Human trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation: the 'loss and damage' from climate change a fund will not compensate

By Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, Associate Professor in Policy and Intersectionality, UCL & Honorary Senior Researcher, United Nations University

Violence against women and children, including sexual abuse and exploitation, remains a taboo subject in the policy debates attended by international delegates at COP28, the latest round of the UN climate negotiations in Dubai. However the connections between climate change and gender-based violence, including human trafficking, are real and already blight lives worldwide.

Countries at COP28 have agreed to set up a loss and damage fund which would pay poor nations for the irreparable harm caused by the deteriorating climate. How can we compensate non-economic…

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