Child rights and child trafficking in conflict situations

The widespread and systematic nature of child trafficking in conflict situations demands an urgent response. Despite consistent and credible evidence of the prevalence of child trafficking and its central role in conflict situations, impunity and significant gaps in protection persist, with devastating consequences for children who are denied their childhood, their right to protection as children and their rights to life, survival and development. One in four children lives in a country affected by conflict, fragility and/or disaster. Child labour in situations of fragility is three times higher than the world average, with high risks of child trafficking.¹ In transitional and post-conflict societies, child trafficking continues to be prevalent, linked to weak child protection systems, continuing threats to the rule of law and administration of justice, and the continuing proliferation of small arms and weapons. The limited attention given to child rights in situations of conflict and failures of child protection allows trafficking in children to persist with impunity.

1. International Labour Organization (ILO), Global Estimates of Child Labour, 2024. ↩

In situations of conflict, the purposes of exploitation vary and may include illegal inter-country adoption,² forced labour and servitude, active combat and support roles, forced criminality, forced begging, sexual exploitation and child marriage. The International Labour Organization (ILO) supervisory bodies have consistently commented on cases of forced labour in conflict contexts. In its comments under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has noted with concern the forced recruitment of children in armed conflict in the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen.³ According to the ILO child labour estimates, there is a strong correlation between child labour and situations of conflict and disaster.

2. Committee on the Rights of the Child and others, “Joint statement on illegal intercountry adoptions”, 29 September 2022, para. 2. Available at www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/ documents/hrbodies/ced/2022-09-29/JointstatementICA_HR_28September2022.pdf. ↩
3. See ILO observations of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations on the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182): Central African Republic, 2023, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0:: NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4317928,103381; Chad, 2025, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_ COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4401651,103386; Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2025, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100: P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4414693,102981; Iraq, 2023/2024, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4325061,102974; Libya, 2025, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4397997,103130; and Mali, 2023, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000: 13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4312740,103081; Myanmar, 2024, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4349254,103159; Nigeria, 2024, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_ COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4365701,103259; Pakistan, 2018, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:3327217,103166; Philippines, 2024, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4358297,102970; Rwanda, 2025, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000: 3100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4408245,103460; Somalia, 2025, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4419449,103244; South Sudan, direct request, 2025, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100: P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4419476,2697100; Sudan, 2024, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4368980,103176; Syrian Arab Republic, 2025, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4419555,102923; and Yemen, 2025, available at https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4419675,103523. ↩

The Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Siobhán Mullally, has issued multiple communications to States and to non-State armed groups, alleging direct involvement in conflict-related child trafficking and serious failures of prevention, protection and accountability.⁴ The communications have highlighted allegations of trafficking in children for recruitment and use by armed groups and armed forces, in direct hostilities and in support roles, and for purposes of sexual exploitation and sexual slavery. In Colombia, the Special Rapporteur noted the need to ensure the application of the definition of trafficking to a range of practices, including recruitment and use of children under the age of 18 (and not limited to children under 15 years), forced recruitment by armed groups, forced labour, forced criminality, exploitation in begging, child and forced marriage and sexual exploitation.⁵ In South Sudan, the Special Rapporteur reported accounts of children being abducted and detained for extended periods of time, often several months, for purposes of exploitation including forced labour, domestic servitude, sexual slavery and recruitment and use. The Special Rapporteur met with parents and families whose children had been abducted and remained missing, with clear indicators of abductions for purposes of exploitation. Such failures of prevention, protection and accountability must end.

4. See, for example, communications JAL OTH 17/2024, JAL SDN 1/2024, AL OTH 130/2023, AL SDN 3/2023, JAL COD 1/2025, JAL COD 6/2024, JUA NGA 1/2021, JAL ETH 2/2022, JAL ERI 2/2022 and JAL LBY 1/2023, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments. ↩
5. End-of-mission statement by the Special Rapporteur on her visit to Colombia, 31 May 2023, available at www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/05/colombia-un-expert-calls-effective-protection-victims-trafficking. ↩

The Special Rapporteur notes that conduct and fact patterns indicating conflict-related child trafficking have been reported by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which specifically identified alleged forced transfers of people and conditions under which expedited adoptions of children are allegedly taking place (A/77/533, para. 114). Forcible transfers of children and sexual slavery have also been reported (see A/78/540). In its resolution 54/2, entitled “Responding to the human rights and humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing armed conflict in the Sudan”, the Human Rights Council expressed its grave concern at reported acts of sexual and gender-based violence and the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, principally by the Rapid Support Forces. These concerns have also been highlighted by the Special Rapporteur in communications to the Rapid Support Forces.

The forms of conflict-related trafficking in children are gendered, with girls targeted primarily for purposes of sexual exploitation, child marriage and domestic servitude. However, the Special Rapporteur notes the underreporting and limited identification of boys as victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Structural gender-based and other forms of discrimination affecting children increase risks of trafficking, due to failures by States to ensure effective child protection and the rights of all children, without discrimination (see A/71/303). Gender stereotyping and discrimination can also result in boys not being identified as victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation (see A/HRC/53/28/Add.2). In its general recommendation No. 38 (2020), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women highlighted that the causes, consequences and experiences of trafficking differ for young girls, adolescent girls and adult women and called on State Parties, to address the full spectrum of those differences, ensuring age-appropriate and child-centred anti-trafficking response measures, where appropriate. The Special Rapporteur highlights the specific political, security and humanitarian challenges faced by survivors who become pregnant as a result of conflict-related sexual violence and by their children born of wartime rape, including heightened vulnerability to conflict-driven trafficking and the perceived association of pregnant women, survivors and their children with the enemy, which exacerbates stigma and endangers them (see S/2022/77). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children and children of diverse gender identities may be at heightened risk of trafficking due to discrimination and violence, including failures of protection by States.

