Contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons

The mandate of Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons was established on 8 October 2025 in Human Rights Council resolution 60/25, in which the Council decided to merge the mandate of Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, and the mandate of Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. At the sixty-first session of the Human Rights Council, Katarina Schwarz was appointed as Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons. She assumed the mandate on 1 May 2026. The Special Rapporteur gratefully acknowledges the trust placed in her by the Human Rights Council and thanks the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and its staff for their continuing support for the new mandate. The fact that the commencement of the new mandate coincides with the centenary of the adoption, in September 1926, of the Slavery Convention marks a key inflection point in global efforts to eradicate all forms of slavery and trafficking in persons.

The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the important contributions of her predecessors in the mandates on both contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons. The seven mandate holders who served in these roles examined a wide range of critical issues for the eradication of contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons, and for the protection and assistance of victims and survivors. Across more than 60 thematic reports, Special Rapporteurs documented persisting and emerging forms of exploitation and trafficking, highlighted the role of various actors in response, explored various intersections of vulnerability and risk, and advanced different approaches and dimensions for anti-slavery and anti-trafficking. Through more than 60 official country visits covering every geographic region, the Special Rapporteurs helped drive important progress in national responses and shaped global, regional, national and local initiatives in pursuit of a world free from slavery and trafficking.

The establishment of the new merged mandate reflects the ongoing relevance of international efforts to combat contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons today.¹ While many continue to see slavery and trafficking as issues of the past, or as occurring at the margins of society, the reality is much starker. Slavery and trafficking are endemic around the world, found in every region and country. From 2020 to 2023, 202,478 victims of trafficking were detected globally.² However, this number only scratches the surface of the true scale of the problem: for every victim identified, many more remain hidden. Estimates suggest that there were almost 50 million people globally subjected to “modern slavery” (forced labour and forced marriage) on any given day in 2021.³ Experts fear that this number may have risen substantially in the past five years due to a confluence of forces exacerbating vulnerability and enabling perpetration and impunity at a large scale. The scale of the problem reveals the persistent challenges facing global response efforts: no country has yet succeeded in fully rooting out these grave human rights violations.

1. For the purposes of the present report, the shortened phrase “slavery and trafficking” should be read as an abbreviated form of the phrase “contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons”. Definitions of core practices should be understood in accordance with the relevant legal frameworks and authoritative commentaries. See the Special Rapporteur’s forthcoming definitional briefing, to be made available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-slavery-trafficking. ↩
2. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024 (United Nations publication, 2024), p. 26. ↩
3. See International Labour Organization (ILO), Walk Free and International Organization for Migration (IOM), Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage (Geneva, 2022). ↩

Meanwhile, the forms and dynamics of contemporary forms of slavery are constantly evolving. Traditional forms of slavery have not yet been fully eradicated from all parts of the world. Despite legal abolition, human beings continue to be bought, sold, traded, and treated as if they were property in various contexts, in practices directly comparable to “classical” forms of slavery. At the same time, new forms and methods of exploitation and trafficking continue to emerge. A wide range of practices involving commodification, severe exploitation and subjection of human beings to coercion, control and violence are found in today’s world. These acute cases are often embedded within wider systems characterized by a continuum of exploitation, arising from conditions of marginalization, intersecting discrimination, lack of access to basic human rights and systemic failures. Slavery and trafficking have many faces. But the movement for their eradication reflects a shared vision of a world that respects and protects the inviolable humanity, dignity and freedom of all persons. It is to this vision that the global community must recommit, and action must be accelerated.

At the commencement of the merged mandate, the Special Rapporteur, in the present report, takes stock of the current landscape with regard to ending contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons. Current and emerging trends that threaten progress in the field are assessed. Such trends include exogenous shocks such as climate change, environmental degradation, armed conflict, instability and resulting displacement, as well as systemic patterns, including the changing political landscape, the erosion of human rights and democracy, and shrinking civic space. The persistence and exacerbating impact of discrimination, inequality, and economic systems and business models that incentive exploitation meet the evolving political, social and technological context to present substantial obstacles to anti-slavery and anti-trafficking efforts. This rising tide of challenges not only threatens future progress but also risks destabilizing the hard-won gains of the past century.⁴

4. See A/81/225. ↩

Yet, the achievements of recent decades may not be so easily erased. Over time, knowledge, capacity, skills, tools, systems and approaches have developed to respond to both traditional and contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons. These assets provide an important foundation for maintaining and advancing progress, even in the face of existential threats. Strategies and architecture in which survivor engagement and leadership are embedded, as well as mechanisms facilitating coordination, collaboration and partnerships, are key structures through which continued advances may be realized. Increased capacity for holistic, trauma-informed, survivor-centred, rights-based support represents a critical shift for the realization of victims’ and survivors’ rights and for sustainable recovery. Emphasis on structural drivers, intersectional factors and prevention-focused interventions is gaining ground, including reformation of approaches to tackling business responsibility. While technology is often misused and therefore presents an emergent threat, it is also a tool for accelerating and scaling solutions. Simultaneously, substantial advances in the science of anti-slavery and anti-trafficking provide promising pathways for effective and scalable solutions. These assets will define the next generation of anti-slavery and anti-trafficking work as much as the significant challenges shaping the present moment.

Informed by this assessment of current challenges and opportunities across the field, the Special Rapporteur presents her vision for the merged mandate, including reflections on cross-cutting considerations and approaches that will shape the term, as well as initial thematic priorities. To inform the present report, the Special Rapporteur conducted extensive consultations with diverse stakeholders representing States, civil society, persons with lived experience, affected communities, workers organizations and international agencies. A multilingual survey was disseminated widely to gather written input from a variety of stakeholders, to which 236 substantive responses from across all geographic regions were received. In addition, 214 people from around the world participated in consultation workshops, and a series of 34 bilateral and multilateral meetings were held with key stakeholders representing Governments, intergovernmental agencies, civil society and survivor organizations.⁵

5. An accompanying research report containing a detailed analysis and a database of consultation responses will be made available at https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/programmes/law/global-consultation.aspx. Oral and written input from workshops and meetings and written submissions are synthesized in the present report, although individual comments and submissions are not directly cited. Individual input is more directly examined and cited in the accompanying research report, which informs the present report. ↩

In its resolution 60/25, the Human Rights Council decided that the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons would examine and report on all contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons as related yet distinct matters, as guided by Council resolutions 26/8 and 51/15. The merging of the mandates therefore provides an important inflection point for clarifying the relationship between these two concepts, and their respective parameters. Core definitions of some practices related to the mandate are not authoritatively settled, and the boundaries between concepts are often blurry in practice. Furthermore, distinct practices are defined by differences in both nature and severity, meaning that their relationships are often complex. The Special Rapporteur will dedicate ongoing attention to the definitional parameters of contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons.⁶ To clarify foundational concepts at the outset, the Special Rapporteur is producing a definitional briefing, which will be continuously updated, covering the parameters of, and relationships between, various concepts within the scope of or connected to the mandate.⁷

6. Several stakeholders, in consultations and written submissions, called for the prioritization of definitional and conceptual clarity. ↩
7. To be made available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-slavery-trafficking. ↩

The current landscape presents unique challenges for anti-slavery and anti-trafficking actors and activities. Approaches and strategies developed in recent decades have produced important developments for the field. Yet, they have proved insufficient to meet persistent and emerging concerns in this area. Stakeholders working across the field, in all sectors, are reflecting on the seismic impact of global and local trends on their efforts to tackle slavery and trafficking, recognizing the need to evolve to maintain and continue progress and prevent backsliding. Key challenges include the impact of escalating and converging crises, shifts in the political landscape and the connected operational context, emerging technologies, the dominance of economic and business models that incentivize exploitation, and persistent and increasing gaps in implementation.

