Executive Summary

AuthorDirectorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (European Commission)
Pages19-30
STUDY O N THE ECONO MIC, SOC IAL AND H UMAN COST S OF TRAF FICKIN G IN HUMAN B EINGS WI THIN THE E U 19
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 Introduction
The purpose of t he Study is to measure t he cost of traffick ing in human beings in t he European Union .
Trafficking in human beings is a p articularly s erious crime, driven by prof its and involves a cha in of actors who are
knowingly or unknow ingly involved. “It bring s high profits to t he perpetrators, who abuse pe ople’s vulnerabilities an d
exploit the dema nd for the services provided by the v ictims. It results in long-t erm harm to its victims, our so cieties and
economies.”1 It is a violation of fundamental rig hts that causes immense harm to t he victims. It has economic, soc ial
and human cost s. The existence of traffick ing in human beings is a cost to the wider eco nomy and society by creating
need for public serv ices, in diverting re sources away from the lega l economy, and in its effec ts on the quality of life.
The crime of traff icking in human bei ngs2
Art. 2.1 of Direc tive 2011/36/EU (hereinafter, the A nti-Trafficking Direct ive) includes three constitut ive elements
of this crime: act s, means and pur pose. The act is linke d to the establ ishment of control over a per son; it
consists in the re cruitment, transpor tation, transfer, harbouring or rece ption of persons, including th e exchange
or transfer of control over t hem. The means ar e the way in which contr ol is attained: th e threat or use of
force or other forms of coercion , of abduction, of fraud, of decept ion, of the abuse of power or of a position of
vulnerability or of t he giving or receiving of p ayments or benef its to achieve the con sent of a person having
control over anoth er person. The p urpose is the exp loitation of the traf ficked person . The Anti-Trafficking
Directive cont ains minimum rules concerning the d efinition of criminal offences, including a non-exhaust ive
list of forms of exploit ation: prostitu tion and other forms of s exual exploitat ion, forced labour or ser vices,
including beggin g, slavery and similar pr actices, the e xploitation of crim inal activities a nd the removal of
organs. Other for ms of exploitation c an take place.
Consent: A victim may have “consente d” to being traff icked but this consent is irr elevant when it has be en
obtained by the me ans listed in the Anti-Trafficking Direct ive: threat, use of force or coercion, fraud, d eception,
abuse of power or takin g advantage of a per son’s vulnerability. This is al so the case when a p erson who has
control over the vic tim has received benefits to surre nder her to trafficker s. In the case of a child, trafficki ng
is punishable even if none of t he above-mentio ned means has been us ed to obtain his or her consen t.
Measuring the cos t of trafficking in hu man beings in a monetar y form is done in order to imp rove the quality
of decision-making w here cost-benefit ana lysis is relevant to decisions over th e allocation of public r esources.
Translating trafficki ng in human beings into a cost is relevant to pu blic policy concerning developing t he European
area of freedom, secur ity and justice, a nd the Single Europ ean Market.
This Study is a key Commission ac tion to build a sound knowledge ba se for the 2017 Commission Communication
“Reportin g on the follow up to the EU St rategy towards t he eradication of traff icking in human being s and iden-
tifying furt her concrete act ions”3,4 and t he EU Anti-traff icking Directi ve5.
(1) European Com mission (2018b) Second repo rt on the progress made in t he fight against traffi cking in human being s as required under Article 20 of Direc tive
2011/36/EU on preventi ng and combating traf ficking in human being s and protecting its victims . https://ec.euro pa.eu/ho me-affairs/sites /homeaffairs/ files/
what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-security/20181204_com-2018-777-report_en.pdf
(2) European Co mmission (2018e) Key con cepts in a nutshell. https ://ec.europa .eu/anti-traf ficking/eu-po licy/working-tog ether-to-address-traffic king-in-hu man-
beings-concepts-in-a -nutshell_en
(3) European Commissi on (2017a) Reporting on the follow u p to the EU strategy towards the eradicatio n of trafficking in human b eings and identifying fur ther
concrete actions (Co mmunication from th e Commission to the Eur opean Parliament a nd the Council). https://ec.europa.eu/home -affairs/sites/homeaffairs/
files/e-library/documents/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/trafficking-in-human-beings/docs/20171204_communication_ reporting_on_
follow-up_to_the_eu_strategy_towards_the_eradication_of_trafficking_in_huma n_beings.pdf
(4) https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-anti-trafficking-coordinator_en
(5) Directive 2011/36/EU of t he European Parliame nt and the Council of 5 A pril 2011 on Preventing and Combat ing Trafficking in Hu man Beings and Protec ting its
Victims and repla cing council Framework D ecision 2002/629 /JHA https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:101:0001:0011:EN:PDF

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