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The Czech Republic was a source, transit, and destination country for people subjected to human trafficking, both women in forced prostitution, and men and women working in forced labor. Women from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Brazil were subjected to forced prostitution in the Czech Republic and also travel through the Czech Republic en route to forced prostitution in other European countries, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Serbia. Many Roma women from the Czech Republic were subjected to forced prostitution domestically as well as abroad. Men and women from Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Romania, Vietnam, Mongolia, Thailand, and Belarus were subjected to forced labour in the construction, forestry, agricultural, and service sectors and were exploited within and transited through the Czech Republic to other countries in the European Union. Czech citizens were also subjected to forced labour in the United Kingdom. [1]
The Czech government amended its criminal code to increase the maximum penalty for trafficking from 15 to 16 years’ imprisonment, and provided assistance to victims of trafficking both within the Czech Republic and also in source countries, described by the US State Department as "excellent". In 2009, the government provided approximately $456,000 in funding for its domestic anti-trafficking programs, including $213,000 for victim assistance. [1]
The Czech Republic became a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in 2014. [2] [3]
The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 1" in 2017 [4] and 2023. [5]
In 2023, the Organised Crime Index gave the country 5.5 out of 10 for human trafficking. [6]
The Czech government's record on law enforcement related to human trafficking is mixed. [1] The Czech Republic prohibits trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and labour exploitation through Sections 232a and 204 of its criminal code, and punishments prescribed under these statutes range from two to 15 years’ imprisonment, commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. [1] In January 2010, a new section of the criminal code - Section 166 - came into effect and increased the maximum penalty prescribed for trafficking to 16 years. This Section includes some elements that are not considered as human trafficking by all jurisdictions, such as forced military service. [1] In 2009, police conducted 47 investigations - including three labour trafficking investigations - a decrease from 81 investigations in 2008. The same year authorities prosecuted 115 people for trafficking offences (compared with 110 in 2008), leading to 83 convictions, an increase from 64 in 2008. Of those convicted in 2009, only those convicted under Section 204, related to pimping, were sentenced to time in prison, and the number of convicted traffickers given a prison sentence decreased compared to the previous year. In 2009, only 23 percent (19 out of 83) trafficking offenders convicted served time in prison, down from 28 percent in 2008 (18 out of 64). In 2009, two traffickers were sentenced to between 15 and 25 years in prison, 16 were sentenced to one to five years, and one of those convicted was imprisoned for less than a year. In 2009, the police provided 12 training seminars to 431 seasoned officers and cadets focused on investigation techniques as well as victim identification for both sex and labor trafficking offenses. [1]
According to the US State Department, the Czech government makes strong efforts to protect and assist victims of human trafficking, using formal victim identification procedures and a mechanism for referring victims to NGOs for assistance. The government funds a "Program of Support and Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings", available for both foreign and Czech victims, and provides for both short-term and longer-term assistance. Foreign and Czech victims are offered an automatic 60-day period of reflection, during which time they receive government-funded assistance through NGO providers while they decide whether to cooperate with law enforcement in the criminal investigation. [1] Victims are encouraged to assist in investigations and prosecutions. Foreign victims who cooperate with investigators after the initial 60-day reflection period are granted temporary residence and work visas for the duration of the relevant legal proceedings. Upon conclusion of the court proceedings, qualifying victims have the opportunity to apply for permanent residency. Victims are not fined or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as a result of being trafficked. [1]
According to the US State Department, the government "demonstrates sustained, strong efforts to prevent trafficking domestically and it continues to dedicate significant resources to prevent trafficking in designated foreign countries". [1] Working together with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allocates funding (around $132,500 between January 2008 and April 2010) to NGOs to raise awareness of trafficking among Mongolian labour migrants and protect Mongolian victims of both forced sex and forced labour exploitation in the Czech Republic and of those repatriated to Mongolia. Domestically, the Ministry of Interior funds an NGO to conduct a campaign to raise awareness of forced labour among foreign workers in factories, especially among the Vietnamese community. The government also funds NGOs to conduct general trafficking awareness campaigns in schools and in asylum and migration centers. The government funds a campaign called "Say it for Her", aimed at reducing the demand for prostitution among foreign tourists visiting the Czech Republic.
Russia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in May 2004.
Germany is a European source, point of transit, organization and destination country for women, children, and men subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor.
Austria is a destination and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor.
Belgium is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Victims originate in Eastern Europe, Africa, East Asia, as well as Brazil and India. Some victims are smuggled through Belgium to other European countries, where they are subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution. Male victims are subjected to forced labor and exploitation in restaurants, bars, sweatshops, horticulture sites, fruit farms, construction sites, and retail shops. There were reportedly seven Belgian women subjected to forced prostitution in Luxembourg in 2009. According to a 2009 ECPAT Report, the majority of girls and children subjected to forced prostitution in Belgium originate from Balkan and CIS countries, Eastern Europe, Asia and West Africa ; some young foreign boys are exploited in prostitution in major cities in the country. Local observers also report that a large portion of children trafficked in Belgium are unaccompanied, vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees. Criminal organizations from Thailand use Thai massage parlors in Belgium, which are run by Belgian managers, to sexually exploit young Thai women. These networks are involved in human smuggling and trafficking to exploit victims economically and sexually. Belgium is not only a destination country, but also a transit country for children to be transported to other European country destinations.
