Vienna - The United Nations (UN) will open here on Wednesday the first-ever
global forum to fight the crime of human trafficking, which ranges from
forced labour and sexual exploitation to the removal of organs and body
parts.

The three-day conference, which runs through Friday, will bring together 1
200 experts, legislators, law enforcement teams, business leaders, NGO
representatives and trafficking victims from 116 countries, organisers said.

"The crime is so widespread within the global economic system that we have
all become complicit in it," said the head of UN Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa.

"The blood, sweat and tears of trafficking victims are on the hands of
consumers all over the world. This is a crime that shames us all."