About 49.6 million of people around the globe are victims of human trafficking. Out of all the people trafficked transnationally, 54 percent are women and 24 percent children – the majority of them end up in the sex industry.
Source: International Labour Organization, ILO
The definition of human trafficking
The first internationally shared definition of human trafficking can be found in the Palermo Protocols. According to this definition, human trafficking occurs under three combined conditions:
- The recruitment, offering, promotion, concealment, harbouring or housing of human beings (actions) - by improper means such as deception, threats, and coercion (means) - for purposes of exploitation, whether that is sexual exploitation, the exploitation of labor or the explant of organs (purpose).
Source: Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, FDFA
Statistics on human trafficking in Switzerland
There are no accurate numbers on how many people are affected in Switzerland. It is to be assumed that the official statistics only grasp what can be considered the tip of the iceberg. (cf. police criminalistics, statistics on sentences, statistics on victim support, statistics of NGOs)
Switzerland is no island. The country is used as a transit and final destination, and is therefore affected by human trafficking and exploitation.
The most common forms of human trafficking and exploitation are:
Numbers on crimes of human trafficking and the facilitation of prostitution reported by the Swiss police.