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Professor Siobhán Mullally appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children. 

Professor Siobhán Mullally, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights has been appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children. The position will focus on the human rights of victims of trafficking in persons. Professor Mullally was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, following an open competitive selection process.

As Special Rapporteur Professor Mullally will be responsible for taking action on human rights violations committed against trafficked persons and on situations in which there has been a failure to protect their human rights and to take effective preventive action. She will undertake country visits in order to study the situation in situ and formulate recommendations to prevent and/or combat trafficking, and protect the human rights of victims of trafficking in specific countries and/or regions, and will also submit annual reports to the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.  She will also present to the UN Security Council on the links between human trafficking and armed conflict.

Commenting on the appointment, Professor Mullally said:

Human Trafficking is a serious violation of human rights, often targeting people living in poverty, victims of discrimination, and people fleeing situations of armed conflict or persecution. COVID-19 has limited access to critical support services for victims of trafficking, and deflected resources away from preventive action. Closures of borders and limited access to safe, regular migration, combined with increases in unemployment and poverty, all increase risks of sexual, labour and other forms of exploitation. Children who are increasingly in online environments and not attending school regularly, are particularly at risk of trafficking.

It is critical now that effective protection measures are taken to vindicate the human rights of victims of trafficking, and that Governments and the international community take seriously their obligations to prevent human trafficking.

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