Study on high-risk groups for trafficking in human beings : executive summary

Children across Europe are trafficked for a variety of criminal and exploitation purposes. They are trafficked within their countries and within and across the EU. Trafficking hinders the development of children and damages them permanently. Trafficked children are excluded from education, health and a safe and protective environment. This study is a deliverable of the EU strategy towards the eradication of trafficking in human beings 2012-2016, which recognised that vulnerable groups, such as children, are at greater risk of human trafficking. This study on high‑risk groups for trafficking in human beings (THB) looked at risk and resilience factors that influence the likelihood for children to become victims of THB, with a view to establishing risk profiles and developing recommendations for improvements in policies in the EU and Member States. This was done by collecting information in all Member States from key informants and through desk research. The uniqueness of this study lies in its focus on the concrete experience of children and practitioners in the field of rights of the child and child trafficking in EU Member States. This study places the experience of children at the centre of the analysis and, based on this, further elaborates on typologies of child trafficking as well as risk and resilience factors. This study does not address the issue of demand in detail, but focuses on factors that render children vulnerable. That is to say that vulnerabilities per se do not cause or result in THB. Trafficking in human beings is a demand‑driven and profit‑driven crime, as well as a grave human rights violation. Trafficking in human beings is about demand for the services of victims and for the goods produced through their exploitation: it is about profits. Risk factors render people, and in particular children, vulnerable to victimisation.