The 2020 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons is the fifth of its kind mandated by the General Assembly through the 2010 United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. It covers 148 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 2016 and 2019. 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. 

As with previous years, this edition of the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons presents a global picture of the patterns and flows of trafficking (Chapter 1), alongside detailed regional analyses (Chapter 6) and country profiles. In addition, this Report provides four thematic chapters. Chapter 2 of the Report examines how poor socioeconomic conditions are used by traffickers to recruit and exploit victims. The third chapter expands on patterns of child trafficking and the roles that extreme poverty, social norms and familial backgrounds play in this form of trafficking. Then, the fourth chapter focuses on trafficking for forced labour and explores the specific economic sectors that are more vulnerable to trafficking. Finally, the fifth chapter presents emerging patterns on internet technologies that are used by traffickers to facilitate recruitment and exploitation. 

In addition to sexual exploitation (72 per cent of girl victims) and forced labour (66 per cent of boys), children are exploited for begging and forced criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, among other crimes. Traffickers in these cases often leverage difficult family backgrounds, trying to create a sense of belonging for the victim. Case summaries and literature show that parents and siblings may also be directly involved in child trafficking. 

Outside of trafficking for forced labour or sexual exploitation, trafficking for forced criminal activity is the most detected form of trafficking. About 6 per cent of total victims detected globally are exploited for the commission of crime, ranging from pickpocketing to drug cultivation or drug trafficking. In the year 2018 alone, this form of trafficking was reported by 13 countries in Europe, South Asia, Africa and the Americas