UN – Human traffickers are often women according to a report released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in February. In 30 per cent of the 155 countries examined, women traffickers outnumber men, and in Eastern Europe and Central Asia they account for 60 per cent of those convicted. Sexual exploitation drives 79 per cent of human trafficking and victims are predominantly girls and women, some of whom go on to become traffickers themselves.
“In these regions, women trafficking women is the norm,” said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UNODC. “We need to understand the psychological, financial and coercive reasons why women recruit other women into slavery.”
