Специальный докладчик по вопросу о современных формах рабства и торговле людьми

Purpose of the mandate

Contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons are closely interrelated human rights violations. While they are legally distinct, they frequently overlap in practice and share common root causes. They often take place in hidden environments, for instance behind closed doors or in the informal economy, in poorly regulated sectors, conflict‑affected and humanitarian settings, migration contexts and increasingly also in digital spaces.

These practices are closely linked to structural inequalities and vulnerabilities, including poverty, intersecting forms of discrimination, marginalization, gender and other forms of inequality, lack of access to education and to decent work, weak governance and impunity, which increase the risk of exploitation and undermine access to protection, justice and effective remedies.

About the mandate

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons was created on 9 October 2025 by Human Rights Council resolution 60/25, which combined the previous mandates on contemporary forms of slavery and on trafficking in persons. It operates from 1 May 2026 for an initial period of three years. The mandate covers a broad range of human rights violations, including exploitative practices — such forced labour, debt bondage, servile forms of marriage, domestic servitude, worst forms of child labour -  as well as trafficking in persons for all types of exploitation. The Special Rapporteur acts on allegations, conducts country visits and reports annually to the Human Rights Council and General Assembly. 

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Current mandate holder

Katarina Schwarz is an international and comparative legal scholar with extensive experience on contemporary forms of slavery, human trafficking, and related forms of exploitation. She is an Associate Professor of Antislavery Law and Policy in the University of Nottingham’s School of Law and serves as Associate Director (Law and Policy) of the Rights Lab—the world’s largest interdisciplinary research centre focused on ending slavery. Since establishing the Rights Lab’s Law and Policy Programme, she has led and supported a large, international team of researchers and overseen a major portfolio of applied, policy‑relevant research to support global anti-slavery and anti-trafficking efforts. See full biography