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.
Romania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and women and children in forced prostitution.
In 2017 Pakistan was a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labour and prostitution. The largest human trafficking problem was bonded labour, concentrated in the Sindh and Punjab provinces in agriculture and brick making, and to a lesser extent in mining and carpet-making. Estimates of bonded labour victims, including men, women, and children, vary widely, but were likely well over one million. In extreme scenarios, when labourers speak publicly against abuse, landowners have kidnapped labourers and their family members.
In 2009, Papua New Guinea was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Women and children were subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude; trafficked men were forced to provide labor in logging and mining camps. Children, especially young girls from tribal areas, were most vulnerable to being pushed into commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor by members of their immediate family or tribe. Families traditionally sold girls into forced marriages to settle their debts, leaving them vulnerable to involuntary domestic servitude, and tribal leaders trade the exploitative labor and service of girls and women for guns and political advantage. Young girls sold into marriage were often forced into domestic servitude for the husband's extended family. In more urban areas, some children from poorer families were prostituted by their parents or sold to brothels. Migrant women and teenage girls from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines were subjected to forced prostitution, and men from China were transported to the country for forced labor.
In 2009, Paraguay was a source and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically sex trafficking, as well as a source and transit country for men, women, and children in forced labor. Most Paraguayan trafficking victims were found in Argentina, Spain, and Bolivia; fewer victims were exploited in Brazil, Chile, France, South Korea, and Japan. In one case, 44 suspected Paraguayan trafficking victims were detained at the international airport in Amsterdam, and Dutch authorities arrested the alleged trafficking offender. In another case, 13 Paraguayan women were found in conditions of forced prostitution in a brothel in La Paz, Bolivia. Paraguay was a destination country for 30 Indonesian orphans, who were allegedly brought into the country for a long-term soccer camp, but who the government suspects are trafficking victims.
Nicaragua ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2004.
Hungary ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in December 2006.
In 2009, Ghana was a country of origin, transit, and destination for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. The nonconsensual exploitation of Ghanaian citizens, particularly children, was more common than the trafficking of foreign migrants. The movement of internally trafficked children was either from rural to urban areas, or from one rural area to another, as from farming to fishing communities.
North Macedonia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in January 2005.
Malawi ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2005.
In 2010 Mongolia was a source country, and to a much lesser extent, a destination for men, women, and children who were subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Mongolian men, women, and children were found in these conditions in China, Macau, Malaysia, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Mongolian men and women were found in conditions of forced labor in Turkey, Kazakhstan, and the Czech Republic. Visa-free travel of Mongolians to Turkey resulted in a significant increase in the number of both labor and sex trafficking cases of Mongolian labor migrants in Turkey. There remained concerns about involuntary child labor in the Mongolian construction, mining, and industrial sectors, where children were vulnerable to injury and face severe health hazards. The problem of Mongolian women subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude after engaging in brokered marriages - mainly to South Korean men - continued. Trafficking within Mongolia often involved women and girls forced to work in saunas or massage parlors where they were subjected to forced prostitution. Anecdotal reports continued to indicate that South Korean and Japanese tourists engaged in child sex tourism in Mongolia.
In 2009 Morocco was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Children were trafficked within the country from rural areas to urban centers to work as maids or laborers, or for commercial sexual exploitation. Moroccan men, women, and children were exploited for forced labor and prostitution in European and Middle Eastern countries. Young Moroccan girls from rural areas were recruited to work as child maids in cities, but often experienced non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse, and sometimes faced restrictions on movement. These practices indicate that these girls are subjected to involuntary servitude. Moroccan boys experienced forced labor as apprentices in the artisan and construction industries and in mechanic shops. A few Moroccan men and boys were lured to Europe by fraudulent job offers, and are subsequently forced to sell drugs. In addition, men and women from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Philippines entered Morocco voluntarily but illegally with the assistance of smugglers; once in Morocco, some of the women were coerced into prostitution or, less frequently, forced into domestic service. Nigerian gangs, who engaged in a variety of criminal activities like human smuggling and drug trafficking, competed to control the trafficking of sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco.
Bulgaria ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in December 2001.
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.
Croatia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in January 2003.
In 2009 El Salvador was a source, transit, and destination country for women and children who were subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Most victims were Salvadoran women and girls from rural areas who were forced into commercial sexual exploitation in urban areas, though some adults and children were subjected to forced labor as agricultural workers and domestic workers. The majority of foreign victims were women and children from neighboring countries, such as Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic, who migrated to El Salvador in response to job offers, but were subsequently forced into prostitution or domestic servitude. Trafficking offenders used fraudulent documentation to facilitate the movement of foreign victims. Salvadorans have been subjected to forced prostitution in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, the United States, Spain, and Italy.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .