Vienna - One third of human trafficking victims are children, and their share has been rising, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Monday.
The problem is most acute in Africa and the Middle East, where the majority of trafficked people are boys and girls, the UN agency said in a report.
However, this crime is a global phenomenon. UNODC has collected information about victims from 152 countries, which have been forced into sex work, forced labour and other activities against their will in 124 countries.
Although most countries have laws that ban human trafficking, it is rarely persecuted.
"As a result, the number of convictions globally has remained extremely low", UNODC chief Yuri Fedotov said.
Between 2010 and 2012, some 40% of countries reported no or very few convictions per year.