and support mechanisms."
ASTRA Manual for Work on SOS Hotline for (potential) Victims of Human Trafficking (pdf)
"A manual discussing ASTRA's SOS trafficking telephone hotline. The hotline provides victims or potential victims of human trafficking in the Republic of Serbia various forms of resources and aid. The manual compiles data and statistics on human trafficking and outlines the protocol for answering calls."
Cambodia: Exodus to the Sex Trade? (pdf)
"This report suggests that the global financial crisis has led to an increase of women entering the sex trafficking industry in Cambodia. Women said they entered the sex trafficking industry mostly because of “difficult family circumstances,” and because they thought they could “easily earn a lot of money, in good working conditions." In order to combat this new trend, the report recommends strengthening social safety nets, linking women seeking jobs with alternative job placement assistance, targeted awareness raising and specific information outreach on accessing social services and how to utilize safer sources of loans and credit."
Child Protection Information Sheets (pdf)
"This booklet comprises 14 information sheets which highlight how child protection is crucial to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Covering different forms of abuse, these sheets also outline how to build a protective environment for children and what UNICEF is doing on the ground to protect children."
Child Trafficking for Sexual Purposes Report (pdf)
End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT International) released a report in November 2008 on the global problem of child sex trafficking. The report sums up progress countries have made since passing laws to combat child sex trafficking. Finally, the report highlights key lessons learned and discusses six recommendations to improve strategies and policies.
Child Trafficking in the EU - Challenges, perspectives and good practices (pdf)
A report on the spread of child trafficking in the EU member states. Few of several findings of the report include: children who disappear from shelters are more likely to fall victim to child trafficking, low number of convictions for child trafficking, and one of the factors leading to low convictions is that many victims of trafficking are not accurately identified as such. The report concludes with a recommendation that victims of trafficking should not be treated as criminals and charged with crimes and instead putting an end to these practices and protect victims.
Collaborating to Help Trafficking Survivors: Emerging Issues and Practice Pointers (pdf)
"This manual is for those committed to assisting trafficking survivors, especially sexual assault and domestic violence advocates and their allies in the criminal and legal systems who have basic knowledge of the trafficking assistance process. This manual examines issues and promising practices that have emerged during the six years since the federal government decided in 2000 to devote significant attention to trafficking and its victims."
Confronting Sexual Violence in Conflict Situations (pdf)
"This document is one of four sections to be published in the organization's upcoming handbook, 'Women Claiming Justice: Using International Law in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations'. The report outlines the various manifestations of sexual violence frequently exhibited in conflict zones, specifically highlighting rape and sexual abuse, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking. Also provides a “Peace Builders Action Toolkit” with resources for activists working to create peace and justice. "
Eliminating Violence against Children (pdf)
"Jointly produced by UNICEF and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, this handbook describes measures parliamentarians can take to end violence against children: they can legislate, oversee government activities, allocate financial resources and, as leaders in their nations and communities, raise awareness of issues."
Ending Modern-Day Slavery: Using Research to Inform U.S. Anti-Human Trafficking Efforts (pdf)
This report presents the results of a study examining the challenges facing the U.S. criminal justice system in its efforts to combat human trafficking.
Exploitation of Trafficked Women (pdf)
"This guide describes the problem of exploiting women who have been trafficked into the United States and the aspects of human trafficking that contribute to it. The guide focuses on the final period in the process of trafficking at which women are further exploited by those into whose hands they are passed. Finally, it reviews responses to the exploitation of trafficked women and examines what is known about the effectiveness of these responses from research and police practice. "
Greater Cincinnati Human Trafficking Report (pdf)
"The report summarizes research and analysis of laws, ordinances, and regulations applicable to human trafficking in greater Cincinnati. It also includes findings from an extensive survey of law enforcement officials, social service providers, healthcare providers, attorneys, city and county leaders, non-governmental organizations, media, and faith-based organizations. Finally, it recommends three first steps the city and community leaders may take to begin addressing human trafficking."