The current landscape is defined not by a series of distinct challenges, but by the increasing convergence of layered crises that interact, intersect and exacerbate existing vulnerabilities. Local, national, regional and global concerns increasingly intertwine, with anti-slavery and anti-trafficking efforts connected across borders not only by the universality of human rights, but also by the cross-cutting and multilevel impact of these overlapping crises. A large-scale structural response is therefore needed to tackle vulnerability and perpetration that cuts across geographies and governance domains.

Climate change and environmental degradation⁸

8. Consistently referenced across consultation workshops and in several bilateral engagements, and cited as key challenges in 33 written submissions. See also A/74/179, A/77/170, A/HRC/42/44, A/HRC/48/52 and A/HRC/60/28. ↩

Climate change and environmental degradation are simultaneously drivers and by-products of slavery and trafficking.⁹ Climate change has a multiplier effect on multidimensional conditions of poverty, which constitutes a central predictor of slavery and trafficking, pushing people towards exploitation.¹⁰ Increased risk attaches to both sudden and slow-onset disasters associated with climate change and environmental degradation,¹¹ both of which are seen to be exacerbating and compounding. Such impact is unevenly experienced along intersecting lines of deprivation, discrimination and marginalization, including on the basis of gender, ethnicity, race and descent.¹² The destruction of livelihoods resulting from the adverse effects of climate change and environmental degradation drive precarious migration and displacement, as well as the adoption of harmful coping strategies such as sexual exploitation, child labour, domestic servitude, debt bondage, and child, early and forced marriage. Degradation in the rule of law in the aftermath of natural disasters further creates a fertile environment for predatory actors to target individuals in situations of precarity and distress.¹³

9. See, for example, David Brown and others, “Modern slavery, environmental degradation and climate change: fisheries, field, forests and factories”, Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, vol. 4, No. 2 (June 2021). ↩
10. See Jessica L. Decker Sparks and others, “Growing evidence of the interconnections between modern slavery, environmental degradation, and climate change”, One Earth, vol. 4, No. 2 (February 2021). ↩
11. See A/77/170. ↩
12. See, for example, Ritwajit Das and Devi Chakrabarti, “Climate change, mobility and modern slavery: emerging approaches and perspectives from civil society”, Anti-Slavery International and International Institute for Environment and Development, March 2025. ↩
13. See, for example, Ritu Bharadwaj and others, “Climate-induced migration and modern slavery: a toolkit for policy-makers”, Anti-Slavery International and International Institute for Environment and Development, September 2021. ↩

Environmental degradation pressurizes already high-risk industries, increasing the risk of exploitation as a coping mechanism when the impact of climate change drags on productivity and profitability. Different forms of exploitation manifest in different environmentally damaging industries and activities, including among those already engaged in unlawful violations of environmental regulations. For instance, exploitation in the fisheries sector has been linked to both climate change and illegal overfishing,¹⁴ while illegal logging and deforestation have been connected to forced labour.¹⁵ Exploitation therefore contributes to climate change and environmental degradation in a mutually reinforcing cycle. Moreover, resource scarcity associated with climate change and environmental degradation produces greater instability and insecurity, fuelling conflict. Consequently, increasing numbers of people risk being pushed into exploitation due to these escalating factors.

14. See, for example, Mary Sebastian and Bethany Jackson, “Labour, climate and fish: an assessment of the modern slavery-climate change nexus in Thailand’s fisheries”, International Justice Mission and University of Nottingham, July 2024. ↩
15. See, for example, Bethany Jackson, “Modern slavery as a threat to forests: reviewing the links between modern slavery, deforestation, and potential solutions”, in Advances in Environmental Research, vol. 84, Justin A. Daniels, ed. (New York, Nova Science Publishers, 2021). See also A/HRC/63/36/Add.1. ↩

Escalating conflict and instability around the world¹⁷ have a devastating impact on vulnerability to slavery and trafficking, expanding and exacerbating precarity and enabling perpetration. Connections between slavery and conflict run deep, with slavery and trafficking identified as a regular feature of armed conflict that has been present in at least 90 per cent of modern wars.¹⁸ Abuses emerge as both a weapon and a consequence of conflict:¹⁹ armed groups engage in slavery and trafficking as a tactic of war, a recruitment tool and a means of financing conflict; meanwhile, armed conflicts create a favourable environment for perpetrators as a result of deterioration in the rule of law and increased vulnerability among 10 See Jessica L. Decker Sparks and others, “Growing evidence of the interconnections between modern slavery, environmental degradation, and climate change”, One Earth, vol. 4, No. 2 (February 2021). 11 See A/77/170. 12 See, for example, Ritwajit Das and Devi Chakrabarti, “Climate change, mobility and modern slavery: emerging approaches and perspectives from civil society”, Anti-Slavery International and International Institute for Environment and Development, March 2025. 13 See, for example, Ritu Bharadwaj and others, “Climate-induced migration and modern slavery: a toolkit for policy-makers”, Anti-Slavery International and International Institute for Environment and Development, September 2021. 14 See, for example, Mary Sebastian and Bethany Jackson, “Labour, climate and fish: an assessment of the modern slavery-climate change nexus in Thailand’s fisheries”, International Justice Mission and University of Nottingham, July 2024. 15 See, for example, Bethany Jackson, “Modern slavery as a threat to forests: reviewing the links between modern slavery, deforestation, and potential solutions”, in Advances in Environmental Research, vol. 84, Justin A. Daniels, ed. (New York, Nova Science Publishers, 2021). See also A/HRC/63/36/Add.1. 16 Consistently referenced across consultation workshops and in several bilateral engagements, and cited as key challenges in 42 written submissions. See also A/71/303, A/72/164, A/73/171, A/76/170, A/76/263, A/78/172, A/79/161, A/80/166, and A/HRC/32/41 and A/HRC/32/41/Corr.1. 17 See Siri Aas Rustad, Conflict trends: A Global Overview, 1946–2025 (Oslo, Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2026). 18 See Angharad Smith, Monti Narayan Datta and Kevin Bales, “Contemporary slavery in armed conflict: introducing the CSAC dataset, 1989–2016”, Journal of Peace Research, vol. 60. No. 2 (March 2023). 19 See Walk Free, “Modern slavery: a weapon and consequence of war”. Available at https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/findings/spotlights/a-weapon-and-consequence-ofwar/ (accessed on 3 August 2026). GE.26-11057 the population. 20 These contexts also produce acute challenges for anti-slavery and anti-trafficking response; the tools that may be effective during peacetime are often ill-suited to situations of severe insecurity and crisis. Stakeholders have expressed particular concern about the increased instability that both underpins and is generated by increasing levels of conflict globally, further connected with concerns over destabilization of the rules-based international order.