Racism, xenophobia and discrimination against minorities, Indigenous children and children of African descent are root causes of human trafficking in persons and lead to egregious failures of protection. Children do not receive the protection that would be in their best interest, and that is their right, as children. The cycle of trafficking, exploitation and retrafficking continues with impunity. Racist stereotyping and xenophobia limit the impact of prevention measures and lead to failures of identification of child victims and children at risk. Too often the testimonies of victims are questioned and the harms and trauma they have endured are denied. Failure to identify child victims of trafficking lead to refoulement, arrest, detention and prosecution, family separation, and refusals of consular assistance, rather than protection and assistance. The Special Rapporteur stresses that anti-trafficking movements should work together with racial justice movements to effectively prevent child trafficking and ensure access to justice for child victims. The Special Rapporteur has called for urgent action by all actors, including the private sector, to combat racism and xenophobia in humanitarian and peace operations, and has stated that racism, xenophobia and discrimination against minority groups and Indigenous peoples lead to failures to ensure the best interests of children.⁶

6. United Nations, “Racism and xenophobia put human rights of human trafficking victims at risk – UN expert”, 29 July 2021, press release, available at www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/07/racism-and-xenophobia-put-human-rights-human-trafficking-victims-risk-un. ↩

The prohibition against racial discrimination is absolute in international law and permits no exceptions, in accordance with the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. In its general comment No. 11 (2009) on Indigenous children, the Committee on the Rights of the Child notes with grave concern that Indigenous children are disproportionately affected by poverty and at particular risk of being used in child labour, especially its worst forms, such as child trafficking (CRC/C/GC/11, para. 70). In Colombia, it has been noted that trafficking in persons has a particular impact upon Afro-Colombian communities, Indigenous peoples, rural communities and Venezuelan migrants.⁷ In Libya, children of minority groups that lack citizenship and are of undetermined legal status are at risk of becoming involved in fighting (see A/78/172).

7. End-of-mission statement by the Special Rapporteur on her visit to Colombia. ↩

Conflict, displacement and large movements of refugees increase the risks of trafficking. Concerns have previously been raised in relation to the risks of refugee and displaced person settings becoming targets for trafficking in persons for all purposes of exploitation over a protracted period of time.⁸ Refugee, internally displaced and stateless children, in particular unaccompanied and separated children and children of women-headed households, are targeted for purposes of sexual exploitation, child marriage, child labour, domestic servitude and recruitment and use by armed groups.

8. For example, in relation to the Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi, see www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/Webstories2022/refugees-at-risk-unodc-uncovers-human-trafficking-at-camp-in-malawi.html. ↩

The Special Rapporteur highlights the particular risk of trafficking in unaccompanied and separated children, which affects their rights to life, survival and development (CRC/GC/2005/6, para. 23). To ensure fulfilment of the positive obligation of States to prevent trafficking in children, articles 34 to 36 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child must be read in conjunction with article 20, which provides for special protection and assistance by the State, and taking into account the general obligation of non-discrimination.

The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic has significantly increased the risks of trafficking in persons within that country, neighbouring countries and destination countries, particularly for unaccompanied and separated children.⁹ In 2022, joint communications by seven Special Rapporteurs were sent to Eritrea and Ethiopia expressing concern about trafficking in persons, especially women and girls, for purposes of sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery, in the context of the conflict in the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions, and the particular risks of trafficking faced by internally displaced persons, Eritrean refugees, women and girls with disabilities, and children.¹⁰

9. International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Targeting Vulnerabilities: The Impact of the Syrian War and Refugee Situation on Trafficking in Persons – A Study of Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq (Vienna, 2015); and Siobhán Mullally and Claire Raissian, A Child Rights Response to Child Migration and Migrant Children at Risk (International Bar Association, 2019), available at www.ibanet.org/MediaHandler?id=a9e81c7a-56f1-43ca-93ea-091c3e2c8832. ↩
10. See communications JAL ERI 2/2022 and JAL ETH 2/2022, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments. ↩

Trafficking in children is a serious human rights violation and constitutes persecution.¹¹ Systematic targeting of girls belonging to ethnic minorities for rape, trafficking or recruitment into armed forces or groups¹² is recognized as a form of persecution linked to race, among other grounds under the Convention. The Special Rapporteur highlights that targeting boys belonging to minority groups, Indigenous Peoples or migrant communities should also be specifically recognized as persecution linked to race and other grounds under the Convention.

11. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, Conclusion No. 107 (LVIII) on children at risk, 5 October 2007, para. (G) (viii). ↩
12. UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection No. 8, Child asylum claims under articles 1 (A) 2 and 1 (F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (HCR/GIP/09/08), 22 December 2009, para. 41. ↩

Trafficking in children for purposes of forced criminality or sexual exploitation by armed groups is a form of persecution that particularly affects children who lack protection or who are otherwise marginalized by States. Furthermore, children who have been released from armed groups and who return to their countries of origin may be at risk of retrafficking or other serious human rights violations (see A/HRC/47/34). The Special Rapporteur highlights the importance of a child rights analysis in assessing refoulement risks, noting in particular the risk of reprisals, including from family members, as well as social exclusion, ostracism and discrimination against child victims of trafficking who are returned to their homes (ibid., paras. 27 and 28).

