A/HRC/10/16 page 7 well as of domestic and international criminal laws. In response to the Special Rapporteur’s questionnaire, some Governments opined that trafficking is “huge and serious” while others indicated that it is “declining but still serious”. However, the dominant view was that trafficking in persons is a serious problem. As stated by one of the respondent States, trafficking is “a hidden crime and the scale is hard to describe”. Trafficking also varies according to region in terms of who is trafficked, the sectors in which they work, and their areas of origin and destination. 10. Economically speaking, trafficking in persons has become a global business, reaping huge profits for traffickers and organized crime syndicates, generating massive human rights violations, and causing serious problems for Governments. 11. In the absence of systematic, reliable statistics, it is hard to know with any degree of precision if the number of trafficking cases is increasing or decreasing and why this might be so. Compiling reliable and comprehensive statistics is thus a first step towards a more global understanding of the phenomenon. It is also quite a challenging task.5 12. In resolution 8/12, paragraph 2 (k), the Human Rights Council urged States “to enhance information-sharing and data-collection capacities as a way of promoting cooperation to combat trafficking in persons, including through the systematic collection of sex- and age-disaggregated data”. 13. The Special Rapporteur intends to pursue that goal and to serve as a focal point in data mapping and dissemination, working closely with stakeholders. Superior data will only emerge once the gravity of trafficking as a severe violation of human rights is fully recognized and appropriate victims’ protection mechanisms are put in place globally. Unless Governments and law enforcement agencies take the necessary steps to address trafficking in persons from both a human rights as well as a law enforcement perspective, the majority of trafficking cases will continue to go uncounted, the victims uncared for, and the traffickers unpunished. The way forward depends on sound policies, based on good data. Initiatives that raise global awareness like the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking held in February 2008, the High Commissioner’s report to the Human Rights Council, and the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking are all important steps forward in this direction. B. Definition and scope of the mandate 14. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol) came into force on 25 December 20036 and specifically addresses trafficking in persons. It defines trafficking in persons in article 3 (a) as follows: 5 See 024 Workshop: Quantifying Human Trafficking, its Impact and the Response to it, 13-15 February 2008, Vienna Forum, UNGIFT, background paper, p. 2. 6 One hundred and nineteen States have ratified it as at 26 September 2008.