Guatemala’s Femicide Law: Progress Against Impunity? (pdf)
This report places femicide within a particular historical, cultural and socio-political context describing the 36-year internal conflict that resulted in rape, torture and murder of tens of thousands of Guatemalan women and girls. Although the government has made some progress in implementing some aspects of the Law Against Femicide, the report also points out that the lack of understanding of the law, continued social unrest, poor media portrayal, and inadequate efforts to implement the law stand in the way of serious progress. The report concludes with recommendations for the government including improving investigation and prosecution of crimes of violence against women, and protection of the victims of violence and their children.
This report focuses on female migrant workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, who worked in the host countries of Bahrain, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. Researchers' key findings concluded that female migrant workers are vulnerable to HIV during all stages of employment abroad. They face sexual assault, sexual exploitation and being trafficked into the commercial sex industry while applying for or being recruited into employment, or during transit between home countries and host countries. Home countries' policies can also contribute to the problem as banning women from working abroad serves to push worker migration underground.
This report documents how local corruption and the complicity of international officials in Bosnia have allowed a trafficking network to flourish, in which women are tricked, threatened, physically assaulted and sold as chattel.
How to obtain U Interim Relief: A Brief Manual for Advocates Assisting Immigrant Victims of Crime (pdf)
This manual provides U Visa information for advocates who assist victims of crime, including domestic violence. The author outlines the definition, requirements, and application process for U Visa Interim relief and also offers information on obtaining permanent residency and derivative status for family members.
Human Rights Watch World Report 2010 (pdf)
"This 20th annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. It reflects extensive investigative work undertaken in 2009 by Human Rights Watch staff, usually in close partnership with human rights activists in the country in question."
Human Trafficking Cheat Sheet (pdf)
Two page sheet that defines human trafficking and gives basic facts about the issue, including statistics.
Human Trafficking in Minnesota, A 2010 Report to the Minnesota Legislature (pdf)
"In 2005, the Minnesota legislature passed Minnesota Statute 299A.785, requiring the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to complete annual studies on the extent and type of human trafficking occurring in our state. The first report was completed in September 2006.
Human Trafficking Service Provider Manual for Certified Domestic Violence Centers (pdf)
This is a manual designed to assist domestic violence advocates in working with victims of trafficking. The manual details considerations and recommendations for service provision, benefits available to victims of trafficking, legal issues, criminal prosecution of traffickers, working with the media, potential funding sources, and additional anti-trafficking resources.
Model Law against Trafficking in Persons (pdf)
"The model law is a comprehensive tool for use in drafting legislation on trafficking in persons. It includes sections on definitions, criminal provisions, victim protection and assistance, and cooperation between government agencies. The model also provides extensive commentary on each section. The commentary generally includes alternative language and optional provisions, examples of laws from various countries, and clarification on international standards to combat trafficking in persons."
Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan
This report is based on interviews conducted in Thailand and Japan over a six year period from 1994 to 1999, during which the authors documented serious abuses in the course of trafficked women's recruitment, travel, job placement, and subsequent employment. The interviews in 1999 reveal a clear continuation of the abuses the authors first documented in 1994; indicating that, despite the increased awareness demonstrated by Japanese and Thai officials regarding the abuses trafficked women suffer, these governments have failed as yet to take adequate steps to respond effectively to the problem.
Profiting from abuse: An investigation into the sexual exploitation of children (pdf)
"Highlights ways children are sexually exploited around the world, factors contributing to this exploitation, and responses various states, communities, organizations, and individuals have taken to respond to/prevent/decrease child sexual exploitation."
Progress of South Asian Women 2005 (pdf)
"The document presents a snapshot of women's situation in South Asia, an overview of the processes at work promoting the advancement of women, and identifies gaps during the period 2000–2005. Some of the challenges noted are disproportionate returns to contributions, the added "burden of care," a declining sex ratio, increased gender-based violence, trafficking of women and girls, and the spread of HIV/AIDS."
