Trafficking in women and girls A/RES/69/149 trafficking in persons, especially women and children, on violence against women, its causes and consequences, on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, and by United Nations agencies and other concerned intergovernmental and governmental organizations, within their existing mandates, as well as civil society, to address the serious crime of trafficking in persons, and encouraging them to continue doing so and to share their knowledge and best practices as widely as possible, Noting the renewal by the Human Rights Council, at its twenty-sixth session, of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, 13 and the fact that part of her task is to integrate a gender- and age-specific perspective throughout the work of her mandate, inter alia, through the identification of gender- and age-specific vulnerabilities in relation to the issue of trafficking in persons, Acknowledging the inclusion of gender-related crimes in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 14 which entered into force on 1 July 2002, Bearing in mind the obligations of States to exercise due diligence to prevent trafficking in persons, to investigate and punish perpetrators of trafficking in persons and to protect and empower victims, and that not doing so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the victims, Seriously concerned that an increasing number of women and girls are being trafficked, including to developed countries, as well as within and between regions and States, and that men and boys are also victims of trafficking, including for sexual exploitation, Recognizing that certain efforts against trafficking in persons lack the gender and age sensitivity needed to effectively address the situation of women and girls, who are particularly vulnerable to trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labour, services and other forms of exploitation, thus highlighting the need to incorporate a gender- and age-sensitive approach into all anti-trafficking efforts, Recognizing also the need to address the impact of globalization on the particular problem of trafficking in women and children, in particular girls, Recognizing further that poverty, unemployment, lack of socioeconomic opportunities, gender-based violence, discrimination and marginalization are some of the contributing factors that make persons vulnerable to trafficking, Recognizing the heightened vulnerability to trafficking of women and girls in humanitarian crisis situations, including in conflict and post-conflict environments, natural disasters and other emergency environments, Recognizing also the need to reinforce efforts regarding the provision of relevant documents, such as birth registration documents, in order to lower the risk of being trafficked and to help to identify victims of trafficking in persons, Recognizing further that, despite the progress made, challenges to preventing and combating trafficking in women and girls remain and that further efforts should _______________ 13 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/69/53), chap. V, sect. A. 14 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, No. 38544. 3/11