UN General Assembly president urges accountability for trafficking and technology-facilitated violence against women

Annalena Baerbock, president of the United Nations General Assembly, told reporters at a weekly briefing that a high-level meeting to appraise the UN global plan of action to combat trafficking in persons opened yesterday and that member states adopted a political declaration by consensus. She said the meeting will resume in the afternoon and emphasized the need to prevent trafficking, protect victims and end impunity.

Baerbock marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and said this year’s 16 Days of Activism focuses on technology‑facilitated violence. She described how rapid advances in artificial intelligence have expanded the scale and speed of online abuse and stressed its disproportionate impact on women: "this is deeply systematic," she said, and noted that attacks can intimidate, humiliate and push women out of public life. She described a personal experience of being targeted with a fake image online.

Addressing statistics cited at the briefing, Baerbock said, "every second...8 women are physically assaulted worldwide," and she cited figures on deepfake content and youth harassment as illustrative of the problem (transcript phrasing for one deepfake figure was unclear). She linked those harms to the broader trafficking agenda and called for accountability that extends to governments, technology companies and online advertisers.

In response to a question about what is still missing, Baerbock said the main problem is "a lack of accountability," especially in labour exploitation and trafficking cases that are not brought to justice. She pointed to online activism and survivors speaking out as positive trends, and urged stronger legislation and platform follow‑up while urging member states and civil society to remain engaged.

The General Assembly president said the political declaration adopted by consensus demonstrates member states' determination to address human trafficking and support survivors. The high‑level appraisal will continue later in the day; Baerbock and UN partners urged sustained attention to enforcement, victim support and platform responsibility.