17. See Siri Aas Rustad, Conflict trends: A Global Overview, 1946–2025 (Oslo, Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2026). ↩
18. See Angharad Smith, Monti Narayan Datta and Kevin Bales, “Contemporary slavery in armed conflict: introducing the CSAC dataset, 1989–2016”, Journal of Peace Research, vol. 60. No. 2 (March 2023). ↩
19. See Walk Free, “Modern slavery: a weapon and consequence of war”. Available at https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/findings/spotlights/a-weapon-and-consequence-of-war/ (accessed on 3 August 2026). ↩

Climate and conflict overlap with issues of multidimensional poverty (often understood as the most decisive driver of slavery and trafficking) to substantially increase risk. The lack of sustainable livelihoods and decent work create pathways towards exploitation, for instance creating an enabling environment for deceptive recruitment, precarious migration, and negative coping strategies. Poverty and lack of alternatives also interact with systemic issues in access to education, social services, and justice in many contexts, often demarcated by gender, age, race, ethnicity, indigeneity, sexual orientation, descent, status, and other intersecting characteristics. Robust protective architecture is absent from many of the world’s most marginalized communities.

Persistent and accelerating global inequality²² both expands and deepens vulnerability, with the costs of structural imbalances and extractive economic models often borne by those in particularly vulnerable situations. For instance, the negative environmental impact of extractive and other industries is disproportionately experienced by the world’s poorest populations, while the wealth associated with these activities seldom benefits these communities.²³ Poverty and inequality were seen by stakeholders as interwoven with other systems of marginalization and exclusion, configuring slavery and trafficking along intersectional lines.

22. See Lucas Chancel and others, World Inequality Report 2026 (Paris, World Inequality Lab, 2025). ↩
23. See, for example, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Who Bears the Costs? Addressing Inequalities from Climate Change and Climate Action (Paris, 2025). ↩

The links between migration, displacement, slavery and trafficking are well established.²⁵ The estimated prevalence of forced labour among migrant workers is more than three times higher than that of non-migrant workers.²⁶ Irregular immigration status is often weaponized by perpetrators to trap people in exploitative conditions and insulate them from protective infrastructure. Increased vulnerability is also evident among regular migrants as a result of a wide range of factors, including dependence, debt, social isolation, language barriers, lack of awareness of rights, and global inequality. Legal systems and structures are implicated in entrenching migrant vulnerability, such as through tied visa regimes that make it difficult for people to leave abusive employers, and through migrants’ lack of access to fundamental human rights.

25. See, for example, A/76/170, A/77/170, A/HRC/38/45, A/HRC/39/52, A/HRC/53/28, A/HRC/56/60 and A/HRC/59/56. ↩
26. ILO, Walk Free and IOM, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, p. 4. ↩

The often intersecting effects of climate change and environmental degradation, conflict and insecurity, and inequality and poverty bear strongly on global migration and displacement trends.²⁷ As greater numbers of people are displaced and pushed into patterns of survival migration in an increasingly restrictive migration environment, risks of exploitation continue to grow. When the motivating forces underpinning movement remain 20 See Ergul Celiksoy and Katarina Schwarz, “Modern slavery and the United Nations Security Council: a summary report”, June 2024. 21 Consistently referenced across consultation workshops and in several bilateral engagements, and cited as key challenges in 46 written submissions. 22 See Lucas Chancel and others, World Inequality Report 2026 (Paris, World Inequality Lab, 2025). 23 See, for example, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Who Bears the Costs? Addressing Inequalities from Climate Change and Climate Action (Paris, 2025). 24 Consistently referenced across consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and cited as key challenges in 71 written submissions, making them the most cited challenges. 25 See, for example, A/76/170, A/77/170, A/HRC/38/45, A/HRC/39/52, A/HRC/53/28, A/HRC/56/60 and A/HRC/59/56. 26 ILO, Walk Free and IOM, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, p. 4. 27 See, for example, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024; and Fiona David, Katharine Bryant and Jacqueline Joudo Larsen, Migrants and Their Vulnerability to Human Trafficking, Modern Slavery and Forced Labour (Geneva, IOM, 2019). GE.26-11057 unchanged (for instance, through absence of development and of programming for sustainable alternative livelihoods) but pathways for safe and regular migration narrow, opportunities for perpetration are created.²⁸ Vulnerabilities associated with migration and displacement were at the forefront of considerations among stakeholders engaged in consultations, as was the adverse impact of regimes on increasingly restrictive and punitive migration governance.

27. See, for example, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024; and Fiona David, Katharine Bryant and Jacqueline Joudo Larsen, Migrants and Their Vulnerability to Human Trafficking, Modern Slavery and Forced Labour (Geneva, IOM, 2019). ↩
28. See, for example, Audrey Lumley-Sapanski and Katarina Schwarz, “Constructive (in)visibility and the trafficking industrial complex: leveraging borders for exploitation”, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, vol. 50, No. 3 (September 2025). ↩

Emerging and exacerbating crises also overlap with persistent structural issues, weaving a tapestry of intersecting drivers. Maintenance of economic models and business practices that prioritize profits has allowed exploitation within private industry to thrive.²⁹ In the absence of sufficiently robust regulatory infrastructure to address slavery and trafficking in business operations and supply chains, private sector abuses have proliferated. The endurance of systems of marginalization also continues to shape slavery and trafficking vulnerability and dynamics, including systems of patriarchy³⁰ and discrimination³¹ on the basis of various factors, such as racialization, caste, descent, sexual orientation and gender identity. Social and legal exclusion – of, for instance, stateless persons, persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity, or people engaged in particular forms of work – are also of high concern.³²

29. Cited as a key challenge in 51 written submissions. See also A/67/261, A/70/260, A/74/189, A/80/182, A/HRC/30/35, A/HRC/35/37 and A/HRC/50/33. ↩
30. Cited as a key challenge in 20 written submissions. See also A/73/139 and A/73/139/Corr.1, A/73/171, A/77/170, A/79/161 and A/HRC/39/52. ↩
31. Cited as a key challenge in 14 written submissions. ↩
32. See also A/HRC/51/26. ↩