Protect: Identifying and Protecting High Risk Victims of Gender Based Violence
PROTECT aims at contributing to the prevention and reduction of the most serious forms of gender-based violence against girls, young women and their children, such as grievous bodily harm, homicide and attempted homicide, including so-called honour crimes and killings.
The project’s target groups are professionals from core agencies responsible for the protection and support of victims and the prevention of violence, organisations and institutions working in the area of violence prevention, policy makers and – last but not least – victims of gender-based violence.
This document provides local and community-based organizations with strategies for preventing the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children during natural disasters and other emergencies.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants (pdf)
The author points out that female children are extremely vulnerable to gender-based violence during migration. Migration is often difficult and dangerous for female children due to “additional restrictions on travel” girls may face due to “male guardianships.” Female children are also vulnerable to human trafficking for sexual exploitation or forced labor during migration. The report concludes with recommendations for policy improvements on migration legislation.
Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota
This 2008 report, focuses on trafficking for commercial sex exploitation and prostitution, highlights successes in combating sex trafficking and suggests ways to improve responses to this complex problem in Minnesota.
Shattered Hearts: The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of American Indian Women and Girls in Minnesota (pdf)
A groundbreaking report released by the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) highlights the alarming and pervasive sex trafficking of American Indian women and girls in Minnesota. The first comprehensive report of its kind, it highlights risk factors for victims that include poverty, a disproportionate number of American Indian homeless, high incidences of overall sexual assault, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and pervasive multi-generational trauma.
"This publication presents a regional analysis of anti-trafficking measures relevant to children in the countries of South Asia. It assesses national legal and policy frameworks and provides a list of recommended actions for the application of a rights-based approach to child trafficking."
The 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report (pdf)
"This report highlights the efforts of the international community to combat human trafficking and encourages foreign governments to take action against all forms of human trafficking."
The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People's Republic of China.
This report presents a comprehensive overview of this human rights disaster, grounded in first-hand accounts of North Koreans who escaped to the South, and humanitarian workers who aided them and many less fortunate. It examines the complex and harrowing decision of migrants to leave, an illegal act often deemed tantamount to treason; the months and even years of hiding in China; the desperate circumstances that lead women to sell themselves as sexual companions; and the vulnerability these migrants have that open them to every and any abuse.
The Links Between Prostitution and SexTrafficking: A Briefing Handbook (pdf)
A handbook promoting preventative measures to combat trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation; an international perspective.
The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: America’s Prostituted Children (pdf)
The report reveals findings of three years of intensive research on the issue of child sex trafficking in America from ten locations across the U.S. The study found that at least 100,000 children are used in prostitution every year in the United States and that the average age of entry into prostitution is 13 years old.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants (pdf)
Manual on the preparation, filing and processing of applications pursuant to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Also includes detailed information on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for Children Under Juvenile Court Jurisdiction, and U and T Non-Immigrant Visas (Victims of Crime and Trafficking). A good resource for advocates and legal professionals working with these victims.
This document takes some time to download, especially with a slow connection.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants, Index of Appendices 1-100 (pdf)
Contains a list of appendices in connection with The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants, Index of Appendices 101-200 (pdf)
Contains a list of appendices in connection with The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants, Index of Appendices 201-300 (pdf)
Contains a list of appendices in connection with The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants.
The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants, Index of Appendices 301-380 (pdf)
Contains a list of appendices in connection with The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants.
Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Palestinian Women and Girls: Forms of Modern Day Slavery
"The first, in-depth study of its kind within the region that digs deeper to unravel the layers of this type of abuse. The paper analyzes six case studies — two on fathers selling their daughters, three on traffickers and one on a woman working in prostitution. It assesses and measures the extent of women trafficking in the Palestinian region in order to call on civil society organizations and Palestinian governmental institutions to take urgent and concrete actions against this human rights violation."
This guidebook seeks to contribute to improving the identification of victims of human trafficking. It will provide readers with clear guidance for the identification of trafficked persons, encourage multiagency cooperation, provide community policing tools, and serve as a resource for developing further training manuals.
