Human trafficking: The gender dimension
Understanding the phenomenon
Trafficking in human beings (also referred to as THB, human trafficking, or trafficking in persons) is a serious crime and a flagrant violation of human rights, recognised as such by the international community. Even if it is not a new phenomenon, human trafficking has acquired a new dimension in the context of globalisation, and has been facilitated by increased mobility, especially in Europe, and the development of the internet and social media. More recent events, such as the migration crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, have also contributed to the rising figures and the evolving nature of the crime. In addition, the war in Ukraine has increased the risk of human trafficking for Ukrainians, particularly women and children. One of the reasons why human trafficking is an ever more flourishing business is that it involves low risks and brings in high profits. As victims, through fear or shame, tend not to declare themselves to the authorities, traffickers are hardly ever prosecuted, and the actual number of victims is difficult to establish. Although collecting data on human trafficking is difficult because of the invisible nature of the crime, recent years have seen progress at both international and EU level, and extensive reports have been published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Eurostat. Nevertheless, the data presented below are based on registered or identified victims, and therefore represent only the tip of the iceberg.
Prevalence at global and European level
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated in 2021 that 49.6 million people were living in modern slavery, of which 27.6 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage. The UNODC 2022 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons reveals that in 2020, 60 % of victims of human trafficking detected globally were women and girls, 42 % and 18 % respectively, while 40 % were men and boys, 23 % and 17 % respectively (Figure 1). Although women continue to be the worst affected by trafficking in the last 16 years, the number of girls, as well as of men and boys who are victims of human trafficking, has risen more than that of women. Indeed, the share of adult women in victims of trafficking fell from over 74 % in 2004 to 42 % in 2020. EU data match this information. On average, 7 000 people per year are victims of human trafficking in the EU, with the estimated annual cost of the crime totalling €2.7 billion. The European Commission’s fourth report on the progress made in the fight against trafficking in human beings from 2022 shows that a clear gender dimension persists in trafficking, with 63 % of the victims in the EU being women and girls. Women and girls account for 87 % of the victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, and men and boys account for 66 % of victims for labour exploitation. The report also notes that there has been a recent increase in transgender people being victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation; this may not be visible from the statistics as they are currently presented.
Trafficking routes within and to the EU
Whereas human trafficking in the EU has occurred mostly within its borders, this trend has been decreasing in recent years. According to Eurostat, in 2015, 65 % of victims were EU citizens. Latest data show a percentage of 53 %, with Romania, France, Italy, Bulgaria and Poland as the top five countries of origin. Most of the 43 % of victims who are non-EU citizens1 come from only five countries: Nigeria, China, Moldova, Pakistan and Morocco. Nigeria is frequently reported as one of the main countries of origin of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. A recent increase in South-American women as victims of sexual exploitation has also been observed. International Organization for Migration (IOM) data from 2023 show that the war in Ukraine did not result in the expected surge of human trafficking victims, although this may change in the future. It is likely that numerous cases of trafficking remain undetected and unreported; the situation therefore warrants particular attention, and more research is needed to reach a conclusion on this particular trafficking route. Migration flows are usually connected to increased trafficking, as traffickers profit from migration crises to transport their victims and recruit new ones.
Main forms of exploitation
Sexual exploitation has been considered the main purpose of human trafficking, both globally and in the EU. However, the latest global data show that trafficking for forced labour has become equally prevalent as sexual exploitation, at least in terms of registered cases. UNODC data show that forced labour and sexual exploitation were each detected in just under 40 % of cases in 2020 (Figure 2). This ratio results from a recent decrease in reported cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation and a steady rise in the registered number of cases of trafficking for labour exploitation. However, it is possible that the drop in sex trafficking cases for sexual exploitation is due to sexual exploitation evolving and moving to less visible locations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and developments in the digital dimension of the crime. The rise in registered cases of labour trafficking, in turn, may also be a result of the growing awareness of labour exploitation as a purpose of human trafficking, and of men as victims of human trafficking. In the EU, the trend is similar. The main form of exploitation predominantly remained sexual until 2022, the last year for which data are available. That year, sexual exploitation stood at 41.4 % as the main form of exploitation, followed very closely by forced labour at 41.1 % (Figure 3 below). As recently as the previous year, 2021, forced labour stood at 28 %; this represents a steep rise in one year. Other forms of exploitation, such as forced criminal activities, forced begging, illegal adoption, forced and sham marriages, illegal surrogacy and illegal removal of organs, follow in much smaller numbers, In 2022, children made up 15 % of the victims whose was known; most of them were female (75 %). As the above-mentioned fourth progress report with data on the year 2020 shows, the vast majority of victims of sexual exploitation were female (87 %). Of those, 73 % were women and 27 %, girls. In contrast to sexual exploitation, forced labour is an area where most of the victims are male, at 66 %. For other forms of exploitation, women, children, unaccompanied minors and irregular migrants are particularly vulnerable. The increased number of irregular migrants in recent years may also contribute to higher numbers of victims trafficked for labour exploitation, as many of them have been men. However, victims may not be exploited only in one way: Roma women, for instance, may be trafficked both for forced and sham marriages and for sexual exploitation, labour exploitation and forced begging.
