By Bethany Bell
BBC News, Vienna
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German jobless hits 15-year low ... on the growing problem of human trafficking is to open in Vienna.
More than 1,000 delegates from over 100 countries are attending the forum to discuss solutions, including techniques to monitor criminal gangs.
There are believed to be millions of victims of trafficking worldwide - in an industry that generates tens of billions of dollars a year.
UN officials say human trafficking is the hidden crime of globalisation.
It is a problem that affects both wealthy and developing countries.
Internet payments
The head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, says the crime takes many forms.
"We are talking about young girls and boys in South East Asia trafficked in sweat shops but especially in sex parlours.
"We are talking about girls in eastern Europe trafficked to western Europe and North America. We are talking about villages and entire families in bondage, working in plantations or mines or quarries."
Mr Costa said he hoped more countries would be encouraged to ratify the UN protocol on human trafficking and to develop laws to fight the crime.
He said the forum would discuss a number of initiatives - including techniques for monitoring criminal gangs and ways to disrupt internet payments for sex services on the web.
(BBC)
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