Our collegues from eLiberare have conducted a series of infographics based on statistics regarding human trafficking during 2018, with data gathered from Agenția Națională Împotriva Traficului de Persoane.

Fundamental causes of human trafficking:

• poverty;
• lack of education;
• unemployment;
• gender inequality;
• corruption;
• discriminated ethnic groups.

Human trafficking represents the “Recruitment, transportation, relocation, accommodation or the reception of persons, including the exchange or control transfer over the people in question, realised under threat or through the use of force or through other forms of constraint, such as kidnapping, fraud, deceiving, abuse of power or taking advantage of the vulnerability condition or through offering or receiving money or other forms of goods in order to obtain the consent of a person who has control over another person, with the purpose of exploitation“. (Directiva 2011/36/EU)

Human trafficking is an international billion dollars industry, occupying the second position in terms of profit, following drug trafficking. But unlike drug trafficking, in this case, the “product” can be resold.

In Europe, over half of the victims of human trafficking are being exploited with sexual purposes. The victims are beaten and raped repeatedly, deprived of their liberty and terrorized.

Thus, according to the data collected by ANITP, in 2018, out of the total number of the trafficked persons:

• 67,4% have been trafficked with the purpose of sexual exploitation;
• 20,1% with the purpose of exploitation through forced labour;
• 5,2% with the purpose of exploitation through begging;
• 1,6% with the purpose of being obliged to commit crimes.

The means of recruitment in 2018:

• 89% out of the victims have been recruited in person;
• 48% have been recruited by someone they knew, a friend or a relative;
• 10% have been recruited by their life partner or husband;
• 8% have been recruited through the use of Internet.

The profile of the human trafficking victims in 2018:

• 23,7% out of the victims have graduated high school at most;
• 73% have been female adults;
• 43% minors;
• 37% female minors;
• 34% minors aged 14-17 years old.

Provenance environment: 54% out of the victims were from the rural areas.

Exploitation manners:

• 23% out of the victims have been exploited within apartments;
• 18% in the street;
• 5% infantile pornography.

Useful piece of advice:

• Before leaving the country, make sure that you have signed a legal labor contract, written in romanian. If necessary, you should request an authorised translator for the documents you are about to sign;
• Before leaving the country, you could establish a simple key word with a family member/friend with whom you will be in contact, in order to be able to communicate that you are in danger, should this situation occur;
• Make sure that you have a few copies of your ID and do no keep all of them in the same place;
• Memorise the Helpline Antitrafic phone number: 0800 800 678.