Europe

Overview: Europe’s Trafficking Landscape

Europe occupies a unique position in the global trafficking landscape. It is simultaneously a destination, transit zone, and source region for trafficking in human beings. The continent’s wealth, open internal borders (within the Schengen Area), proximity to conflict zones, and high demand for cheap labor and commercial sex create conditions that sustain trafficking across multiple forms. Despite having some of the world’s strongest legal frameworks, Europe continues to struggle with the detection, prosecution, and prevention of trafficking.

The European Commission estimates that there are hundreds of thousands of trafficking victims across the European Union at any given time, though precise figures are impossible to determine. Europol identifies trafficking in human beings as one of the most profitable criminal activities in Europe, generating an estimated €29.4 billion annually. The UNODC reports that for every victim identified in Europe, an estimated 20 or more remain undetected.

Eastern European Trafficking Networks

Eastern Europe has been identified as the primary source region for trafficking victims within Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The economic devastation, institutional collapse, and social upheaval that followed the end of communism created conditions in which trafficking networks formed rapidly and have proven extraordinarily resilient.

Romania

Romania is consistently identified as the largest single source country for trafficking victims within the European Union. Romanian nationals constitute the single largest national group among identified trafficking victims in the EU, accounting for approximately 15–20% of all registered victims. Victims are trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation and forced labor, with destination countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands.

Romanian trafficking networks are characterized by a combination of organized criminal groups and small-scale, family-based operations. Recruiters target victims from impoverished rural communities, Roma settlements, and child care institutions. The “loverboy” method, in which traffickers pose as romantic partners to recruit victims, is widely documented in Romanian cases, paralleling the padrote model seen in Mexico.

Despite EU membership since 2007 and significant EU-funded anti-trafficking programs, Romania’s prosecution of trafficking remains weak. The National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (ANITP) identifies hundreds of victims annually, but conviction rates are low and sentences frequently suspended. Corruption within the police and judiciary continues to undermine enforcement.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria is the second-largest source country for trafficking victims in the EU relative to its population. Bulgarian victims are trafficked throughout Western Europe for sexual exploitation, forced labor, and forced criminality (including pickpocketing, begging, and petty theft). Bulgarian trafficking networks operate with particular strength in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

The exploitation of Bulgarian children for forced begging and petty crime across Western European cities is a persistent pattern. Children, often from Roma communities, are trafficked by organized groups that use them as beggars on public transport and in city centers, confiscating all proceeds. These operations generate significant revenue with minimal risk of serious prosecution in destination countries.

Moldova

Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries, has been a major source of trafficking victims since the 1990s. The country’s economic vulnerability, geographic position between Romania and Ukraine, and the unresolved status of the breakaway Transnistria region create conditions that traffickers exploit. Moldovan women have been trafficked to destinations across Europe, the Middle East, and Turkey for sexual exploitation.

The Transnistria region, a self-declared republic not recognized by the international community and effectively controlled by Russian-backed authorities, operates outside Moldovan law enforcement jurisdiction and has been identified as a transit zone for trafficking. The region’s unregulated status, porous borders, and presence of organized crime groups make it a significant trafficking vulnerability.

Western Europe as Destination

Western European nations are primarily destination countries for trafficking, though domestic trafficking also occurs. The wealth of Western Europe, high demand for cheap labor in agriculture, construction, hospitality, and domestic service, and the demand for commercial sex drive trafficking flows from Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Germany, as Europe’s largest economy, is a major destination for both labor and sex trafficking. Germany’s legalization of prostitution in 2002 was intended to improve conditions for sex workers, but critics argue it has increased demand for commercial sex without adequate mechanisms to prevent trafficking. The German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) identified over 500 trafficking investigations in 2022, with victims predominantly from Romania, Bulgaria, Nigeria, and China.

France has taken the opposite legislative approach, adopting the “Nordic model” in 2016, which criminalizes the purchase (but not the sale) of sex. French authorities report that the majority of sex trafficking victims are Nigerian women trafficked through Libya and Italy by networks using juju rituals to maintain psychological control.

Italy serves as both a destination and a critical transit country, particularly for trafficking from Africa via the Mediterranean. Agricultural labor trafficking in southern Italy, in regions including Puglia, Calabria, and Campania, exploits migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and South Asia in tomato, olive, and citrus harvesting. The caporalato system of gangmaster-controlled agricultural labor constitutes systematic forced labor, with workers living in informal settlements and earning as little as €2 per hour.

The UK Modern Slavery Act & Results

The United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015 was hailed as landmark legislation; the first of its kind in Europe. The Act consolidated trafficking and slavery offenses, created the role of Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, established a defense for victims who commit crimes as a result of their exploitation, and imposed supply chain transparency requirements on large businesses.

The UK’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the framework for identifying and supporting trafficking victims, has seen referrals increase from 1,746 in 2012 to 16,938 in 2022. This increase reflects both growing awareness and improved identification, as well as the actual growth of trafficking. Albanian nationals have become the single largest group referred to the NRM, surpassing UK nationals in 2022.

Critiques of the Modern Slavery Act focus on several areas: the supply chain transparency provision (Section 54) lacks enforcement mechanisms, with no penalties for non-compliance; victim support is limited to a 45-day recovery period; and the intersection of anti-trafficking policy with immigration enforcement means that many victims fear identification because it may lead to deportation. The 2023 Illegal Migration Act has been criticized by anti-trafficking organizations for further conflating immigration control with trafficking victim protection.

The Mediterranean Route

The Mediterranean Sea is both a migration and trafficking route of global significance. Since 2014, over 2 million migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe, primarily from sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. An estimated 25,000 or more have died attempting the crossing; the deadliest migration route in the world.

Trafficking is embedded in the Mediterranean migration system. In Libya, which serves as the primary transit and departure point for the Central Mediterranean route, migrants are subjected to systematic trafficking, including forced labor, sexual exploitation, torture for ransom, and sale at slave auctions. In 2017, CNN broadcast footage of migrants being sold at auction in Libya, generating global outrage. Subsequent investigations by the UN, IOM, and human rights organizations confirmed that the practice was widespread.

The EU’s response to the Mediterranean crisis has been criticized for prioritizing border control over trafficking victim protection. The externalization of border enforcement, including cooperation with the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept migrant boats and return passengers to Libya, has been condemned by human rights organizations as returning people to conditions of trafficking and torture.

The Netherlands: The Window Prostitution Debate

The Netherlands legalized prostitution in 2000, with the stated objectives of separating the sex industry from criminal networks, improving working conditions for sex workers, and reducing trafficking. The country’s famous “window prostitution” districts, particularly De Wallen in Amsterdam, have become central to the global debate over whether legalization reduces or enables trafficking.

Evidence on the impact of Dutch legalization is contested. The Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, an independent government-appointed monitor, has documented persistent trafficking within the legal sex industry. Registered brothel operators are required to verify that workers have legal status and are not being coerced, but enforcement is inconsistent. Meanwhile, the illegal sex industry, including online-facilitated prostitution, has grown alongside the legal sector.

Amsterdam has repeatedly reduced the number of window brothels in De Wallen, from approximately 480 in the early 2000s to around 300 by 2023, partly in response to trafficking concerns. The city has invested in “exit programs” for sex workers and increased inspections, but anti-trafficking organizations argue that the window system inherently creates conditions in which trafficking victims are displayed for sale alongside voluntary sex workers, making identification extremely difficult.

Romanian and Bulgarian women are disproportionately represented among trafficking victims identified in the Dutch sex industry. The Dutch National Police’s anti-trafficking unit has documented cases in which Eastern European traffickers rent windows on behalf of victims, collect all earnings, and use violence and threats to maintain control.

Roma/Romani Exploitation

The Roma, Europe’s largest ethnic minority (an estimated 10–12 million people across the continent), face trafficking vulnerability rooted in centuries of marginalization, discrimination, and poverty. Roma communities are disproportionately represented among trafficking victims in Europe, exploited for forced begging, forced labor, forced criminality, and sexual exploitation.

The trafficking of Roma children for forced begging is documented across Western Europe, with children from Romania, Bulgaria, and the Western Balkans trafficked to cities in France, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Austria. These operations are often organized by extended family networks or community-based groups that exploit cultural norms around family obligation and community hierarchy.

Roma women and girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation both within their countries of origin and across borders. Early and forced marriage within some Roma communities has been identified as a trafficking risk factor, particularly when girls are married to older men in exchange for payment; a practice that constitutes sale of a person under international trafficking definitions.

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) has documented how anti-trafficking interventions targeting Roma communities sometimes reinforce discrimination rather than addressing structural causes. Raids on Roma camps and the removal of Roma children from families in the name of “anti-trafficking” have been criticized as disproportionate responses that fail to distinguish between trafficking and poverty-driven migration.

The Albanian Connection

Albanian organized crime groups have established themselves as dominant players in European trafficking networks, particularly in the United Kingdom, where Albanian nationals became the single largest group of potential trafficking victims referred to the National Referral Mechanism in 2022. Albanian trafficking networks operate across Europe with particular strength in the UK, Belgium, Italy, and Scandinavia.

Albanian trafficking networks are characterized by their organizational sophistication, use of extreme violence, and diversification across multiple criminal enterprises including drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and human trafficking. The networks operate as clan-based structures, with loyalty enforced through codes of honor (besa and the Kanun; a traditional Albanian code of conduct) and the threat of violence against victims’ families.

The trafficking of Albanian women and girls for sexual exploitation has been documented since the 1990s, when the collapse of the Albanian state and the Kosovo conflict created conditions for trafficking networks to form. Albanian men are increasingly identified as victims of labor trafficking and forced criminality, particularly cannabis cultivation in the UK and Ireland, where Albanian-controlled operations dominate the market.

Albania’s domestic anti-trafficking response has improved with EU accession candidate status providing incentive for reform. The country has established a national anti-trafficking coordinator, a national referral mechanism, and dedicated police units. However, the power and reach of trafficking networks, combined with corruption and limited resources, mean that prosecution rates remain far below the scale of the problem.

