Stopping human trafficking: MEPs call for more action

Source: European Parliament (EP) i, published on Thursday, February 25 2021.

Access to video: Human trafficking is still a reality in the EU

MEPs want the EU to step up the fight against human trafficking, strengthen protection for victims and end the impunity of traffickers. Find out more.

Often seen as a modern form of slavery, human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes, with new technologies, migration flows and the Covid-19 crisis creating new risks and challenges across the EU.

Human trafficking in the EU

EU countries reported 14,145 victims of human trafficking between 2017 and 2018, of which 72% were women and girls, according to a European Commission report. Children accounted for nearly a quarter (22%) of all registered victims. However, the actual number of victims could be far higher due to the lack of consistent and comparable data.

More than half (60%) of registered victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation; 15% for other types of forced labour and 15% for other reasons, such as begging, organ removal or domestic servitude. Nearly half (49%) are from an EU country.

Almost three quarters of the traffickers registered were male, with the majority of them EU citizens.

What is human trafficking?

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    Human trafficking is the exploitation of people against their will by use of force
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    Traffickers exploit vulnerable people for financial gain by tricking or forcing them into prostitution and forced labour (such as domestic work, agriculture or construction) or other forms of exploitation
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    Human trafficking is the second-biggest source of illicit profits for organised crime after the drugs trade (UN)

What does Parliament want?

MEPs called for tougher anti-trafficking rules, especially by criminalising the “knowing use of sexual services” by victims of trafficking, stronger child protection measures and better protection of migrants and asylum seekers who are particularly at risk of being trafficked.

In a report adopted on 9 February, Parliament urged the European Commission to address the use of online technologies, including social media, to entrap victims.

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