New reports on rights of trafficked persons and data collection in Germany

Written on 17 January 2022.

In September, KOK, the German NGO network against human trafficking, published a new study titled Rights of Trafficked Persons during Criminal Proceedings - A Study of the Implementation of EU Anti-trafficking Directive 2011/36 in Germany. It analyses the implementation of Directive 2011/36/EU in Germany from a human rights perspective and provides insights into systematic gaps. Based on interviews with staff of specialised counselling centres, lawyers, and prosecutors, it shows that the implementation of the rights of trafficked persons in criminal proceedings in Germany remains weak. It highlights specific challenges with, among others, victim identification, especially outside the sex industry, the lack of specialised accommodation for victims who are trans, intersex and non-binary, unconditional assistance, and non-punishment. It makes recommendations how to improve policies and practices in these areas.

In October, KOK published its second report on data collection on trafficking in human beings and exploitation in Germany. The report contains a first analysis of the KOK data tool with over 700 cases of trafficking in human beings and exploitation from January 2020 until the end of June 2021. The report notes significant differences to the situation report on human trafficking published annually by the Federal Criminal Police Office, for example, with regard to the main countries of origin of trafficked persons.