The Special Rapporteur is concerned that adolescent refugee children are often not given equal protection by States; she highlights the obligation under article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to respect and ensure the rights of all children without discrimination of any kind. The protection of child rights in the context of any removal or transfer proceedings must be ensured. The Convention provides that non-refoulement obligations apply irrespective of whether serious violations of those rights guaranteed under the Convention originate from non-State actors or whether such violations are directly intended or are the indirect consequence of States Parties’ action or inaction (CRC/C/GC/22-CMW/C/GC/3, paras. 19 and 46). The Special Rapporteur highlights that the State’s capacity to fulfil its positive obligations to provide assistance and protection must be assessed, noting that in situations of conflict, where power structures shift rapidly, decision makers must carefully evaluate a State’s ability and willingness to offer effective protection in word and in deed. To do otherwise would place the principle of non-refoulement – the cornerstone of international protection – at risk.¹³

13. UNHCR intervention before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the case of Dimbil Noor Hassan v. Jefferson B. Sessions, III, Attorney General, No. 17-1894 (A209-760-181), 20 November 2017. ↩

Stateless children fleeing persecution often resort to smugglers for assistance, due to the lack of documentation and safe routes to protection or resettlement, and are at heightened risk of trafficking. The Special Rapporteur has highlighted the situation of Rohingya refugees who remain stateless and without refugee status in several host States or without pathways to regularize their status (A/HRC/53/28/Add.1, para. 58). The condition of statelessness forces many Rohingya to travel across borders by irregular means. Rohingya refugee children are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation, child marriage, domestic servitude and forced labour. As stateless children, they are more likely to have limited or no access to education. This condition of intergenerational denial of rights and structural discrimination heightens vulnerability to child trafficking.

The Special Rapporteur highlights the situation of women and children in the north-east of the Syrian Arab Republic, specifically the situation of children born to non-Syrian mothers who are currently held in camps for internally displaced persons in territory under the control of Kurdish-led authorities (CRC/C/SYR/CO/5, para. 49 (f)), and women who have been deprived of their citizenship and are therefore stateless or de facto stateless and at high risk of trafficking, or who were previously trafficked to the Syrian Arab Republic as children and continue to remain without assistance, protection or access to remedies. The Special Rapporteur has highlighted concerns in relation to such risks and the failure to facilitate the identification of, assistance for and protection of child victims of trafficking, including through repatriation and the provision of consular assistance (A/HRC/47/34).¹⁴

14. See also “Submission by the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in the cases of H.F. and M.F. v. France (App. No. 24384/19) and J.D. and A.D. v. France (App. No. 44234/20) before the European Court of Human Rights”, 5 July 2021; and submission in the case of Shamima Begum v. Secretary of the State for the Home Department before the United Kingdom Special Immigration Appeals Commission, 30 June 2022, available at www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-trafficking-in-persons/submissions-courts-and-other-bodies. ↩

In the report on her visit to the Central African Republic, the Special Rapporteur highlighted concerns about low rates of birth registration, with high risks of de facto statelessness and consequent increased risks of trafficking in children. The Special Rapporteur welcomed the N’Djamena Initiative on the Eradication of Statelessness in Central Africa, launched by States members of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community. In particular, under the Initiative, States called for the strengthening of civil status systems, including to make them more accessible to persons at risk of statelessness, and for ensuring that every child is registered immediately at birth and that every child possesses a birth certificate. They also recognized the importance of a coordinated regional approach in the fight against statelessness. The Special Rapporteur highlighted that an estimated 1.1 million persons in the Central African Republic are at risk of statelessness. Continued delays in securing identity documents and civil status, in particular for internally displaced person returnees, pastoralists and persons belonging to minorities and Indigenous Peoples, increase the risks of statelessness and of trafficking in persons (A/HRC/56/60/Add.2, para. 52).

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities applies at all times and does not allow for the derogation or suspension of its provisions during conflict situations. Children with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory disabilities (art. 1). Children with disabilities face extreme risks during armed conflict and in situations of forced displacement and migration,¹⁵ and require particular and additional human rights monitoring and protection.¹⁶ During emergencies, children with disabilities have greater vulnerability to being victims of all types of violence, including being targeted as victims of child trafficking. They may lose family members who are key caretakers during the emergency, increasing their precarity. Evacuation routes may not be accessible for persons with disabilities. Girls with disabilities face heightened risks and vulnerabilities during conflict and displacement; these risks include being left behind and thus more vulnerable to attack, losing access to needed assistive devices or other forms of support and being subjected to increased levels of sexual and gender-based violence. Recalling Security Council resolution 2475 (2019), all responses to risks of trafficking in children must be disability-inclusive and ensure the rights of children with disabilities, including in the provision of information, access to justice, access to safe and accessible accommodation, transportation and all assistance and protection measures.¹⁷

15. Keelin Barry, “Joint submission from the Irish Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for Disability Law and Policy to the draft general comment on persons with disabilities in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)”, available at www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2023/day-general-discussion-and-call-written-submissions-article-11-convention. ↩
16. See, for example, Human Rights Watch, “They Destroyed What Was Inside Us”: Children with Disabilities Amid Israel’s Attacks on Gaza, Human Rights Watch (2024), available at www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2024/10/israel_palestine0924%20web.pdf. ↩
17. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “Ukraine: armed conflict and displacement heightens risks of all forms of sexual violence including trafficking in persons, say UN experts”, press release, 16 March 2022, available at www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/03/ukraine-armed-conflict-and-displacement-heightens-risks-all-forms-sexual. See also A/HRC/53/28 (2023), para. 68. ↩

The internationally accepted definition of child trafficking is contained in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and is met when a person under the age of 18 has been subject to an “act” (such as recruitment, transportation or transfer) for the “purpose of exploitation” (art. 3 (c)).There is no legal requirement to show “means” (such as force or deception). Importantly, it is the age at which the alleged trafficking commences, and not the age when the victim is identified, that is relevant. This definition of child trafficking applies during situations of peace and conflict and to situations of internal and cross-border child trafficking. Child trafficking in conflict can be committed by a wide range of perpetrators (e.g. government armed forces, militias, armed groups, United Nations-designated terrorist groups, private military and security contractors, families and corporations). In the case of the Central African Republic, the Special Rapporteur expressed serious concern about the use of mercenaries in committing violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, potentially including child trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation, sexual slavery and child and forced marriage.

