GENEVA - One in three victims of trafficking worldwide is a child, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, Siobhán Mullally warned today.
"Child trafficking remains a serious crime and serious human rights violation'," Mullally said in a new report to the Human Rights Council. "Despite its scale, impunity persists, reflecting the continued invisibility of children's rights in international and anti trafficking law, policy and practice.
The Special Rapporteur said migrant, forcibly displaced and stateless children face significantly heightened risks of trafficking. "These risks are structural, multifaceted, and present throughout the entire migration journey," she said.
Unaccompanied and separated children are particularly vulnerable, especially where child protection systems are weak and racialised discrimination shapes border control and migration governance. Racial and gender biases often prevent children from being identified as victims and receiving support. Boys in particular may be overlooked, while girls face heightened risks of sexual exploitation and forced marriage.
"The absence of safe migration pathways and the lack of effective access to international protection force children into perilous journeys, exposing them to both organised and informal criminal networks," Mullally said.
Restrictions on asylum procedures, limited access to humanitarian visas, resettlement opportunities, and rights based family reunification all contribute to children undertaking dangerous routes.
The Special Rapporteur said that statelessness also increases the risk to trafficking.
An estimated 4.4 million people worldwide are stateless, 44 per cent of them children, leaving many without access to education, healthcare or protection services. Lack of birth registration and discriminatory nationality laws continue to push children into situations of extreme vulnerability and exploitation.
Mullally said the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children. Yet, the principle of non discrimination is frequently ignored.
"Exceptionalism has become the norm in the context of forced displacement and migration," she said. "Children are routinely placed beyond the reach of human rights guarantees, despite repeated commitments to universality and equality."
The Special Rapporteur also raised serious concerns about cuts to humanitarian funding, which are weakening already fragile child protection systems leading to increased child labour, sexual exploitation and trafficking.
"Child trafficking is not inevitable, it is the result of policy choices," she said. "States must take urgent action, including expanding safe migration pathways, ensuring universal birth registration, ending immigration detention of children and guaranteeing access to protection and justice without discrimination. The responsibility of States is clear. Failing to act in the face of overwhelming evidence of risk is no longer acceptable."
