Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children

About the mandate

At its sixtieth session, the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted decision 2004/110, by which it decided to appoint, for a three-year period, a Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, to focus on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons. In June 2023, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was extended again for three years by Human Rights Council resolution 53/9.

The Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons is the only exclusively focused international human rights mechanism for combating human trafficking. The mandate has a global reach, and engages widely with law and policy forums, and with civil society.

In the discharge of the mandate, the Special Rapporteur:

a. Takes action on violations committed against trafficked persons and on situations in which there has been a failure to protect their human rights;

b. Undertakes 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;

c. Submits annual reports to the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.

About the mandate holder

Ms. Siobhán Mullally (Ireland) was appointed Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in 2020. She is the Established Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the School of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway.

Read Ms. Siobhán Mullally’s full biography.

Former mandate holders

Ms. Maria Grazia Giammarinaro (Italy) (2014-2020)
Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo (Nigeria) (2008 - 2014)
Ms. Sigma Huda (Bangladesh) (2004-2008)