It should be understood that human trafficking constitutes a crime in the majority of countries. It is a transnational phenomenon with a number of features and occurring in a variety of situations. The complexity of this crime is stated in its several definitions.

However, and despite its complexity, we will state the most complete and widely accepted definition set out in the Palermo Protocol. According to the United Nations protocol, human trafficking is

the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs (UN 2000, p. 2).

Human trafficking is a phenomenon that can affect all of us. Traffickers and recruiters take advantage of the social and economic fragilities of countries, seeking their victims among those with financial difficulties in countries with high rates of unemployment and poverty, as well as lower levels of education. Very often they lure their potential victims with the promise of an improved social status resulting from well-paid jobs in foreign countries (Jorge-Birol nd).

Vulnerable groups like migrants, women, and children are more likely to become victims of this crime. Many countries with developed economies (such as European countries) are dependent on migrant labour. However, a number of these countries do not have specific integrative policies for immigrants, which pushes them into becoming undocumented. The lack of integrative policies makes immigrants even more likely to become victims of human trafficking.

Regarding the victim’s gender and age, in 2006, 66 % of the identified human trafficking victims were women and 22 % were children (UNODC 2009). The data presented in this UN report underlines what was written in 1989 in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The enormous vulnerability of children was clearly recognised, as well as their inalienable right to protection from any form of abuse, violence, or neglect.

Despite the complexity of this phenomenon, human trafficking continues to be largely associated with sexual exploitation. According to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons from UNODC (2009), sexual exploitation is considered to be the most common form of exploitation (79 %). Even though we can produce statistical reports on this matter, we know that it is almost impossible to fully understand this situation. According to the same report, only 18 % of human trafficking victims were exploited for their labour. The authors themselves stress that this data may be a misrepresentation because “forced labour is less frequently detected and reported than trafficking for sexual exploitation” (UNODC 2009, p. 51).

In fact, the International Labour Office (ILO) claims that over the past few years, the most common form of exploitation was actually labour (ILO 2009). They estimated that for each victim of sexual exploitation, there were nine victims of labour servitude.

As far as statistics are concerned, it is very hard to have full access to information. This difficulty increases if we take into account that very often—if not in the majority of situations—victims do not perceive themselves as victims and they do not realise that they are being subjected to human trafficking. Regardless of all the good work developed by governments, NGOs, police forces, and academic researchers, we still lack a global understanding of this human rights violation.