Trafficking in Lebanon (pdf)
A country assessment of the extent that human trafficking takes place in Lebanon. The report includes a legal review, the contexts in which trafficking occurs, and recommendations for policy makers.
Trafficking in persons monitoring report July 2007 – December 2008 (pdf)
This report details governmental responses to trafficking, comparing Australia’s approach to those of other Asia-Pacific countries. The report identifies factors that contribute to high levels of trafficking within a country, and highlights economic instability as a major obstacle to effectively identifying and preventing trafficking activities. Finally, the report offers recommendations for continuing to prevent and prosecute trafficking activities.
Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 (pdf)
"The ninth annual report seeks to increase global awareness of the human trafficking phenomenon by shedding new light on various facets of the problem and highlighting shared and individual efforts of the international community, and to encourage foreign governments to take effective action against all forms of trafficking in persons."
Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 (pdf)
"The 10th annual Trafficking in Persons Report outlines the continuing challenges across the globe, including in the United States. This year’s report highlights several key trends, including the suffering of women and children in involuntary domestic servitude, the challenges and successes in identifying and protecting victims, and the need to include anti-trafficking policies in our response to natural disasters."
Trafficking in Persons: A Gender and Rights Perspective: Briefing Kit (pdf)
This briefing kit provides information to all practitioners addressing the issue of trafficking in persons and encourages rethinking of efforts from a gender and rights perspective. It is dedicated to survivors of trafficking whose voices and experiences of struggle and resilience continue to inform analyses on and response to trafficking.
Trafficking in Persons: A Guide for Non-Governmental Organizations
This brochure from the U.S. Department of Justice is intended for nongovernmental organizations, such as service providers and other community-based organizations, to use as a reference guide to help trafficking victims.
Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns
"This report attempts to increase understanding about the depth, breadth, and scope of trafficking in persons in hopes of promoting more coordinated and efficient responses to counter trafficking."
Transnational Trafficking and the Rule of Law in West Africa (pdf)
"A recent report that highlights the problem of trafficking of West African women to Europe for forced prostitution. Women trafficked from West Africa are generally controlled by a debt bondage system. The UNODC found that trafficking has a significant negative impact on the rule of law in West Africa. The flow of trafficked people and goods rivals the GDP of some countries in West Africa. Corruption among government officials and law enforcement increases as organized crime groups gain more power and money through trafficking."
Violence against Women – Facts and Figures (pdf)
"This article provides facts and figures on violence against women to illustrate the devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families, and on society as a whole."
Violence in the EU Examined (pdf)
"A report published by the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia on good practices and general recommendations for domestic violence initiatives in the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The project includes findings on sexual harassment, female genital mutilation, honor crimes, exploitation, trafficking, and other issues affecting women and children. A summary of the report’s general recommendations is also available."
Who Is the Next Victim? Vulnerability of Young Romanian Women to Trafficking in Human Beings (pdf)
"Romania is one of the main countries of origin in South Eastern Europe for victims of trafficking. Most of the young women are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. This report examines factors that make women vulnerable to trafficking. It looks not only at individual attributes, but also at environmental factors - the family and the community."
With an End in Sight (pdf)
"With an End in Sight" narrates inspiring stories showing how groups of people are moving ahead and creating new ideas to combat violence against women. It provides knowledge, insight and hope of how violence against women can be eliminated with combined effort, compelling advocacy, and wide-reaching education.
Women and Health: Today’s Evidence, Tomorrow’s Agenda (pdf)
"This report reviews evidence on the health issues that particularly affect girls and women throughout their life course. This report uses currently available data to draw attention to the consequences and costs of failing to address health issues at appropriate points in their lives."
Young People’s Voices on Child Trafficking: Experiences from South Eastern Europe (pdf)
"The UNICEF Innocenti Centre (formally known as the International Child Development Centre) based in Florence, Italy, released a report in December 2008 on child trafficking. The report is based on interviews with 31 individuals in Albania, Kosovo, Republic of Moldova and Romania who had been trafficked when under the age of 18. It details children’s experiences with trafficking and support services. "