The EU Anti-Trafficking Directive

The EU Anti-Trafficking Directive (2011/36/EU) provides the primary legal framework for combating trafficking across the European Union. The Directive establishes minimum standards for the definition of trafficking offenses, penalties, victim protection, and prevention. It adopts a human rights-centered approach and requires member states to establish national rapporteurs or equivalent mechanisms.

Key provisions of the Directive include: a broad definition of trafficking encompassing all forms of exploitation; minimum maximum penalties of at least five years’ imprisonment (ten years in aggravated circumstances); a non-punishment provision for victims who commit offenses as a result of trafficking; mandatory provision of assistance and support to victims regardless of their cooperation with law enforcement; and special protections for child victims.

Implementation of the Directive varies significantly across member states. The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) conducts periodic evaluations of each country’s compliance. GRETA reports have identified persistent gaps in victim identification, access to compensation, the non-punishment principle, and the protection of child victims across the continent.

A fundamental tension exists in European anti-trafficking policy between the EU’s commitment to free movement within the Schengen Area, which facilitates trafficking across open borders, and the desire to control irregular migration from outside Europe, which often conflates trafficking victims with unauthorized migrants. Resolving this tension remains one of the central challenges of European anti-trafficking policy.

Labor Trafficking in Europe

While sex trafficking has historically dominated European anti-trafficking discourse, labor trafficking affects a growing proportion of identified victims. Eurostat data shows that labor trafficking accounts for approximately 28% of registered victims in the EU, though experts believe it is significantly underdetected compared to sex trafficking. Labor trafficking in Europe is concentrated in several key industries.

Agriculture is one of the largest sectors for labor trafficking across the continent. In southern Italy, the caporalato system of gangmaster-controlled labor exploits tens of thousands of migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and South Asia. Workers in Puglia’s tomato fields, Calabria’s citrus groves, and Campania’s farms live in informal settlements without sanitation, water, or electricity, earning as little as €20 for a 12-hour day. Italian authorities passed anti-caporalato legislation in 2016, but enforcement in rural areas remains extremely limited.

In Spain, agricultural labor trafficking affects migrant workers in strawberry, olive, and vegetable production, particularly in Andalusia and Murcia. Workers from Morocco, sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe are recruited with promises of legal employment and then subjected to excessive working hours, substandard housing, and wages far below legal minimums. Moroccan women employed seasonally in Spain’s strawberry fields have reported sexual violence and exploitation in cases that generated international media attention.

Construction, meat processing, car washes, and the hospitality industry have all been identified as sites of labor trafficking across Europe. The UK’s Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has documented labor trafficking in hand car washes, nail salons, and food processing plants. Germany’s meat processing industry, particularly in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, has been the subject of repeated investigations into labor exploitation of workers from Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland.

The Ukraine Conflict & Trafficking Risks

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 displaced over 6 million Ukrainians externally (see also Conflict & Trafficking) and millions more internally, creating the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The displacement has generated significant trafficking concerns, particularly for the estimated 90% of Ukrainian refugees who are women and children.

Anti-trafficking organizations across Europe reported a surge in trafficking attempts targeting Ukrainian refugees in the weeks and months following the invasion. Reports documented individuals in private vehicles offering “free transportation” and “accommodation” at border crossings in Poland, Romania, Moldova, and Hungary. Online platforms saw an increase in posts offering housing to Ukrainian women with conditions that suggested sexual exploitation.

INTERPOL, Europol, and national police forces issued warnings and deployed officers at border crossings and reception centers. Poland, which received the largest number of Ukrainian refugees, established screening procedures at border points. Despite these efforts, the scale and speed of the displacement overwhelmed protective systems, and anti-trafficking organizations believe that significant numbers of refugees were exploited in the initial months of the crisis.

The longer-term trafficking risks for Ukrainian refugees include: labor exploitation by employers who take advantage of refugees’ precarious legal and economic status, sexual exploitation of women and girls in destination countries, trafficking of unaccompanied children, and exploitation within accommodation schemes. These risks are compounded by language barriers, lack of documentation, trauma, and unfamiliarity with legal systems in host countries.

The EU activated the Temporary Protection Directive for the first time in response to the Ukrainian displacement, granting refugees immediate access to housing, education, and the labor market. While this measure was unprecedented and provided a stronger legal foundation than most refugee responses, anti-trafficking organizations noted that the speed of implementation meant that vetting of private accommodation offers and employer registrations was often inadequate. The European Commission’s Anti-Trafficking Coordinator issued specific guidance on protecting Ukrainian refugees from trafficking, but implementation varied significantly across member states.

The Ukrainian crisis also exposed a stark disparity in European refugee responses. The immediate activation of the Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainian refugees, who are predominantly white and European, contrasted sharply with Europe’s response to refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and sub-Saharan Africa, who faced detention, pushbacks, and years of uncertainty. This disparity has implications for trafficking: refugees who receive legal status and access to services are far less vulnerable to trafficking than those who are denied these protections and forced into irregular migration and informal economies.