Stakeholders expressed strong concern over the effects of widespread geopolitical trends on anti-slavery and anti-trafficking initiatives, including rising authoritarianism and democratic erosion,³³ pushback against human rights and multilateralism,³⁴ and shrinking civic space.³⁵ The first two decades of the twenty-first century were characterized by a rising wave of political attention, growing public awareness, and resourcing for anti-slavery and anti-trafficking. However, more recent developments threaten both the progress made and the forward trajectory. Political attention is now seen to be turning away from slavery and trafficking, shifting towards rising nationalism, giving precedence to economic interests and emphasizing narrow concepts of defence that fail to recognize the interdependence of development and human rights with security.³⁶

33. Referenced in consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and cited as key challenges in 18 written submissions. ↩
34. Referenced in consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and cited as a key challenge in 20 written submissions. ↩
35. Referenced in consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, particularly engagements with civil society, and cited as a key challenge in 13 written submissions. ↩
36. Concerns over political attention and prioritisation were expressed across consultation workshops and in bilateral meetings; cited as key challenges in 54 written submissions. ↩

In some instances, it was observed that the result of political trajectories was weaponization of the anti-trafficking agenda to undermine rights of marginalized populations. For instance, stakeholders described anti-trafficking rhetoric being wielded against women seeking to exercise reproductive rights and freedoms, people seeking gender-affirming care, and those supporting people exercising their right to seek asylum. In such cases, the underpinning moral consensus and bipartisan support for anti-slavery and anti-trafficking are reportedly being leveraged against the rights of people in situations of vulnerability. More extensively, political trends have produced regressive legislation and policies in intersecting areas that fuel vulnerability to exploitation and undermine fulfilment of obligations to protect victims and survivors.

Restrictive immigration policies and increasing criminalization, securitization and externalization of migration were framed by many interlocutors as critical threats that are undermining progress on anti-slavery and anti-trafficking goals.³⁷ Reactive turns in migration policy are seen to drive people into situations of greater precarity, exacerbating vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking.³⁸ Although restrictive migration measures may be framed as part of a State’s anti-trafficking response, evidence indicates that in many cases they may in fact undermine the fulfilment by States of their obligations in this regard, resulting in systemic failures in identification and protection, rendering forms and sites of exploitation invisible, producing a submarket in trafficking that places people at greater risk of exploitation, and diverting resources from addressing root causes.³⁹ Increasing homogenization of treatment of people in mixed migration flows is reportedly resulting in the denial of specific rights associated with people moving in particular circumstances, including refugees, asylum-seekers and victims of trafficking. This denial of rights further results in criminalization, detention, deportation and the denial of legal entitlements to identification and assistance for victims of slavery and trafficking.

37. Consistently referenced across consultation workshops and in bilateral meetings, and cited as key challenges in 34 written submissions. ↩
38. See also A/HRC/62/35. ↩
39. See Audrey Lumley-Sapanski and Katarina Schwarz, “The impact of immigration policy on human trafficking and modern slavery: the state of evidence”, August 2024. ↩

Regressive turns were also reported in relation to other intersecting areas of policy. Rollbacks of women’s rights and freedoms in various contexts – including freedoms in marriage and reproductive choices – were seen as decreasing women’s autonomy and increasing risks of gender-based violence, including various forms of slavery and trafficking. Such developments coupled with a noted feminization of labour within specific spheres associated with decreased regulation and labour rights protection (for instance, domestic work, care work and sex work) to exacerbate gendered vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking. Increasing criminalization of persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity was observed to exacerbate vulnerability among marginalized populations already at increased risk of exploitation and to close space for people to gain access to assistance and support. Likewise, adoption or continuation of policies pushing people into situations of statelessness or denying pathways out of such conditions perpetuated precarity and entrenched risks of slavery and trafficking, while narrowing opportunities for identification and protection.⁴⁰

40. See A/HRC/53/28. See also Heaven Crawley and others, No Identity, No Protection: How Lack of Documentation Drives Modern Slavery (New York, Freedom Fund, 2024). ↩

The challenges resulting from the geopolitical landscape not only affect the populations that are the subject of the measures: they also create operational challenges for front-line organizations and have a chilling effect on critical support infrastructure. Shifting political attention, deprioritization and regression with regard to human rights issues, and increasingly divisive political landscapes were emphasized to have resulted in substantial contractions in the funding mechanisms underpinning much of the growth in anti-slavery and anti-trafficking in recent years.⁴¹ Cuts in international aid and overseas development spending were particularly highlighted as having knock-on effects across the sector, echoing at the regional, national and local levels as individual States reflected the changing priorities in domestic resourcing. Furthermore, cuts to large international organizations also affected wide networks of grass-roots partners; funding constraints were observed to be undercutting governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental efforts alike. Anti-slavery organizations reported that they had closed projects, programmes and even offices as a result of the suspension, withdrawal or reduction of funding. Organizations also described operational effects and risks of administrative retaliation (for instance, in registration and licensing), while in some instances, organizations reported that they faced risks of criminalization or other retaliation for supporting people’s rights to protection and assistance. Planning for future initiatives is taking place within this context, leaving many organizations fighting not to lose ground on progress made rather than pushing forward to expand and scale solutions.

41. The challenging funding landscape was highlighted as a threat across all consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and cited as a key challenge in 38 written submissions. ↩

Emerging technologies are seen by anti-slavery and anti-trafficking actors as a pressing concern in the current landscape. They were the subject of dedicated attention from the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, in a report in 2023.⁴³ Technological advancements are understood to affect slavery and trafficking in various ways, changing the modus operandi of perpetrators and producing new forms of exploitation. Social media platforms, video games and the dark web have become sites for recruitment, manipulation, surveillance, coercion and grooming, while the use of cryptocurrency to support slavery and trafficking operations has complicated financial tracing. Online sexual exploitation⁴⁴ and online scamming⁴⁵ have emerged as highly prevalent forms of slavery and trafficking in the modern world that require tailored solutions. Yet, perpetrators are often seen to be adapting to new tools and technologies at a rapid pace, while States and organizations seeking to shape responses are often operating in a reactive way that fails to keep pace.

43. A/78/161. See also A/HRC/42/44. ↩
44. See European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, The Evolving Threat Landscape: How Encryption, Proxies and AI Are Expanding Cybercrime – Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2026 (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2026). ↩
45. See OHCHR, “UN experts urge immediate human rights-based action to tackle forced criminality in South-East Asia scam centres”, 21 May 2025. See also OTH 17/2025, OTH 18/2025, CHN 4/2025, KHM 1/2025, LAO 1/2025, MYS 1/2025, PHL 2/2025, THA 3/2025 and VNM 1/2025, available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments. ↩

Globally, the majority of forced labour occurs in the private economy.⁴⁷ This is seen as a by-product of economic pressures and business models prioritizing corporate profits and placing downward pressure on wages and working conditions. In the absence of robust regulation and effective enforcement, these incentive structures risk normalizing exploitation as a by-product of efficiency and profitability, particularly in sectors reliant on outsourced, informal or precarious labour. The true cost of production is then borne by the most disadvantaged people in the value chain, and experienced as conditions of exploitation and abuse, rather than being effectively costed into business models. These concerns also extend to the externalization of other costs within business operations – such as environmental degradation – which have an indirect impact on vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking among affected communities. These operating models were presented by stakeholders as a key challenge in the contemporary landscape, but with promising practices emerging for more effective regulation to close the gap. However, this challenge was also seen to be compounded by strong pushback from many private sector actors, including corporate lobbying over policy and legislation, with a degrading impact on the scope and potential of transformative regulatory frameworks.