International humanitarian law does not specifically prohibit child trafficking but has numerous provisions in treaties and customary law that are relevant to the protection of child victims of trafficking and to the prevention and prosecution of child trafficking (A/78/172, paras. 28–32). These include prohibitions on enforced disappearances,¹⁸ recruitment or participation of children in hostilities,¹⁹ slavery and the slave trade in all its forms,²⁰ and rape and other forms of sexual violence,²¹ as well as provisions specifically to protect children,²² and refugees and internally displaced persons (e.g. explicit prohibition of population displacements,²³ the treatment of displaced populations²⁴ and the guarantee of non-refoulement).²⁵

18. See, for example, Rule 98, Enforced disappearance, available at https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule98. ↩
19. Protocol I, art. 77 (2), and Protocol II, art. 4 (3) (c). ↩
20. Geneva Conventions, common art. 3 (1) (c); Additional Protocol I, art. 75 (2) (b); Additional Protocol II, art. 4 (2) (f); and Rule 94, Slavery and slave trade, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule94#Fn_A9C0FAD0_00003. ↩
21. Geneva Conventions, common art. 3; Third Geneva Convention, art. 14; Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 27; Additional Protocol I, arts. 76 and 77; Additional Protocol I, art. 75 (2); Additional Protocol II, art. 4 (2); and Rule 93, Rape and other forms of sexual violence, available at https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_cha_chapter32_rule93. ↩
22. Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 14, 17, 23, 24, 38, 50, 76, 82, 89, 94 and 132; Additional Protocol I, arts. 70, 77 and 78; Additional Protocol II, art. 4 (3); and International Committee of the Red Cross, “Customary international humanitarian law (rules 135–137), available at https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/icrc-customary-international-humanitarian-law. ↩
23. Additional Protocol II, art. 17; Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49; and Rule 129, The act of displacement, available at https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule129. ↩
24. Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49; Additional Protocol II, art. 17 (1); Additional Protocol II, art. 4 (3) (b); and Rule 131, Treatment of displaced persons, available at https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_cha_chapter38_rule131. ↩
25. Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 45 (4). ↩

International criminal law does not criminalize trafficking in persons as a stand-alone offence. The Rome Statute explicitly states that trafficking can amount to an international crime in the form of enslavement (art. 7 (1) (c)) and sexual slavery (art. 7 (1) (g)), as crimes against humanity, and/or sexual slavery as a war crime (arts. 8 (2) (b) (xxii) and (e) (vi)). In the context of an attack on a civilian population or an armed conflict, the Statute expressly permits and foresees the prosecution of trafficking in persons. The potential application of the Statute to trafficking in persons was highlighted by the Special Rapporteur in an amicus brief submitted to the International Criminal Court in the case of Prosecutor v Ongwen.²⁶ Article 7 (2) (c) of the Statue states that enslavement means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children. The Court’s Elements of Crimes provide that the crime against humanity of enslavement includes the following element: “The perpetrator exercised any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over one or more persons, such as by purchasing, selling, lending or bartering such a person or persons, or by imposing on them a similar deprivation of liberty”.²⁷ An explanatory footnote provides: “It is understood that such deprivation of liberty may, in some circumstances, include exacting forced labour or otherwise reducing a person to a servile status as defined in the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery of 1956. It is also understood that the conduct described in this element includes trafficking in persons, in particular women and children”.²⁸ The same explanatory footnote is included in the Elements of Crimes on sexual slavery as a crime against humanity²⁹ and sexual slavery as a war crime, both in international armed conflict³⁰ and non-international armed conflict.³¹ Despite these references to trafficking in the Statute and the Elements of Crimes, there has been limited attention to international law on child trafficking by the Court or in other international courts and tribunals.³²

26. Prosecutor v. Ongwen, ICC-02/04-01/15-A-A2, 21 January 2022, available at www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2022_00285.PDF. ↩
27. International Criminal Court, Official Records of the Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Kampala, 31 May–11 June 2010, Elements of Crimes (International Criminal Court publication, RC/11), p. 6. ↩
28. Ibid., footnote 11. ↩
29. Ibid., p. 8 and footnote 18. ↩
30. Ibid., p. 28 and footnote 53. ↩
31. Ibid., p. 37 and footnote 66. ↩
32. Paul Bradfield, “Policy brief: international criminal accountability for trafficking in persons”, Irish Centre for Human Rights (2020), available at www.nuigalway.ie/media/irishcentreforhumanrights/files/ugandaproject/Policy-Paper---International-Criminal-Accountability-for-Trafficking-in-Persons.pdf. ↩

In relation to war crimes, the Security Council has recognized the international criminal nature of trafficking, stating that trafficking in persons entails the violation or abuse of human rights, and underscoring that certain acts or offences associated with trafficking in persons in the context of armed conflict may constitute war crimes (see resolution 2331 (2016), preamble). The President of the Council has also noted that trafficking in armed conflict contexts is linked to other forms of exploitation, such as sexual violence and forced criminality (see S/PRST/2015/25). In Council resolution 2388 (2017), it was recognized that certain acts or offences associated with trafficking in persons in the context of armed conflict may constitute war crimes. In paragraph 11 of resolution 2331 (2016), the Council condemned trafficking in persons and violations and other abuses committed by Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, the Lord’s Resistance Army and other terrorist or armed groups for the purpose of sexual slavery, sexual exploitation and forced labour. In paragraph 19 of resolution 2388 (2017), the Council also highlighted the vulnerability of children and unaccompanied minors to abduction and trafficking during armed conflict, calling on States to hold perpetrators accountable for violations of international law.

