Fighting trafficking in human beings – Have your say!

Today, I am asking you for your views on fighting trafficking in human beings. To help update the Anti-Trafficking Directive, and to shape EU-anti trafficking policy for the next ten years.

Traffickers treat people as a commodity, exploit people, their labour and their bodies. Traffickers even tattoo their victims, to show they are property to be bought and sold.

One third of all victims are trafficked within their own country. 70% of perpetrators are EU citizens. Half of all victims are EU citizens. 75% of trafficked children are EU citizens.

Nearly three quarters of all victims are women and girls. 60% of victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation. And 92% of these victims are women.

Trafficking is a terrible crime. A trafficker can sell guns or drugs once. But he can sell a woman’s body again, and again, and again.

Traffickers exploit children – 25% of all victims. Force children to beg, steal and deal drugs – but most of all into sexual exploitation (60%).

Traffickers force people to work long hours in dirty, dangerous and demeaning jobs, for very little pay.

Police are taking joint action. Last November, Europol supported a large-scale international action. More than 14,000 law enforcement officers targeted trafficking routes on roads and at airports. And could identify 593 adults and 57 children as potential human trafficking victims.

We need to do more.

First, trafficking is committed by criminal networks across borders. That’s why we’re fighting trafficking as part of my strategy against organised crime. Recently, I launched proposals to improve police cooperation and information exchange, which will also help the fight against trafficking.

Earlier this year I launched a strategy against trafficking in human beings.

To increase convictions, we will support a new network of specialised prosecutors.

Worldwide traffickers make billions of euros. I want to take that money from the traffickers, and use it to compensate victims.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, traffickers increasingly moved online. Advertising victims online and reaching out to potential clients. We are working with internet and technology companies to reduce recruitment and exploitation of victims online.

And we need to find and protect victims. I have proposed to include facial images in the Prüm system for police information exchange. Which will help to find vulnerable victims, especially children.

And we are raising awareness of the dangers signs of trafficking. Like: Are workers afraid of their bosses? Or girls afraid of their boyfriends? Are they not allowed to leave their homes? Have they ‘lost’ their ID cards and passports? Have been beaten or hurt? Do they owe massive debts?

We are supporting Member States to train social workers, police, border guards and others to recognise these danger signs of trafficking. Especially for women and children, the most frequent, most vulnerable victims.

And to get people back to safety, the Commission is pushing Member States to have national referral mechanisms in place. Which help children get back home and the right social, medical and psychological care.

We are taking steps to support, protect and empower victims. Our EU funds  support safe shelters. Including special shelters for women and children. We will support programmes so victims can rebuild their lives and integrate back into society.

The most powerful weapon against trafficking is legislation. The Anti-Trafficking Directive is ten years old this year. It has helped the fight against trafficking in many ways. With a clear legal definition of trafficking. By criminalising trafficking in the entire EU. And with measures to prevent trafficking and assist victims.

Now it is time to update this legislation.

First of all, I want the Directive to provide even higher standards of protection to victims, especially children.

Second, I want to end the culture of impunity. And turn trafficking from a low risk, high profit crime, to a high risk, low profit crime.

It’s time to consider tough sentences for traffickers – in the entire EU.

And it’s time to think about criminalising the use of victims.

It’s a crime in Europe to sell a trafficked woman’s body. It’s not a crime everywhere to use her body.

In the current Directive Member States only have to “consider” criminalising “the knowing use of exploited services”.

The final decision is left to Member States. As a result, there is a patchwork of different legal practices across the EU where users face different consequences when they exploit the bodies of trafficked women.

Trafficked women all deserve the same protection, no matter where they are in the EU.

And we need to update the Directive also to deal with new, digital threats.

Today, I want to hear your opinion. How effective do you think the Directive is? To fight and punish traffickers and protect and compensate victims? What do you think we need to do, to better prevent and fight trafficking? How can we make the Directive ready, for the next ten years?

I ask you: please complete the public consultation here.

Links:

Public consultation fighting human trafficking – review of EU rules