EU percentages of victims by form of exploitation

Sexual exploitation has been considered the main purpose of human trafficking, both globally and in the EU. However, the latest global data show that trafficking for forced labour has become equally prevalent as sexual exploitation, at least in terms of registered cases. UNODC data show that forced labour and sexual exploitation were each detected in just under 40 % of cases in 2020 (Figure 2). This ratio results from a recent decrease in reported cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation and a steady rise in the registered number of cases of trafficking for labour exploitation. However, it is possible that the drop in sex trafficking cases for sexual exploitation is due to sexual exploitation evolving and moving to less visible locations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and developments in the digital dimension of the crime. The rise in registered cases of labour trafficking, in turn, may also be a result of the growing awareness of labour exploitation as a purpose of human trafficking, and of men as victims of human trafficking.
In the EU, the trend is similar. The main form of exploitation predominantly remained sexual until 2022, the last year for which data are available. That year, sexual exploitation stood at 41.4 % as the main form of exploitation, followed very closely by forced labour at 41.1 % (Figure 3 below). As recently as the previous year, 2021, forced labour stood at 28 %; this represents a steep rise in one year. Other forms of exploitation, such as forced criminal activities, forced begging, illegal adoption, forced and sham marriages, illegal surrogacy and illegal removal of organs, follow in much smaller numbers, In 2022, children made up 15 % of the victims whose was known; most of them were female (75 %). As the above-mentioned fourth progress report with data on the year 2020 shows, the vast majority of victims of sexual exploitation were female (87 %). Of those, 73 % were women and 27 %, girls. In contrast to sexual exploitation, forced labour is an area where most of the victims are male, at 66 %. For other forms of exploitation, women, children, unaccompanied minors and irregular migrants are particularly vulnerable. The increased number of irregular migrants in recent years may also contribute to higher numbers of victims trafficked for labour exploitation, as many of them have been men. However, victims may not be exploited only in one way: Roma women, for instance, may be trafficked both for forced and sham marriages and for sexual exploitation, labour exploitation and forced begging.