Federal Government develops national action plan to fight human trafficking
press release
17 October 2024
Catalogue of measures to prevent and combat all forms of human trafficking, from sexual exploitation to exploitation of labour
Human trafficking is a horrific crime. To raise awareness of this issue, EU Anti-Trafficking Day was introduced. The next EU Anti-Trafficking Day will take place tomorrow, on 18 October 2024. The Federal Government will use this opportunity to announce the first comprehensive national action plan to fight human trafficking. The catalogue of measures is currently being developed and is expected to be adopted in spring 2025.
In future, the national action plan will serve as a guide in the fight against human trafficking. It includes many measures for combatting human trafficking, from prevention and prosecution measures to supporting victims and cooperating with international partners. The aim is to further improve structural conditions to help combat human trafficking in Germany and cross-border trafficking even more effectively.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser: “Human trafficking turns people into commodities and puts their lives at risk in a brutal manner. This particularly reprehensible and inhumane crime, which often involves sexual exploitation, causes immense suffering for victims. That is why the German police authorities are taking such resolute action against trafficking in human beings. We want to hold these offenders accountable. We want to dismantle their networks and protect victims. The Federal Police are successfully tackling smuggling rings, whose unscrupulous business exploits desperate people. All of our measures for prevention, prosecution and protecting victims will now be compiled in the new national action plan to fight human trafficking.”
Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus: “Together, we are committed to better protecting victims of human trafficking. And the national action plan to fight human trafficking provides us with the necessary tools to do so. We are focussing our efforts on children and young people, who are often particularly vulnerable. Women in precarious financial situations, or those who do not have a stable residence status or sufficient knowledge of the German language, are also at a higher risk of becoming victims of trafficking. Protecting and supporting these people is a top priority for us. Today, the independent National Rapporteur Mechanism on trafficking in human beings published its first periodic report, which compiles and analyses important data. It is the first report of its kind to pool together and evaluate all existing governmental and non-governmental data, sending a powerful message in the fight against trafficking in human beings.”
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann: “Human traffickers are ruthless – they take advantage of desperate situations to exploit other people. Be it forced prostitution, forced labour or exploitation for the purpose of begging or labour: human traffickers know no bounds. They have no qualms about exploiting children and young people. We need to use the tools available under criminal law to take decisive action and stop this despicable crime. That is why the national action plan seeks to ensure effective law enforcement, which includes strengthening cooperation between the federal and state levels.”
The national action plan aims to combat all forms of human trafficking even more effectively to ensure a lasting effect – from sexual exploitation to exploitation of labour. As part of the drafting process, the Federal Government is consulting the federal states and civil-society actors, and it is referring to the requirements and recommendations of European and international regulatory frameworks and bodies. With the national action plan, the Federal Government is meeting the requirements set out in the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive and is following the recommendation of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA).
Priorities of the national action plan:
- Comprehensive protection for victims: The Federal Government is assessing in detail what additional measures are needed to better protect victims. In particular, the action plan addresses the specific vulnerability of women and girls to sexual exploitation as well as the vulnerability of children and young people. It intends to tackle this issue through targeted public relations work, support and counselling services, as well as by extending existing structures.
- Networking and public relations: Cooperation between the Federal Government, federal states, security authorities and civil-society actors will be further strengthened in order to combat human trafficking more effectively. In doing so, online human trafficking threats will be a key focus.
- Improved data: The national action plan aims to systematically enhance existing information on human trafficking in order to develop more targeted measures and to better understand victims’ situations.
- Strengthening information-sharing between law enforcement authorities: The national action plan aims to intensify existing national and international cooperation and networking between law enforcement authorities in order to tackle criminal networks.
- Enhancing the knowledge of investigative authorities: In its capacity as central agency, the Federal Criminal Police Office consistently collects and analyses data in order to identify new trends and the need for action at an early stage.
- Focussing on digital transformation: Existing strategies for combatting human trafficking will be further developed and adapted as necessary in response to the increasing significance of the online dimension in human trafficking.
- Revising the definitions of certain crimes: The national action plan envisages adapting the definitions of crimes in the field of human trafficking to match the revised EU Directive. Insights from the research community and practical experiences are also to be taken into consideration in an extensive revision and adaptation of these definitions.
In the national action plan, the Federal Government is building on measures that have proved successful in the past, while adding new measures that have now become necessary. The measures cover a period of four years. After those four years, the Federal Government will revise and update the action plan.
Originally published at https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/pressemitteilungen/EN/2024/10/aktionsplan_menschenhandel.html