Several acts referenced throughout the Rome Statute, including deportation or forcible transfer of population (such as art. 7 (1) (d)), conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities (such as arts. 8 (2) (b) (xxvi) and (e) (vii)), enforced disappearance of persons (such as art. 7 (1) (i)), forcibly transferring children from a specific national, ethnic, racial or religious group to another group (art. 6),³³ forced pregnancy (art. 7 (1) (g)), and violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture (such as art. 8 (2) (c) (i)), also overlap with the acts and/or exploitative purpose of child trafficking in conflict situations.

33. See also Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, art. II. ↩

Pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), data are collected and verified annually on six grave violations against children in armed conflict, namely recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, abduction, and the denial of humanitarian access, within the framework of the children and armed conflict agenda. These six grave violations are often closely linked to child trafficking. A grave violation such as abduction or sexual violence may occur before, during or in the aftermath of child trafficking, and sometimes may itself constitute child trafficking, as defined under international law. However, in practice, the relationship between conflict-related child trafficking and the six grave violations against children in armed conflict is often not recognized. Legal, policy and practice responses remain fragmented and inadequate to respond to child trafficking.

The failure to address these connections contributes to prevention, protection and accountability gaps in conflict situations (see A/78/172), leaving child victims of trafficking in conflict situations without assistance, protection and rehabilitative care and reparations.³⁴ Recognizing these serious gaps, the Special Rapporteur collaborated with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to publish the joint study on child trafficking and armed conflict, the first study of its kind. The study sets out practical recommendations for monitoring, reporting and strengthening prevention, protection and accountability measures, recognizing the links between child trafficking, the six grave violations against children and conflict situations. Importantly, the study clarifies the application and relevance of international law applying to child trafficking in situations of conflict in addition to anti-trafficking law – namely international human rights law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and international refugee law.

34. OHCHR, “Trafficking in persons in conflict situations: the world must strengthen prevention and accountability”, 29 July 2022, available at www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/07/ trafficking-persons-conflict-situations-world-must-strengthen-prevention-and. ↩

Denial of humanitarian access, one of the six grave violations, has several consequences that create vulnerability to conflict-related child trafficking, as well as “failures to identify, assist and protect child victims of trafficking”.³⁵ These consequences include disruption of education, recruitment and use of children, an increase in incidents of sexual violence, separation of children from parents/guardians and a rise in trafficking of children.³⁶ Humanitarian access is also essential to ensuring that assistance and protection can be provided to child victims of trafficking.³⁷ The Special Rapporteur highlights the forced displacement of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip against the background of a continuing genocide, the denial of humanitarian access by Israeli armed forces, as documented in the 2024 report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and the consequential risks for children.

35. Ibid. ↩
36. Watchlist, Denial of Humanitarian Access for Children: Legal, Policy and Operational Challenges (2022), pp. 16 and 17, available at https://watchlist.org/publications/denial-of-humanitarian-access-for-children-legal-policy-and-operational-challenges. ↩
37. OHCHR, “Trafficking in persons in conflict situations: the world must strengthen prevention and accountability”. See also Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, “Denial of humanitarian access to children: a guidance note for the children and armed conflict agenda” (2025). ↩

The Special Rapporteur notes that, although the use of children as combatants is not specifically listed as a form of exploitation in the definition of trafficking, “it is clear that the recruitment of children (an act) into armed and/or terrorist groups (a purpose of exploitation) is a form of trafficking in persons”.³⁸ In the case of South Sudan, the Special Rapporteur stated that the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups is a form of trafficking in children and must be recognized as such if accountability for such trafficking is to be ensured and assistance, protection and reparations are to be provided to survivors (see A/HRC/53/28/Add.2). Similarly, in relation to Colombia, the Special Rapporteur has stated that the recruitment and use of children by non-State armed groups is a form of trafficking in persons and a grave violation of international law.³⁹

38. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Countering Trafficking in Persons in Conflict Situations (2018), available at www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2018/17-08776_ebook-Countering_Trafficking_in_Persons_in_Conflict_Situations.pdf. ↩
39. End-of-mission statement by the Special Rapporteur on her visit to Colombia. ↩

Recruitment and use of children comprises child trafficking whether or not the child is recruited and used as a combatant or for non-combatant roles.⁴⁰ In practice, children recruited into armed forces or armed groups have a number of roles, including functioning as “fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies”,⁴¹ human shields or bodyguards, involvement in military parades or performing security duties (see S/2023/99) that are also differentiated by gender. For example, in Myanmar, it has been noted that recruitment and use predominantly affected boys and occurred mostly in Rakhine State where children were used for ad hoc non-combat use for periods of time ranging from hours to two weeks (see S/2020/1243).

40. Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (Paris Principles), February 2007, sect. 2.1. ↩
41. Ibid. ↩

Child trafficking for purposes of recruitment and use may also be linked to other grave violations against children. In Colombia, the Special Rapporteur highlighted that the recruitment and use of children has often led to other violations and abuses, including killing and maiming, sexual violence and abduction (see S/AC.51/2022/2). In Nigeria, recruitment and use of children often led to or followed other grave violations: most children were verified to have been recruited through abduction, including girls who were sexually abused during their association (see S/2022/596). Failures to provide assistance and protection to child victims of recruitment and use increases risks of retrafficking. The Special Rapporteur has noted in relation to Colombia that there is limited assistance and protection given to children who escape from armed groups or criminal organizations who are victims of trafficking and at high risk of reprisals, including killings, violence and retrafficking.⁴²

42. End-of-mission statement by the Special Rapporteur on her visit to Colombia. ↩

Links to the six grave violations highlight the range of forms of child trafficking that occur in conflict situations and their prevalence. Attacks on schools may lead to the recruitment and use of children by armed groups or to trafficking for sexual exploitation, child marriage or forced criminality. The Security Council, in its resolution 2427 (2018), noted the link between abductions, recruitment, sexual violence and trafficking and that children in situations of armed conflict can be especially vulnerable to trafficking in persons in armed conflict and to these forms of exploitation. Often, the relevant child trafficking inquiry will turn on whether the purpose of the abduction is exploitative. In practice, however, identifying whether child abductions in armed conflict are a form of child trafficking can be frustrated by difficulties in determining the purposes of abduction (S/2020/1243, para. 54, and S/2023/99, para. 70). In addition, a lack of knowledge or understanding of the different forms of child trafficking (e.g. among protection staff or authorities in internally displaced person or refugee settlements, or protection of civilian camps) can limit the recognition of purposes of exploitation and the link between abduction and child trafficking.

In Somalia, more than 1,000 children per year were recruited by armed groups, with Al-Shabab identified as the main perpetrator among many others, conducting child recruitment for several years in the country (A/79/878-S/2025/247, para. 160). The use of violence, intimidation and harassment are among the strategies used by some armed groups to threaten parents. Similarly, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is heavily affected by child trafficking for recruitment and use, particularly in North Kivu and South Kivu.⁴³ Similar patterns have been documented in the Central African Republic (A/79/878, para. 27) and Mali, with several hundred children recruited by armed groups in each country (ibid., para. 131).

43. See communication AL COD 1/2025, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=29745. ↩

In most conflict and post-conflict situations, assistance and protection for victims of conflict-related child trafficking is limited, not tailored to the specific needs and rights of children or gender-sensitive. Limited access to safe accommodation and to long-term psychosocial and medical assistance, including reproductive and sexual health services, hinders recovery. Gendered assumptions about children’s roles in conflict, and use by armed groups and armed forces, limits eligibility for reintegration and rehabilitation programmes, particularly for girls. Girls who are mothers as a consequence of conflict-related trafficking may face further stigma and ostracism, limiting their recovery.⁴⁴

44. Mikaylah Ladue and others, Child-Inclusive and Gender-Responsive Reintegration Programmes (Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University, and Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, June 2025). ↩

The Special Rapporteur highlights the principle of non-punishment of victims of trafficking, which is essential to ensuring the recovery of victims and to a human rights-based response to trafficking in children. In the context of conflict-related trafficking, given the trauma endured and the serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, the application of the principle of non-punishment to children affected by armed conflict, who may be victims of trafficking, must be ensured. Children may be at risk of being arrested and detained for their association with armed groups and not recognized or assisted as children who are victims of trafficking, in contravention of the non-punishment principle and the State’s obligations to trafficking victims under international law.

The Special Rapporteur highlights States’ obligations to ensure that children associated with armed forces or armed groups are treated primarily as victims, in accordance with the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (Paris Principles). The Special Rapporteur highlights Security Council resolution 2427 (2018), in which the Council stressed the need to establish standard operating procedures for the rapid handover of children associated or allegedly associated with all non-State armed groups, including those who committed acts of terrorism, to relevant civilian child protection actors. The Council emphasized that children who had been recruited in violation of applicable international law by armed forces and armed groups and were accused of having committed crimes during armed conflicts should be treated primarily as victims of violations of international law (CRC/C/GC/24, para. 100).

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasized that States Parties to the Convention should ensure that all children charged with offences, regardless of the gravity or the context, are provided with the protections afforded by articles 37 and 40 of the Convention, and should refrain from charging and prosecuting children for expressions of opinion or for mere association with a non-State armed group, including those designated as terrorist groups (ibid., para. 101).

Despite such legal obligations of non-punishment, child victims are frequently arrested and detained. During her visit to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, the Special Rapporteur heard accounts directly from child victims and Rohingya refugees, who were rescued at sea while travelling to Malaysia, having been recruited for purposes of child marriage. The testimonies given included accounts of child victims of trafficking being detained in police stations alongside adults, without protection or assistance, following deeply traumatic experiences at sea, including witnessing the drowning and disappearance of family members, other children and young persons (A/HRC/56/60, para. 11).

The Special Rapporteur has highlighted the prevalence of child trafficking in the mining and agriculture sectors, in particular in conflict, transitional and post-conflict situations, for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour.⁴⁵ Corruption and weaknesses in governance and the rule of law allow businesses to operate without effective regulation, increasing risks of conflict-related child trafficking for forced labour, particularly in extractive industries such as mining, forestry and intensive agriculture. Trafficking for sexual exploitation in areas surrounding mining industries, and illicit mining, particularly affects girls. Indigenous children are at heightened risk in remote regions. Despite the prevalence of such risks, limited attention is given to conflict-related child trafficking in business and human rights action plans or programming or in investigations of corporate activity in conflict situations.