47. See ILO, Walk Free and IOM, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery. ↩

Persistent gaps between States’ international obligations and implementation in practice have been consistently emphasized across research and advocacy alike. While many 42 Consistently referenced across consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and cited as a key challenge in 56 written submissions, making it the second-most cited challenge. 43 A/78/161. See also A/HRC/42/44. 44 See European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, The Evolving Threat Landscape: How Encryption, Proxies and AI Are Expanding Cybercrime – Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2026 (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2026). 45 See OHCHR, “UN experts urge immediate human rights-based action to tackle forced criminality in South-East Asia scam centres”, 21 May 2025. See also OTH 17/2025, OTH 18/2025, CHN 4/2025, KHM 1/2025, LAO 1/2025, MYS 1/2025, PHL 2/2025, THA 3/2025 and VNM 1/2025, available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments. 46 Referenced in several consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and cited as a key challenge in 51 written submissions. 47 See ILO, Walk Free and IOM, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery. GE.26-11057 important advances have been made in the adoption and reform of legal frameworks governing slavery and trafficking, States’ normative commitments in principle are often seen as far outstripping their fulfilment in practice. The implementation gap was particularly notable across three key areas of concern for stakeholders: accountability; protection and prevention.

Widespread impunity for contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons results from systemic failures in accountability, evident in perpetration by individuals, organized criminal groups, businesses, and complicit and corrupt government officials.⁴⁸ Stark divides between cases detected, prosecuted and convicted in many States exemplify such impunity. This challenge is evident at a global scale. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that from 2020 to 2023, 202,478 victims of trafficking had been detected globally, but only 48,648 persons had been prosecuted and 15,938 convicted.⁴⁹ These figures represent roughly one prosecution for every four detected victims globally, and only one conviction for every thirteen victims. Moreover, due to significant underreporting, the number of detected victims reflects only the tip of the iceberg with regard to the full scale of slavery and trafficking within States. UNODC reported that in 2021, 55,290 trafficking victims had been detected globally,⁵⁰ but the International Labour Organization (ILO), Walk Free and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 49.6 million people were in a forced marriage or in forced labour on any given day in that same year.⁵¹ While the statistics are not directly comparable, these sharp divides illustrate the scale of shortcomings in responses by justice systems, which translate into systemic failures to deliver access to justice and remedy for people subjected to these human rights violations.

48. Gaps in enforcement were repeatedly underscored in consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and cited as a key challenge in 36 written submissions. ↩
49. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024, p. 26. ↩
50. Ibid. ↩
51. See ILO, Walk Free and IOM, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery. ↩

Where survivors are interacting with justice systems, their experiences often fall far short of delivering access to effective remedy consistent with international human rights norms and standards. Awareness, understanding, capacity and resourcing among justice system agencies remains limited in many contexts. The result is systematic underidentification of victims, itself a critical failure in States’ delivery of their international obligations. Access to justice is often unevenly distributed across locations and populations, leaving some victims and survivors with avenues for remedy while others never have access to justice or to basic reporting channels. More acutely, knowledge gaps, discrimination (on the basis of gender and a wide range of other characteristics) and social attitudes among justice institutions often result in survivors being retraumatized by their interactions with the authorities or criminalized for actions committed as a result of their trafficking experience. Too often, the systems that are meant to deliver justice for victims and survivors instead cause further harm.

Such underidentification also evidences the extent of shortcomings in victims’ and survivors’ access to protection and assistance. The vast majority of people subjected to slavery and trafficking around the world will never be identified or provided with the specialized care and support to which they are legally entitled. Even for those who are identified, the quality of assistance received often falls far short of either their entitlements or their needs.⁵² Important advances have been made in recent years in developing effective, survivor-centred and trauma-informed models of specialized care and support to respond to the needs of victims and survivors of slavery and trafficking, often adapted to different contexts, populations and forms of exploitation. Yet, progress in this regard has been highly uneven and remains incomplete, with further action needed in every country to ensure that appropriate services reach all survivors within its jurisdiction.

52. Insufficient protection and support were referenced in several consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and were cited as key challenges in 35 written submissions. ↩

Stakeholders also emphasized that much of the attention and resources that have been invested in ending slavery and trafficking have centred on prosecution and protection, with comparatively little allocated to prevention. As a result, there was a perception that initiatives were often reactive, rather than proactively seeking to prevent violations before they occurred. International legal frameworks obligate States to take action to ensure the effective prevention of violations constituting slavery and trafficking. Yet, the specific measures required to achieve effective prevention remain undetermined, and the key challenge as to how to measure prevention continues to affect the incentive structures that shape funding and organizational priorities. Preventative efforts therefore require significantly stepped-up attention and investment.

The impact of gaps in implementation in terms of accountability, protection and prevention was particularly emphasized in business-related contexts. While some States have taken important steps to address impunity for human rights abuses committed in the private sector, measures taken have often failed to measure up to the severity and scale of the problem, seldom delivering meaningful change in business practice. Likewise, systemic barriers to protection in relation to business-connected abuses and the absence of sufficiently stringent regulation mandating preventative action were seen as hampering effective realization in such contexts. The role of private sector actors in perpetuating forced labour in global value chains was therefore seen as warranting substantially increased action to ensure accountability, protection and prevention at an equivalent scale.

The fight against contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons is facing a uniquely challenging landscape that poses significant threats to progress. Yet, at the same time, critical knowledge, skills, tools and infrastructure have been developed that create important opportunities for, and enable, future progress. In particular, the value of survivor engagement and leadership, infrastructure for collaboration, frameworks for business responsibility, legal models, innovations in data and evidence, and technological advances were identified as key assets for the effective elimination of exploitation and trafficking.

Growth in commitments to, and mechanisms for, the meaningful and ethical engagement of people with lived experience of contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons is a source of significant optimism. This growth was recognized across consultations as both a key development in the field and an asset moving forward. Although survivor leadership has always been at the heart of anti-slavery and anti-trafficking, recognition and infrastructure for meaningful and ethical engagement have not always aligned with its value. Recent years have demonstrated a crucial groundswell in attention as to the ways in which anti-slavery and anti-trafficking actors operating at all levels engage with the expertise that results from lived experience, which has translated into the growth of survivor-led organizations, alliances and networks as key actors in the field. Other civil society organizations have also taken important steps to strengthen survivor engagement within their operations, providing models and lessons learned for others. Meanwhile, governmental and intergovernmental bodies have made strides in the integration of survivor voices in policies and programmes, including through the establishment of dedicated survivor advisory councils.

