Corporate DispatchPro KEITH ZAHRA
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Half of Human Trafficking Victims trafficked in their own State Nearly half of the human trafficking victims in the European Union are EU citizens (49%), and one third (34 %) of the victims were trafficked within their own EU Member State. The vast majority of trafficking victims are women and girls (72%). One in every four (22%) victims of trafficking is a child. These were some of the key figures which emerged from the Commission’s Third Report on the progress made in the fight against human trafficking. Taking stock of measures taken since 2017, the report highlights recent trends in human trafficking, the particular complexities in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, and remaining challenges that the EU and Member States must address as a matter of priority. Overwhelmingly, the victims are women and girls, with Civil Rights Commissioner Ylva Johansson saying that this is once again a reminder that Europe needs to act to prevent the horrific crime of human trafficking, to assist and protect the victims, and to stop the culture of impunity of the perpetrators. Progress has been made in several areas, such as transnational cooperation particularly through referral mechanisms and as demonstrated through the joint efforts of Europol and Eurojust. While trafficking for sexual exploitation remains the predominant purpose for trafficking, labour exploitation is also reported. These are also linked to the context of migration. The report found that the number of prosecutions and convictions remains low in relation to the reported number of victims. In 2017/2018, 14,145 victims were registered, but there were only 6,163 prosecutions and 2,426 convictions. Another worrying development notes how the crime is increasingly online as traffickers make increasing use of the internet and social media to recruit and exploit victims.
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