On 24 September the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children presented the findings of her research on human trafficking in The Netherlands for the period 2009 – 2013 on the basis of information from the Public Prosecutor’s Office and CoMensha.
The research shows an increase in the number of prosecutions for human trafficking – from 132 in 2009 to 203 in 2013. The convictions for human trafficking have also increased – from 60% of all human trafficking cases in 2009 to over 70% in 2012 and 2013. The duration of the sentences has increased every year too – from an average of one year and eight months in 2010 to an average of two years and two months in 2013. This is also in line with the increase in the maximum sentencing for human trafficking introduced in 2009 through which the legislator stressed the severity of the crime of human trafficking.
The report also presents the number of (potential) victims of human trafficking registered by CoMensha/La Strada Netherlands in 2013. The number of registrations decreased by 16% in 2013 to 1437, compared to 1711 in 2012. Almost one-third of the registered (potential) victims had Dutch nationality, followed by Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Nigerian. The majority of women victims (72%) were exploited in the sex industry, while the majority of men (48%) – in the labour and services sector. Victims of “loverboys” decreased by 29% to 196 in 2013, compared to 278 in 2012. Only 21% of the (potential) victims had filed a complaint with the police against their traffickers, which is a slight decrease from 26% in 2012.