Increased attention on and investment in engagement with people with lived experience have supported crucial initiatives for building capacity among survivor communities. The benefits of these developments therefore lie not only in the infrastructure and processes that they have created, but also in the communities of survivor leaders that have grown through them. Supported pathways help close gaps in accessibility and diversify the group of people connected to opportunities. While much more work is needed to ensure 53 Referenced as key opportunities/assets in all consultation workshops, in most bilateral meetings and in 54 written submissions, making them the most cited opportunities/assets. GE.26-11057 meaningful and ethical survivor engagement and leadership across contexts and organizations, and at all levels, the tools available for making these changes systemic have advanced substantially. B. Mechanisms for coordination, collaboration and partnerships⁵⁴

54. Referenced as key opportunities/assets across consultation workshops and bilateral meetings, and in 51 written submissions, making them the second-most cited opportunities/assets. ↩

Ending contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons requires high levels of knowledge, expertise and specialization to achieve effective, scalable and adaptive solutions. At the same time, their interconnectedness with a wide range of intersecting challenges requires engagement and investment from across a plethora of related operational and policy domains. While anti-slavery and anti-trafficking efforts continue to be hampered by fragmentation and siloing, growth in initiatives for cross-sectoral and transnational coordination and cooperation promises a continuously improving response into the future. Such initiatives have included infrastructure for coordination at the international level, exemplified by mechanisms such as the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons and Alliance 8.7, and a wide range of regional mechanisms. National frameworks have also evolved substantially, with specialized bodies established within many Governments, and multi-stakeholder initiatives bringing together various stakeholder groups. More and more, anti-slavery and anti-trafficking stakeholders working across sectors are committing to collaboration and information-sharing to deliver more effective and scalable solutions to these pressing global challenges, providing a positive foundation on which to build.

While many areas of law and policy connected to anti-slavery and anti-trafficking are seen to be at risk, increased implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights is one area seen to evidence a more positive trajectory in the current political landscape. Although widespread adoption of legislation on human rights due diligence is still far from being secured, positive momentum in various States in developing such legislation signals meaningful promise for combating slavery and trafficking in value chains.⁵⁶ Likewise, increasing restrictions on the importation and sale of goods produced using forced labour are seen as valuable pieces of the puzzle for a holistic response to preventing and responding to exploitation.⁵⁷ Given the extent of forced labour within the private economy, and with stakeholders consistently emphasizing the central role of economic structures and prevailing business models in creating incentives and opportunities for exploitation,⁵⁸ initiatives mandating action by business enterprises are central to disrupting demand and diversifying the resource base for combating exploitation.

56. See, for example, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “Mapping social and environmental due diligence legislation”, OECD Business and Finance Policy Papers, No. 101 (Paris, 2026); and Danish Institute for Human Rights, Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Laws: Key Design Features and Practical Considerations (Copenhagen, 2025). ↩
57. See ILO, “The potential of import bans to address forced labour”, January 2026; Laura Murphy, “An international blueprint for forced labor import bans”, April 2026; Rights Lab, University of Nottingham, “Background briefing: import restrictions”, February 2025 (available at https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-and-briefings/2025/february/briefing-import-restrictions.pdf); and Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga, “Effectiveness of forced labour import bans in addressing modern slavery in global supply chains”, February 2025. ↩
58. Referenced in 51 written submissions. ↩

Increased attention on ensuring accountability for abuses within global supply chains is critical for eradicating slavery and trafficking in the private sector. Robust frameworks for ensuring meaningful action to eradicate slavery and trafficking from global value chains 54 Referenced as key opportunities/assets across consultation workshops and bilateral meetings, and in 51 written submissions, making them the second-most cited opportunities/assets. 55 Referenced as a key opportunity/asset across consultation workshops and bilateral meetings, and in 31 written submissions. 56 See, for example, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “Mapping social and environmental due diligence legislation”, OECD Business and Finance Policy Papers, No. 101 (Paris, 2026); and Danish Institute for Human Rights, Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Laws: Key Design Features and Practical Considerations (Copenhagen, 2025). 57 See ILO, “The potential of import bans to address forced labour”, January 2026; Laura Murphy, “An international blueprint for forced labor import bans”, April 2026; Rights Lab, University of Nottingham, “Background briefing: import restrictions”, February 2025 (available at https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/resources/reports-andbriefings/2025/february/briefing-import-restrictions.pdf); and Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga, “Effectiveness of forced labour import bans in addressing modern slavery in global supply chains”, February 2025. 58 Referenced in 51 written submissions. GE.26-11057 remain nascent. Yet, growth in models and frameworks for advancing business responsibility and their diffusion across contexts is important. Sustained attention and investment are needed to ensure that high-level frameworks translate into tangible operational changes on the ground. D. Strong foundations for further legal reform⁵⁹

59. Referenced as a key opportunity/asset in consultation workshops, in bilateral meetings and in 44 written submissions. ↩

Legal reform has been the landmark accomplishment of the past century of anti-slavery and anti-trafficking engagement.⁶⁰ The adoption and diffusion of legislation tackling slavery and trafficking in all their forms has established a foundational legal framework and supported the crystallization of universal moral consensus. The framework has continued to evolve over time, with increasing attention on the additional requirements for effective legislation to meaningfully address these complex phenomena. Such changes are manifest not only in the evolution of legal concepts and core definitions, but also in the layering of frameworks for the realization of effective prohibition, protection and prevention: for instance, through laws placing victim protection on a statutory footing, codifying responsibility for related crimes, establishing corporate responsibility for addressing business abuses, enshrining the non-punishment principle and providing multiple avenues of redress. While substantial gaps remain in States’ domestic legal frameworks, progress in a wide range of contexts provides valuable lessons, models and directions for future reform.

60. See A/81/225. ↩

The science of anti-slavery and anti-trafficking has gained traction in recent years. Over the past decade in particular, there has been a radical expansion in the development of the global evidence base underpinning anti-slavery and anti-trafficking action. Increased attention on the importance of robust evidence and data and a conducive funding landscape in various contexts have translated into a growing community of researchers applying established methods and developing innovative methodologies for tackling evidence and data gaps. Interest in evidence-based approaches now cuts across sectors, with Governments, intergovernmental agencies, non-governmental organizations and research institutions alike making strategic commitments to advancing the global evidence base and ensuring that action is driven by data. These commitments and the related investments have delivered a step change in knowledge about the complex dynamics of the problem and what works to address it, as well as new methods and tools for future research. However, the global evidence base remains uneven and many data gaps persist, necessitating ongoing and sustained investment.

