This presentation features three research questions: 1) How do state and non-state armed actors deliberately employ human trafficking to finance and sustain violence? 2) What structural conditions in conflict zones create and amplify exploitable vulnerabilities? and 3) And what enforcement gaps allow trafficking-financed conflict to persist despite an established international normative framework? Drawing on qualitative analysis of case studies, UN reports, expert articles, whitepapers, and peer-reviewed international literature, the research demonstrates that trafficking in conflict zones is not incidental but systematic – a deliberate instrument combining forced labor and prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, forced mining and porter services, child conscription, and more to generate revenue and operational capacity. The combination of mass displacement, institutional collapse, and the erosion of social, political, and economic rights in conflict zones creates conditions in which trafficking becomes structurally integrated rather than opportunistic. Over 70% of UN-listed perpetrators are repeat offenders, exposing the gap between normative framework and enforcement reality. Examples of findings will be explored via typology of trafficking/exploitation: Type 1 – State-imposed: North Korea (overseas labor export), Libya (DCIM/DACOT detention trafficking); Type 2 – UN-designated terrorist groups: ISIS/Da’esh, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, LRA, Ansar Dine/AQIM, Abu Sayyaf Group; Type 3 – State-adjacent PMCs/proxy forces: Wagner Group/Africa Corps (CAR, Mali, Sudan, Libya); and Type 4 – Conflict-opportunistic organized crime: Sahel smuggling networks, Colombian border groups, Al-Dabbashi militia. The presentation closes with a call for stronger mechanisms of prosecution, financial tracking, and international cooperation, and advocates for survivor-centered, multidisciplinary approaches that address both the financing infrastructure and the human cost of conflict-driven exploitation.
Trigger Warning: This presentation contains information (written, spoken, or visual) that may be triggering or (re)traumatizing to attendees.
Sarah Warner’s career spans 15+ years including work for the U.S. government, state legislatures, multiple NGOs, and the United Nations (UN). She is an award-winning advocate featured at numerous international conferences, currently serving as a Consultative NGO Permanent Observer to the UN, and head of the SWMI Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.