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19 June 2012
Hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked in the EU every year. Women and men, boys and girls in vulnerable positions are traded for the purpose of sexual or labour exploitation, removal of organs, begging and forced marriage. This week, the European Commission adopted the EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings.
The strategy is a set of concrete and practical measures to be implemented over the next five years. These include the establishment of national law enforcement units specialised in human trafficking and the creation of joint European investigation teams to prosecute cross-border trafficking cases.
"Unfortunately slavery hasn't yet been left to the history books. It is appalling to see that in our times human beings are still being put up for sale and being trafficked into forced labour or prostitution. Ensuring that victims can get support and bringing traffickers to justice is at the heart of our actions. We are far from there yet, but we can have only one aim: to eradicate trafficking in human beings", said Cecilia Malmström, Home Affairs Commissioner.
Read more: The entire strategy, a press release, more questions and answers and testimonies from trafficking victims (video).