Technological advances are seen as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, emerging technologies dramatically reshape perpetration and vulnerability, often at a rapid pace. Simultaneously, technology is seen as a valuable tool for combating slavery and trafficking, providing new ways to connect with otherwise hard-to-reach populations, diversifying evidence for identification and prosecution, improving the quality of data and enabling scalable solutions. Examples of potential transformative uses include: leveraging blockchain technology to increase transparency in supply chains; deploying data analysis and artificial intelligence to identify patterns and hotspots, support identification and enable product tracing; using satellite remote sensing to monitor and locate sites of risk and exploitation; and utilizing digital platforms for outreach and awareness.⁶³ The key challenge in the current 59 Referenced as a key opportunity/asset in consultation workshops, in bilateral meetings and in 44 written submissions. 60 See A/81/225. 61 Referenced as a key opportunity/asset in consultation workshops, in bilateral meetings and in 28 written submissions. 62 Referenced as a key opportunity/asset across consultation workshops, in bilateral meetings and in 43 written submissions. 63 See A/78/161. GE.26-11057 landscape is ensuring that protective responses keep pace with, and ultimately outstrip, the ability of perpetrators to respond to the emergence of new technology. In this regard, it is imperative that technology companies assume greater responsibility for preventing exploitation in digital spaces by strengthening safeguards, enhancing due diligence and ensuring effective mechanisms for identification, reporting and remedy of harm. Greater cooperation is required between technology companies, Governments and the anti-slavery and anti-trafficking sector to identify and mitigate risks before violations occur and to build resilience into systems from the ground up.

63. See A/78/161. ↩

The current landscape – encompassing both opportunities and threats – will substantially inform the work under the new merged mandate. The Special Rapporteur will seek to build on the important work done under the predecessor mandates, taking forward key themes without duplicating effort.

Across all activities and engagements, the Special Rapporteur will advance the critical importance of an intersectional perspective with regard to contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons. Such a perspective entails dedicated attention as to how overlapping and mutually reinforcing factors – such as gender, race, ethnicity, Indigenous origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, migration status, statelessness, displacement, descent and multidimensional poverty – shape vulnerability to, and the dynamics of, slavery and trafficking. It further requires examination of how these factors affect access to and experiences of interventions and interactions with institutions.

Connected with this intersectional lens, the Special Rapporteur will embed a focus on structural drivers and prevention in efforts to tackle the challenges of slavery and trafficking.⁶⁴ This focus will include consideration of key trends shaping vulnerability and prevalence, such as conflict and instability, climate and environmental degradation, migration and forced displacement, poverty and inequality, patriarchy, structural discrimination and marginalization. It will further include deconstruction of the framework of vulnerability in the contemporary landscape, and close interrogation of the contours of vulnerability and abuse of vulnerability in practice.

64. The importance of addressing structural drivers and prioritizing prevention was consistently emphasized across consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and repeatedly cited as the top priority in written submissions. ↩

In adopting an intersectional approach and responding to structural drivers, the Special Rapporteur will prioritize a whole-systems approach. She will seek to mainstream concern for slavery and trafficking into intersecting domains of law, policy and practice, addressing areas such as defence and security, sustainable development, trade and investment, environment and climate, health, business and supply chains, migration governance and labour rights, as well as into the broader rights regimes protecting at-risk populations, such as women, children, migrants, minorities, people of African descent and Indigenous Peoples.

The Special Rapporteur will engage extensively with anti-slavery and anti-trafficking stakeholders, and with those in intersecting domains, advancing multisectoral and multilevel coordination and collaboration. Improved partnerships and cooperation are particularly critical within a constrained funding landscape to maximize the value of investments without duplicating effort. In particular, the Special Rapporteur will seek to build connections with intergovernmental, governmental, civil society, worker and other organizations, the private sector, and survivors and affected communities.

Survivor engagement and leadership in anti-slavery and anti-trafficking is both a key asset that has developed in recent years within the field, and a critical component in improving anti-slavery and anti-trafficking responses in the coming years. The insights and expertise of people with lived experience are indispensable to responding to the scale and complexity of the challenges of slavery and trafficking in a rapidly changing environment. A wealth of expertise, knowledge, infrastructure and tools have already been developed to deliver meaningful and ethical survivor engagement in governmental, intergovernmental, non-governmental, research and private sector initiatives. Yet, progress has been highly uneven. The dissemination and amplification of good practices will therefore help continue the positive trajectory while minimizing the risks of harms that nonetheless persist across the field. The Special Rapporteur will map existing initiatives for survivor inclusion, engagement and leadership in anti-slavery and anti-trafficking policy, programming and research, identifying and sharing promising practice and lessons learned.

In addition to addressing survivor engagement and leadership as a substantive thematic concern, the Special Rapporteur will explore avenues for facilitating the meaningful integration of lived experience expertise across the work of the mandate, including by undertaking consultations to develop survivor-informed architecture for systemic engagement with lived experience experts.

The development of specific international legal frameworks was identified by stakeholders as the single most significant accomplishment of the past century with regard to anti-slavery and anti-trafficking. Domestic legislative reform remains an important element of ongoing work to improve the quality of anti-slavery and anti-trafficking efforts, to ensure that international commitments are realized, that the power of the State is fully engaged in responding to the critical challenges of slavery and trafficking, that preventative mechanisms are embedded and enforced within domestic legal orders, and that victims and survivors have access to justice and effective remedy for violations to which they are subjected. Yet, translation of international norms at the domestic level and in practice has been imperfect, uneven and incomplete. Moreover, conflicting legal and policy developments in overlapping domains substantially undermine the realization of States’ obligations and commitments. A more holistic and intersectional perspective is required with regard to the domestic legislative requirements for effective prevention, prosecution and protection.

The Special Rapporteur will undertake a global survey of States’ domestic legislative frameworks prohibiting contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons. Looking beyond core frameworks, the Special Rapporteur will also explore the various legislative intersections that affect slavery and trafficking in practice, to ensure that domestic laws in every State fully support the complete eradication of contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons in all their forms and provide effective protection for victims, survivors and people in situations of vulnerability.

Those advancing efforts to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons at all levels – from multilateral agencies to grass-roots organizations – operate 65 Identified as the highest priority for the mandate in consultations: referenced across all workshops, in most bilateral meetings and in 78 written submissions (priority score 54.1). Under the scoring system used, a priority score of 100 would indicate that all survey participants ranked a single issue as the highest priority. For further details, see the accompanying research report (to be made available at https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/beacons-of-excellence/rights-lab/programmes/law/globalconsultation.aspx). 66 Identified as the second-highest priority for the mandate in consultations: referenced across workshops, in bilateral meetings and in 50 written submissions (priority score 33.4). GE.26-11057 against an increasingly complex and unstable backdrop. The interplay between political, social, cultural, economic and technological forces presents a uniquely challenging operational context for anti-slavery and anti-trafficking work, requiring dedicated attention to adapt appropriately and ensure ongoing efficacy and sustainability. The constrained funding landscape is a particularly pressing concern for actors in the field,⁶⁷ and careful consideration and consultations are required to explore and develop strategies with a view to increasing and diversifying investments in anti-slavery and anti-trafficking, adapting activity to maintain and extend progress with decreased resources, leveraging resources in intersecting domains and ensuring the sustainability of the field into the future.

