This year’s theme for the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons – "Victims’ Voices Lead the Way" –  highlights the importance of listening to and learning from survivors of human trafficking. The impact of COVID-19 has increased the number of persons that find themselves in precarious situations where they are more prone to become victims of traffickers who prey on those who are vulnerable to take advantage and exploit them.  

Trafficking in persons, and in particular of children, continues to be a high profit–low risk crime, based upon the principles of supply and demand. Globally, about one third of the overall detected victims of trafficking are children.  

On the occasion of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2021, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) would like to highlight the specific vulnerability of children to trafficking. Child trafficking is one of the worst forms of violence against children, affecting an alarming number of children globally.