45. For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau and Liberia. ↩

Climate-related conflict and displacement may increase risks of child trafficking. As recognized by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, environmental degradation increases children’s risk of facing grave rights violations in armed conflict due to displacement, famine and increased violence. (CRC/C/GC/26 and CRC/C/GC/26/Corr.1, para. 22). Furthermore, as highlighted by the Committee, in situations of cross-border displacement and migration linked to climate-related and environment-related events and related to armed conflict situations, States must undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure the rights under the Convention for all children within their jurisdiction, without discrimination (ibid., para. 50). The Committee also highlights the specific risks of schools being targeted, noting that, when responding to emergencies caused by severe weather events in areas already affected by armed conflict, States should ensure that schools do not become targets for armed groups’ activity (ibid., para. 56). The Special Rapporteur highlights the resolution adopted by the Working Group on Children’s Rights and Climate Change of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, calling on States to “incorporate a child-rights-based approach to climate action, ensuring that the specific risks faced by children are taken into account in the development and implementation of climate policies and programmes, paying particular attention to the needs of those children who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as girls, indigenous groups and children with disabilities”.⁴⁶

46. Resolution No. 18/2022, available at www.acerwc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Resolution-No-182022-on-Integrating-a-Child-Rights-Based-Approach-to-Climate-Change-Responses.pdf. ↩

Several States may have obligations to assist and protect child victims of trafficking in conflict situations on the basis of territorial jurisdiction, including in relation to displaced and asylum-seeking and refugee children. Obligations arise also under the extraterritorial application of human rights law, including in relation to the prevention of child trafficking and retrafficking, as well as the application of the non-punishment principle (see A/HRC/47/34), for children under a State’s power or effective control (see CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.13). It is important to note that the obligation of non-punishment applies extraterritorially to identified or presumed victims of trafficking.

The Special Rapporteur also highlights the obligations arising under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols with regard to effective control exercised by a State outside its borders, including in international waters or other transit zones where States put in place migration control mechanisms, which must be applied with respect to children who come under the State’s jurisdiction, including while attempting to enter its territory (CMW/C/GC/3-CRC/C/GC/22, para. 12). The Special Rapporteur further highlights the findings of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which held that the State exercised jurisdiction ratione personae over the children who were the subject of the communication under consideration, and had the capability and the power to protect the rights of the children in question.⁴⁷ As such, the obligation arising under article 35 of the Convention to take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent, inter alia, trafficking in children for any purpose or in any form applies and imposes positive obligations on the State to ensure identification, assistance, protection and non-refoulement.

47. Committee on the Rights of the Child, S.B. et al. v. France (CRC/C/89/D/77/2019-CRC/C/89/D/79/2019-CRC/C/89/D/109/2019), paras. 1.4, 3.9 and 6.4. ↩

Given that child trafficking may frequently involve movements across borders by both victims and perpetrators, it is critical to ensure that jurisdiction can be exercised by States so as to combat impunity, and to engage the range of possible principles of jurisdiction that may be invoked. At the Sixth Committee discussion on universal jurisdiction, several States reported establishing human trafficking as a crime over which they have universal jurisdiction.

With limited exceptions, the accountability mechanisms established by the Human Rights Council and the Security Council do not address child trafficking despite fact patterns, conduct and indicators of child trafficking consistently being reported and documented. As such, the analysis and conclusions reached in relation to the accountability of State and non-State actors do not fully capture the range of harms inflicted on children or the systemic nature of conflict-related child trafficking. Such gaps allow child trafficking to continue with impunity in conflict situations.

Child-friendly justice procedures are essential in all investigations and prosecutions of crimes of child trafficking. A lack of trust may also hinder the disclosure of experiences of trafficking. Child victims may fear reprisals against them or their families, and such risks are great in conflict and post-conflict settings where child protection systems are weak and limited witness protection systems are available. Access to justice for child victims of trafficking in conflict settings remains limited, not least due to limited legal aid and assistance. The Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law state the duty to “provide those who claim to be victims of a human rights or humanitarian law violation with equal and effective access to justice, … irrespective of who may ultimately be the bearer of responsibility for the violation”.

The five pillars of transitional justice (truth, justice, reparation, memorialization and guarantees of non-recurrence) also apply to conflict-related child trafficking and impose obligations on States in transitional and post-conflict settings to ensure that child trafficking is addressed in transitional justice processes and in justice sector and security sector reforms in post-conflict and transitional societies. The current failure to address conflict-related child trafficking contributes to a cycle of impunity and failures of child protection, affecting children’s rights to life, survival and development. Despite the prevalence of child trafficking in conflict situations, children remain largely invisible in truth recovery and transitional justice accountability processes. Failures to ensure guarantees of non-repetition further undermine processes of peacebuilding, with armed groups and criminal networks frequently engaging in child trafficking in post-conflict and transition settings.

It is important to ensure that children’s voices are heard and that the agency of children is recognized in compliance with article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children should be supported and enabled to participate in, design and lead child trafficking prevention strategies in situations of conflict and in all peacebuilding, conflict resolution and transitional justice processes.

In conflict, transitional and post-conflict societies, the prevalence of arms, in particular small arms and light weapons, contributes to risks of trafficking in persons by armed groups and in the context of criminal activities, undermining the achievement of peace and security. It has been recognized that the proliferation of weapons fuels the systematic and widespread occurrence of sexual violence in conflict. However, limited attention has been given to the urgency of disarmament in anti-trafficking programmes. Action to combat child trafficking requires effective action to strengthen child rights and gender mainstreaming in disarmament measures and, in small arms control, in global frameworks such as the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and the Arms Trade Treaty.⁴⁸

48. See https://disarmament.unoda.org/convarms/salw/programme-of-action and https://thearmstradetreaty.org. ↩

The Special Rapporteur highlights that a range of factors can combine to create a climate of impunity, a legal and procedural vacuum in which international personnel involved in trafficking are not investigated, apprehended or prosecuted. These include the growing privatization of conflict, characterized by the increased involvement of private corporations as contractors and subcontractors, which may exacerbate problems of responsibility and control. The role of processes and mechanisms for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse and of the Office of the Victim’s Rights Advocate are critical to the prevention of child trafficking in conflicts involving United Nations personnel, and in ensuring access to justice for victims. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that security sector reform programmes and peace support operations currently do not integrate effective responses to child trafficking into child protection functions.

