More foreign victims of human trafficking in home prostitution

<h6>Simple, uncomfortable room used for prostitution</h6>

Simple, uncomfortable room used for prostitution

Victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation were reported more often in the Netherlands last year. This includes a striking number of people from South America and Africa who worked in home prostitution, according to figures from the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking.

In African and South American countries where things are not going well, such as Venezuela and Colombia, people are leaving. This makes them vulnerable to falling prey to human trafficking, says Conny Rijken, National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence against Children.

Victims are recruited in their own country or in the Netherlands or Spain, where they often go to work. "They sometimes know that they are going to do sex work, but not under what circumstances," says Rijken.

These circumstances are harsh in the Netherlands, says the rapporteur. Victims, who often stay here illegally because their visas have expired, are put in a place where they cannot leave. The human trafficker arranges the sex advertisements, the appointments and the payments and "in the best case, the proceeds are shared, but we see much more often that the money ends up in the human trafficker's pocket." Victims keep being moved

Most victims of sexual exploitation who were reported were in home prostitution and escort prostitution. In 2023, there were 178 reports of African victims of sexual exploitation, versus 119 cases in 2022. Last year, 68 Latin American victims were reported, compared to 26 the year before.

The rapporteur refers to the crises in Venezuela in particular. The consequences of this are "well felt and visible in the Caribbean Netherlands and other countries within the Kingdom".

What makes it complicated, according to rapporteur Rijken, is that there is little insight into home prostitution. "It is easy for human traffickers to isolate someone. Moreover, the victims are constantly being moved, making it more difficult for authorities to get in touch with them and stay in touch. As soon as they are in the picture, they have been moved again," says Rijken . "This happens throughout the Netherlands, but sometimes also to other countries."

Small part in view

In 2023, there were 868 reports of human trafficking. That is 54 more than the year before. According to the rapporteur, there are many more victims. "We know that there are about five thousand victims per year, so we only have a picture of a small part," says Rijken. "It is very important that we get as many images as possible so that we can get them out of their situation."

The majority of registered victims are women, also in recent years. Women are mainly victims of sexual exploitation, men are more likely to experience labor exploitation. They are not paid for their work, work too long hours or do dangerous work. "We mainly see this in the construction and transport sectors."

In 2023, 52 minors were registered as victims of human trafficking. That is a decrease compared to the year before.

* grobi