A new study from the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the impact of COVID-19 on victims and survivors of human trafficking, indicates that the ‘severity’ of abuses and levels of violence have increased during the pandemic.

The report assesses how frontline organizations responded to the challenges posed by the pandemic while traffickers took advantage of the global crisis, capitalizing on the economic downturn and the extra time both adults and children have been spending online.

Louise Potterton spoke to Ilias Chatzis, Chief of UNODC’s Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, which developed the new study.