Digital technologies have the potential “to transform the recruitment and use of children in conflict and, by extension, the gendered experiences of children”.⁴⁹ Artificial intelligence increases opportunities for child trafficking, targeting children in vulnerable situations in which child protection and prevention, protection and investigation capacity is weak. The Special Rapporteur highlights that the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights apply equally to all businesses in all sectors and are relevant to technology companies. Risks related to the use of social media and other online platforms with respect to child trafficking in the context of conflict include “social media platforms … be[ing] used to traffic people into and within areas affected by conflict”.⁵⁰ The relevant actors with responsibility include the digital technology business sector and non-State armed groups (A/71/303, para. 51, and A/HRC/32/41).

49. Mikaylah Ladue and others, Child-Inclusive and Gender-Responsive Reintegration Programmes. ↩
50. UNODC, Countering Trafficking in Persons in Conflict Situations. ↩

Corruption in the administration of justice, failures of the rule of law and a lack of independence of the judiciary in conflict, transitional and post-conflict situations contribute to impunity and the lack of accountability for conflict-related child trafficking and limit the effectiveness of access to justice and prevention measures. 48 See https://disarmament.unoda.org/convarms/salw/programme-of-action and https://thearmstradetreaty.org. 49 Mikaylah Ladue and others, Child-Inclusive and Gender-Responsive Reintegration Programmes. 50 UNODC, Countering Trafficking in Persons in Conflict Situations. 18/19

Conflict-related child trafficking requires urgent attention by States, the United Nations and international organizations. Continuing to allow child trafficking to persist with impunity is an abdication of the responsibility of States and of the international community, leading to lifelong harm, death and disappearances of very vulnerable children.

The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:
(a) Ratify and implement the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(b) Ensure the comprehensive application of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, international human rights law and international refugee law to conflict-related child trafficking for all purposes of exploitation, and to internal as well as cross-border trafficking in persons, to ensure accountability, combat impunity and ensure effective access to justice for trafficked persons;
(c) Ensure that children detained for association with armed groups are recognized as victims of grave violations of international law, prioritizing recovery, reintegration and family reunification and ensuring timely handover of children associated with armed conflict or armed groups to civilian child protection actors;
(d) Ensure that reintegration and rehabilitation programmes are child-sensitive, disability-inclusive and gender-responsive and that eligibility criteria for reintegration programmes include children of all ages, sexes and gender identities formerly associated with armed forces or armed groups;
(e) Guarantee that victims of conflict-related child trafficking are entitled to and receive effective remedies, including through existing reparative and protection and assistance schemes for victims of armed conflict, as well as the establishment of new measures if necessary;
(f) Provide effective protection to victims of conflict-related child trafficking and witnesses and members of their families against reprisals, including for accountability processes;
(g) Ensure the best interests of children seeking international protection, including asylum, the timely appointment of a guardian and legal representative for unaccompanied and separated children, a protective environment, access to justice and non-discrimination, in recognition of the special obligations of assistance and protection arising under the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(h) Take measures to prevent trafficking in forcibly displaced children by expanding resettlement opportunities and complementary pathways, including through humanitarian visas and rights-based family reunification and education and ensuring the rights of children with disabilities;
(i) Ensure proactive, early and individualized identification of victims of conflict-related child trafficking and children at risk of trafficking, including through robust screening and referral procedures for children released from armed forces and groups, in cooperation with government, inter-governmental and non-governmental actors;
(j) Provide referral pathways and tailored protection and assistance for victims of conflict-related child trafficking, including within coordination structures for humanitarian emergencies and by ensuring safe, timely and unimpeded humanitarian access;
(k) Strengthen child protection systems and ensure the provision of integrated services to victims of child trafficking in armed conflict that are age, gender- and diversity-sensitive and trauma-informed, ensuring the rights of minorities and Indigenous Peoples and the rights of children with disabilities;
(l) Expand and effectively implement the legal pathways available for child victims of trafficking with international protection needs to be admitted to or resettled in third countries, as well as other pathways to facilitate access to protection, including asylum and rights-based family reunification;
(m) Adopt disability-sensitive identification and screening processes to identify trafficked children with disabilities, and ensure all that relevant processes – including determination of refugee status – are accessible to children with disabilities, some of whom may have been trafficked;
(n) Ensure that investigations of conflict-related trafficking are trauma-informed and gender-sensitive and ensure access to justice for children with disabilities, and ensure that effective action is taken, with adequate resources ensured, to provide ongoing witness protection, given the high risk of reprisals, intimidation and interferences with the administration of justice in conflict, transitional and post-conflict societies;
(o) Ensure that a comprehensive child justice system includes the establishment of specialized units within the police, the judiciary, the court system and the prosecutor’s office, as well as specialized defenders or other representatives who provide legal or other appropriate assistance to the child, recalling the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child that States Parties should establish child justice courts either as separate units or as part of existing courts and that, where that is not feasible for practical reasons, States Parties should ensure the appointment of specialized judges for dealing with cases concerning child justice (CRC/C/GC/24, para. 107).

The Special Rapporteur also recommends that:
(a) United Nations investigative mandates and fact-finding bodies should consistently investigate trafficking in persons for all purposes of exploitation, including by non-State armed actors, paying particular attention to the gender dimensions of trafficking in persons and to trafficking in children;
(b) States, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian actors should ensure the provision of protection services for trafficked children in conflict, transitional and post-conflict situations.