Sex trafficking in Europe

Sex trafficking is defined as the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or forced into exploitative and slavery-like conditions^[1] and is commonly associated with organized crime.

Germany has become a "center for the sexual exploitation of young women from Eastern Europe, as well as a sphere of activity for organized crime groups from around the world".^[2]

The selling of young women into sexual slavery has become one of the fastest-growing criminal enterprises in the European Union. While human trafficking has existed for centuries all over the world, it has become an increasing concern for countries in Southeast Europe since the fall of Communism. In 1997 alone as many as 175,000 young women from the former Soviet Union and Eastern and Central Europe were sold as commodities in the sex markets of the developed countries in Europe and the Americas.^[3] Economic hardship and promises of prosperity have left many individuals vulnerable to trafficking within their countries and to destinations in other parts of Europe and the world. The United Nations reports that 4 million people a year are traded against their will to work in one or another form of servitude.^[4][5]

The measures against the trafficking of women focus on harsher criminal legislation and punishments and improving international police cooperation. There are vast media campaigns that are designed to be informative to the public, as well as policymakers and potential victims. In various countries where legislative measures against trafficking are still in their infancy, these media campaigns are important in preventing trafficking.^[4][6][7]