In 2008 Luxembourg was a destination country for women trafficked transnationally for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. During the reporting period, women were trafficked from Bulgaria and Ukraine. According to the Luxembourg Red Cross, an increasing number of women from Africa and Latin America were engaged in prostitution in the country, and could be victims of trafficking. [1]
The Government of Luxembourg fully complied with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government improved its law enforcement efforts by sentencing and convicting more traffickers during the reporting period and took steps to address child sex tourism. [1]
The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 1" in 2017 [2] and 2023. [3]
Luxembourg ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol on 20 April 2009. [4] [5]
Between 2018 and 2021, the government formally identified 20 victims, all brought to Luxembourg from other countries. [6]
In 2023, the Organised Crime Index gave the country a score of 3.5 out of 10 for human trafficking. [7]
In 2007, the government demonstrated strong law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking. During the reporting period, it convicted and sentenced six human traffickers on charges of procuring prostitution, human trafficking, and smuggling. Sentences ranged from one to three years’ imprisonment and included fines. Article 379 of the penal code specifically criminalizes trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, but does not explicitly address trafficking for purposes of forced labor. Forced labor is nonetheless criminalized in Luxembourg via its 1996 ratification of the European Social Charter. Penalties prescribed by Article 379 are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties for rape. The government continued its ongoing training aimed at police, immigration, and other government officials and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on victim identification. There was no evidence of trafficking complicity by Luxembourg public officials. [1]
The Government of Luxembourg continued to offer adequate protection to identified trafficking victims in 2007. The government encourages victims to participate in a criminal investigation and, through its funding of two domestic NGOs, provides shelter, protection, and assistance to victims. The government’s specialized police anti-trafficking unit reported that Luxembourg’s legal commercial sex trade was a likely catalyst for trafficking and closely monitored the prostitution sector for evidence of trafficking. A 2007 report issued by the government estimated there were up to 500 women in prostitution in Luxembourg. While victims are not punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked, women in prostitution who are in the country illegally are often deported or imprisoned, and the government did not provide evidence that it systematically checked these women for trafficking indicators. The government did not establish a network to coordinate care for victims of trafficking, planned in 2006. [1]
In 2007, the Ministry of Equal Opportunity conducted various symposia to publicize the negative effects of the commercial sex trade; however, it did not conduct any specific anti-trafficking awareness campaigns to prevent trafficking within the legal sex industry in Luxembourg during the reporting period. In 2007, the government co-funded and launched a campaign with ECPAT to prevent its nationals from engaging in child sex tourism abroad. The campaign created a special e-mail address to receive tips and disseminated posters and leaflets through travel agencies, at the national airport, at hospitals, and in municipal buildings. [1]
Senegal ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2003.
Serbia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2001.
Slovak Republic ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2004.
Slovenia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in May 2004.
Suriname ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in May 2007.
Switzerland ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2006.
In 2008 Vietnam was primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children were trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women were trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam was also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam was a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. The country had an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam was increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.
In 2008 Zambia was a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Child prostitution existed in Zambia's urban centers, often encouraged or facilitated by relatives or acquaintances of the victim. Many Zambian child laborers, particularly those in the agriculture, domestic service, and fishing sectors, were also victims of human trafficking. Zambian women, lured by false employment or marriage offers, were trafficked to South Africa via Zimbabwe for sexual exploitation, and to Europe via Malawi. Zambia was a transit point for regional trafficking of women and children, particularly from Angola to Namibia for agricultural labor and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to South Africa. Malawian and Mozambican adults and children were occasionally trafficked to Zambia for forced agricultural labor.
In 2008, Honduras was principally a source and transit country for women, girls, and boys trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Honduran children were typically trafficked from rural areas to urban and tourist centers such as San Pedro Sula, the North Caribbean coast, and the Bay Islands. Honduran women and children are trafficked to Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and the United States for sexual exploitation. Most foreign victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Honduras were from neighboring countries; some were economic migrants en route to the United States who are victimized by traffickers. Internal child labor and forced child labor for violent criminal gangs were serious concerns.
Italy ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in August 2006.
Kazakhstan ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in July 2008.
The Kyrgyz Republic ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2003.
Latvia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in May 2004.
Lebanon ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2005.
Lithuania ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in June 2003.
In 2009 Bosnia and Herzegovina was primarily a source for Bosnian women and girls who were subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution within the country, though it was also a destination and transit country for foreign women and girls in forced prostitution in Bosnia and Western Europe. There were four identified victims from Serbia in 2009. Most trafficked women entered the country through Serbia or Montenegro. There were reports that some girls, particularly Roma, were trafficked, using forced marriage, for the purpose of involuntary domestic servitude, and that Roma boys and girls were subjected to forced begging by organized groups. There was one case involving Bosnian males recruited for labor and subjected to coercive conditions in Azerbaijan in 2009. NGO's report that traffickers frequently use intermediaries to bring clients to private apartments, motels, and gas stations where victims are held.
Guinea ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in November 2004.
North Macedonia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in January 2005.
Montenegro ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2006.
In 2010, Human trafficking in the Ivory Coast referred to the practice of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation which used Côte d'Ivoire a source, transit, and destination country for women and children who were trafficked for these purposes. Trafficking within the country's borders was more prevalent, with victims primarily trafficked from the north of the country to the more economically prosperous south. Boys from Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso were subjected to forced labour in the agricultural sector, including on cocoa, coffee, pineapple, and rubber plantations; boys from Ghana were forced to labour in the mining sector; boys from Togo were forced to work in construction; and boys from Benin were forced to work in carpentry and construction. Girls recruited from Ghana, Togo, and Benin to work as domestic servants and street vendors often were subjected to conditions of forced labour. Women and girls were also recruited from Ghana and Nigeria to work as waitresses in restaurants and bars and were subsequently subjected to forced prostitution. Trafficked children often faced harsh treatment and extreme working conditions.