Although the registered trends in exploitation forms are similar in EU and UN sources, some other data sources may not follow them. For example, the IOM still features sexual exploitation as the vastly predominant form of exploitation over that based on labour. Since data collection is problematic and depends on the detection of cases suspected of not usually being detected, care needs to be taken when drawing conclusions about the situation in the field based on available data.
Sexual exploitation
Trafficking for sexual exploitation can take on different forms: more visible ones, as in the case of street prostitution, but mostly clandestine ones, with victims operating in brothels, private homes and increasingly, online. Public venues, such as massage parlours and strip clubs, can also be used for trafficking and sexual exploitation.
A common tool used to control victims is violence: victims are raped by their traffickers, and drugged to prevent them from escaping. Even when victims know they are being recruited to provide sexual services, they still end up in exploitive situations and suffer deception, coercion and violence. Victims may also be lured by traffickers to enter into voluntary business agreements in exchange for protection and support, so they may not even consider themselves as victims. Technology is used increasingly and widely as a means to recruit, advertise and exploit the victims.
Forced labour
According to 2022 ILO estimates, 28 million men, women and children worldwide are in forced labour. This is almost double its 2012 estimate of 14.2 million of people as victims of labour exploitation. Men are primarily at risk of being trafficked for forced labour, in particular in the agricultural, construction and manufacturing sectors. Women and girls are most often trafficked for the purpose of domestic servitude, which is difficult to detect, as domestic work – hidden in its nature – is often part of the informal economy. These victims are forced to work very long hours for an extremely low or no salary, while living in unacceptable conditions and sometimes suffering psychological and physical violence, humiliation, abuse and punishment. Migrant women and girls are particularly at risk.
The thorny reality of human trafficking: Focus on women
Both UNODC and Eurostat data demonstrate that human trafficking has a clear gender dimension. Women and men are not trafficked in the same way or for the same purpose, and their experience of trafficking can be very different. Arguably, the whole trafficking cycle is highly gendered, from the root causes that make women and girls more vulnerable, to policy approaches and measures designed to combat trafficking of human beings. Although the experiences of the men being trafficked, in particular as victims of labour exploitation, are attracting growing interest among various stakeholders, trafficking in women remains high on the agenda as a complex and still increasing phenomenon, despite global efforts to tackle it. So, what makes women so vulnerable to human trafficking? How are they trapped in exploitative situations? What are the means used by traffickers to recruit and control them?
Root causes
Factors that contribute to trafficking in human beings can be categorised as ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors. Push factors include poverty, unemployment, lack of social security, gender inequalities, conflicts and violence. Pull factors consist of promises of steady employment, better living conditions and demand for cheap unskilled labour as well as for sexual services. Often, victimisation and exploitation are the result of a combination of these factors. Violence against women and demand for sexual services as causes of trafficking in women have received increased attention in recent years both internationally and in the EU. Gender-based violence Gender-based violence against women encompasses physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence, and can manifest as harassment, stalking, domestic violence, femicide and other forms. It can occur in various settings, including the family and other intimate relationships, work, and public and online spaces. Data on this type violence are severely lacking, including in the EU. Most of it is not reported. According to a 2014 survey by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, one in three women in the EU has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15. Violence increases a woman’s vulnerability to trafficking by eroding her self-esteem and self-confidence. It also increases her risk of being trafficked as she tries to leave her abusive environment.
Demand for services
Trafficking for sexual exploitation obeys the principles of supply and demand. Sexual exploitation does not exist just because its victims are vulnerable but because there is a demand for sexual services from which traffickers can profit. Commercial sexual services in the EU are consumed almost exclusively by men and mainly provided by women. The need to reduce demand for the services of trafficked people through legislation is addressed differently throughout the EU. Several Member States have explicitly criminalised the knowing use of services of victims of human trafficking. Ireland, France and Sweden have adopted what is known as the ‘Nordic model’ of prostitution, which penalises buyers of sexual services regardless of whether the provider of sexual services is doing so voluntarily or not, while decriminalising prostitutes and providing them with social support and help if they want to leave the exploitative situation. To protect domestic workers, including migrants, effectively, the ILO adopted the Domestic Workers Conventionin 2011; it entered into force in September 2013. EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service 6 Most other EU Member States have legalised prostitution, although in most of them, it is heavily regulated so to avoid exploitation. Belgium is the only Member State that has decriminalised prostitution entirely. Data are lacking to say with certainty, whichapproach is best to reduce human trafficking and help victims, and there are fears that some approaches, such as further criminalisation of prostitution,may drive trafficking deeper underground.Complicated interlinkages exist between sex work and prostitution, and sexual exploitation resulting from human trafficking, and they require careful consideration of options so as not to aggravate the already existing issues.
Published by the European Parliamentary Research Service
Author: Martina Prpic; Graphics: Giulio Sabbati
To read the full report go to: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2024/766265/EPRS_BRI(2024)766265_EN.pdf
