On 23 April, the European Parliament voted to expand the current anti-human trafficking measures. According to Eurostat, in 2022, some 10,093 people were trafficked into the EU. 63% of the victims were female. While the vast majority of the victims were trafficked for either sexual exploitation or forced labour, roughly 18% of victims were trafficked for other reasons. The current measures only cover sexual and labour exploitation, thus leaving 18% of victims unprotected. The new law expands the types of human trafficking prevented under the law, provides protections for victims, and penalties for those involved in various stages of trafficking.
The new legislation will criminalise forced marriage, exploitation of surrogacy, and illegal adoption would all be criminalised at an EU level. Additionally, the new law will prevent Member States from prosecuting victims of human trafficking for illegal acts that they were coerced into committing even if the victim refuses to cooperate in any investigation and will provide victims supports, including access to safe accommodation and shelters. The new law also criminalises knowingly using the “services” of trafficking victims. This criminalisation is designed to decrease the demand for human trafficking. Finally, the new law provides that companies who are convicted of trafficking will be subject to penalties.
The new legislation comes twelve years after the initial anti-trafficking directive. While the directive was much needed at the time, as Co-rapporteur, Eugenia Rodríguez Palop stated, “trafficking has become more sophisticated and the resources at our disposal remained rudimentary. We need to be able to find victims early, and protect and support them”. This new legislation provides an update that allows for the anti-trafficking legislation to better achieve its objective. The Council now needs to formally approve the legislation. If this occurs the Directive will come into force twenty days after its publication in the EU Official Journal. Member States will then have two years to implement the directive.