67. Identified as the fifth-highest priority for the mandate in consultations: referenced across all workshops, in many bilateral meetings and in 57 written submissions (priority score 24.1). ↩

At the same time, the constrained funding landscape does not exist in a vacuum. It is a by-product of a political context characterized by pushback against multilateralism and human rights, the erosion of democracy, authoritarian trends and competing political rhetoric and policy frameworks that are at odds with anti-slavery and anti-trafficking objectives. Organizations seeking to preserve and advance progress in the fight against slavery and trafficking are also suffering from contracting civic space and increasing retaliation. The Special Rapporteur will therefore seek to engage diverse anti-slavery and anti-trafficking actors in responding to this challenging operational context, developing and sharing strategies for protecting and advancing progress.

The complex intersectional nature of contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons engages a wide range of additional thematic concerns as issues of priority for work under the new merged mandate. Dedicated and ongoing attention will be paid, inter alia, to business and supply chains, economies of freedom, migration and displacement, State involvement and complicity, linkages with the legacies of colonialism and the enslavement of Africans, and access to justice and effective remedies.

The constrained funding landscape and political trends make private sector investment critical. The Special Rapporteur will therefore continue to advance the importance of eradicating slavery and trafficking from value chains, both within the private sector and in public procurement.⁶⁸ This work will include consideration of the requirements of effective domestic legislation to ensure appropriate responsibility and accountability for business-connected risks and abuses, and consideration of the operational requirements of effective practice to mitigate risks, prevent abuses and ensure access to remedy. It will also extend to consideration of global markets, trade, financial flows and investment as expanding domains for anti-slavery and anti-trafficking action.

68. Consistently referenced as a priority for the mandate in consultation workshops and bilateral engagements, and prioritized in 42 written submissions (priority score 20.0). ↩

Attention has increasingly been turning to the economic case for addressing slavery and trafficking, with a view to revealing both the economic drag associated with exploitative practices and the dividend returned by ending them.⁶⁹ Maintaining focus on slavery and trafficking as fundamental human rights concerns is critical to safeguard core commitments and obligations and to protect against the erosion of rights-based approaches. At the same time, evidencing the multifaceted value of freedom can add value to advocacy and leverage greater investment in anti-slavery and anti-trafficking initiatives. The Special Rapporteur will therefore amplify the sustainable development case for ending slavery and trafficking, recognizing the multiple harms of systems of exploitation and the diverse benefits of their eradication.

69. See, for example, ILO, Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour (Geneva, 2024). The importance of the economic case was emphasized strongly in several consultation workshops, bilateral meetings and written submissions. ↩

The nexus between slavery, trafficking, migration and displacement has been a key concern for past Special Rapporteurs⁷⁰ and featured as one of the most pressing concerns among stakeholders.⁷¹ Of particular note was the strong emphasis on addressing trends in migration governance that undermine anti-slavery and anti-trafficking objectives, destabilizing prevention, protection and prosecution. The Special Rapporteur will maintain and extend on important work on this nexus, with particular concern for the ways in which migration governance is reshaping the dynamics of slavery and trafficking, and the capacity of governmental and non-governmental actors to respond effectively.

70. See, for example, A/76/170, A/77/170, A/HRC/38/45, A/HRC/39/52, A/HRC/53/28, A/HRC/56/60 and A/HRC/59/56. ↩
71. Identified as the fourth-highest priority for the mandate in consultations: referenced across workshops, in bilateral meetings and in 53 written submissions (priority score 28.4). ↩

Slavery and trafficking in the private economy and exploitation imposed by State actors on their own populations require fundamentally different approaches and responses. Tools and strategies that may be effective for combating exploitation perpetrated by private actors (whether individuals, groups or entities) are often ill-suited to respond to State-sanctioned and State-imposed abuses. Systems of State-imposed forced labour, in particular, are resistant to many of the strategies employed in the field, while State complicity undermines the effectiveness of responses. The Special Rapporteur will therefore examine the specific dynamics and contours of State involvement in slavery and trafficking, pursuing increased accountability for violations in which the State and State officials are implicated, and the development of new strategies for responding to these abuses at scale.

Contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons are shaped by historical trajectories. The manifestations of slavery and trafficking today reflect a tapestry of intersecting forces, including the structural conditions and architecture of societies, economies and polities shaped by long records. Histories of extraction, marginalization, exclusion, disenfranchisement and racialization have continuities and legacies that shape the dynamics and risks of contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking. As conversations about the legacies of colonialism and enslavement continue to evolve – for instance, through increased focus on descent- and caste-based discrimination and through the declaration of the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity⁷² – attention on the ways in which historical abuses continue to shape contemporary exploitation provides important insights for responding to the root causes of slavery and trafficking.

72. See General Assembly resolution 80/250. ↩

Ensuring access to justice for people subjected to slavery and trafficking was a key priority among stakeholders,⁷³ which underscored the substantial gap in implementation with regard to both the accountability of perpetrators and protection and remedy for victims and survivors. While much emphasis has been placed on advancing the criminal justice response to slavery and trafficking, strategies for scaling justice across populations in vulnerable situations either have not yet been adopted or have not been effective. At the same time, narrow conceptions of justice often overlook diverging incentive structures, preferences and perspectives that may shape how different stakeholders understand the concept of justice in the first place. The Special Rapporteur will therefore seek to support the advancement of survivor-informed frameworks for understanding and delivering justice across contexts and exploitation types. She will particularly explore the ways in which access to justice may be realized in the most challenging settings, including in protracted humanitarian situations, in the aftermath of emergencies and in conflict, post-conflict and transitional settings.

73. Identified as the third-highest priority for the mandate in consultations: referenced across workshops, in bilateral meetings and in 61 written submissions (priority score 28.4). ↩

For many anti-slavery and anti-trafficking stakeholders, the current moment represents a crucial inflection point. A rising swell of critical and exacerbating global challenges threaten to undermine the important progress made in the past century. While the moral consensus underpinning the prohibition of slavery and of trafficking holds, the operational realities of delivering complete eradication in practice are undermined by multiple competing forces. Continued progress in this context cannot be taken for granted: it will require increased energy, investment and commitment. In the current climate, effective cooperation, coordination and collaboration are of increasing importance to preserving and advancing such progress.

The Special Rapporteur therefore welcomes the opportunity for constructive engagement and fruitful cooperation with diverse stakeholders in all regions of the world to advance the priorities identified in the present report. She particularly emphasizes the central importance of constructive engagement with States in delivering on the commitments enshrined in international law and underpinning the mandate, and encourages States to respond positively. The role of intergovernmental bodies, civil society organizations, private sector entities, research institutions and media actors is also central in the pursuit of complete abolition. To ensure the effective exercise of her functions and the full implementation of her mandate, sustained support through adequate means and resources will be essential, particularly to enable proper follow-up to her recommendations.

Lastly, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the opportunity for meaningful and sustained engagement with people who have lived experience of contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons, and with wider affected communities. All voices are needed to deliver on the vision of a world free from slavery and trafficking in persons.