United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNODC participated in a consultation meeting for a General Recommendation by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration in Geneva in December 2018. UNODC will be closely involved in the development of the General Recommendation, including a keynote statement during CEDAW’s 72nd session in Geneva in February 2019.

UNODC organized a number of side events in cooperation with relevant partners, including on essential services for women and girls subject to violence and on the importance of gender equality and human rights for victims of trafficking in persons, during the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in May 2018 and the Conference to the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime in October 2018.

In Uzbekistan, UNODC supported the Government in the development of a draft law on the prevention of domestic violence. In Egypt, UNODC is supporting the Government to develop fair and effective procedures to deal with cases of violence against women and girls, and thus to ensure a victim-centred approach as well as a fair and just prosecution of perpetrators.

UNODC organized an Expert Group Meeting on interlinkages of trafficking in persons with marriage, including forced, child, temporary and sham marriages, bringing together international experts in the field for the development of a UNODC issue paper on these issues (to be published in mid 2019. 

In Guatemala, UNODC supported the establishment of an inter-institutional coordination roundtable with the National Police and the Attorney-General’s Office for the investigation of cases of violence against women and assisted both institutions in the development of joint investigation plans and protocols on the subject. 

In Myanmar, UNODC strengthened the capacity of the police to provide survivor-centered responses, effective investigation and inter-agency coordination among the criminal justice system to better respond to gender-based violence. The Office supported the Union Attorney General’s Office in the prosecution of cases involving violence against women and children through a training curriculum and accompanying materials piloted at two initial trainings of trainers.

In Nepal, UNODC undertook a study about women in the criminal justice system, with a focus on women criminal justice professionals, violence against women and women alleged offenders and prisoners. 

In the State of Palestine, UNODC and other UN agencies launched a joint project to support the forensic science laboratory in analyzing evidence on sexual and gender-based violence cases, to sensitize criminal justice personnel and improve cooperation among the stakeholders involved in handling SGBV cases. 

Half of the projects funded by the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in 2018 explicitly provided direct protection and assistance to victims trafficked in a situation of armed conflict or fleeing conflict identified within mass refugee and migration movements. 

UNODC published a thematic paper on countering trafficking in persons, including the exploitation of women and girls, in conflict situations. 

UNODC promotes the Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking. In the framework of the UNODC Education for Justice Initiative, the Office raised awareness on trafficking in persons through education, working closely with youth and academics to look into key concepts of trafficking and how this affects in particular women and girls, and how education can contribute to crime prevention and promotion of legality and justice. This includes dedicated modules and resources on gender and organized crime, including trafficking in persons. UNODC published an article on gender-responsive approaches in evaluation and programming to better address trafficking in persons (p. 22 ff.)

In Mexico, UNODC supported the development of a videogame called Chuka, which aims to teach children to recognize the most common types of violence against women and girls, and act assertively when facing different representations of such violence.

UNODC continues to provide expert assistance through Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT). GLO.ACT assists governmental authorities and civil society organizations across 13 strategically selected countries (Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, the Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, South Africa, and Ukraine) by supporting effective responses to trafficking and smuggling, including assisting victims of trafficking and vulnerable migrants by strengthening identification, referral, and direct support mechanisms. Between July 2016 and December 2017, more than 70 activities were delivered in 11 countries.  

UNODC provided training and capacity building to promote more effective police and justice responses to VAW/GBV in Egypt (training for police officers, prosecutors, judges and forensic doctors), (Kenya (training on gender mainstreaming), Kyrgyzstan (leadership training programme for female police officers to promote gender-sensitive local police services),  Mexico (training programme for 8,000 police officers and emergency call operators in 25 states), Myanmar (training workshops for police instructors and front-line officers based on a new handbook and training curriculum), Namibia (training of trainers for police, prosecutors and victim service providers). 

UNODC developed a “Strategy for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (2018-2021) establishes the first institutional framework on gender equality for the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) and UNODC. This Strategy seeks to ensure that gender equality and the empowerment of women are integral parts of all aspects of the work of UNOV/UNODC in making the world safer from drugs, crime and terrorism and in ensuring the peaceful uses of outer space.
This Strategy will assist UNOV and UNODC-by 2021-to be workplaces where gender equality and the empowerment of women are actively promoted by staff in all aspects of institutional processes, programmatic work and activities thus fostering an enabling, inclusive and diverse work environment and improving the representation of women at all levels in order to reach gender parity.

UNODC is part of the United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality and also has a coordinating role in ICAT, the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Trafficking in Persons, established by the General Assembly.

In 2017, UNODC further expanded its activities in developing standards and tools and providing technical assistance to Member States in the field of crime statistics. Among these activities was UNODC’s publication of the Resource Book for Trainers on Effective Prosecution Responses to Violence against Women and Girls and the development of an implementation guide for the Essential Service Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence to assist countries in the implementation of the Essential Services Package at the country level. 
Further, UNODC developed a study on the role of women in the smuggling of migrants (to be published in the first half of 2018), as well as a Practitioner's Toolkit on Women's Access to Justice Programming (together with UN Women, UNDP and OHCHR).