Law enforcement agencies rescued 1,466 victims of trafficking and exploitation in 2023, 24% more than in 2022

The National Police and the Guardia Civil released a total of 1,466 victims of trafficking networks and sexual or labour exploitation in 2023, including 18 minors, and in eighteen cases, the same person was a victim of more than one type of crime. This is the result of 409 operations, which led to the arrest of 923 persons and the dismantling of 109 criminal organisations and groups. There were also 7,570 administrative inspections of premises used for prostitution and workplaces.

These data come from the Statistical Report 2023 on Trafficking and Exploitation of Human Beings in Spain prepared by the Intelligence Centre for Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime, attached to the Secretary of State for Security of the Ministry of the Interior, and which can be consulted in the report section of the department's website.

Of the total number of victims, 497 were recruited by organised criminal human trafficking networks, through deception, violence or abuse of a situation of vulnerability, for the purpose of sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, forced marriages, begging and criminal activity. 982 more victims are also subjected to processes of sexual exploitation in brothels, or labour exploitation, under conditions where their rights are restricted or violated, although in their case it has not been possible to prove that they were brought to this situation through the intervention of an organised human trafficking network.

Sexual exploitation

According to the report, a total of 294 victims were rescued from networks that undertake human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, 3 of them minors. The majority of the victims are women between 28 and 32 years of age from Colombia, Venezuela and Paraguay.

In the case of victims rescued from situations of sexual exploitation, without the involvement of human trafficking networks, the number rises to 370 (9 minors), mostly women between 23 and 27 years of age, originating from Colombia, Spain and Venezuela.

The 196 police operations carried out in the field of trafficking and sexual exploitation culminated in the dismantling of 80 criminal groups and organisations and the arrest of 575 people, most of them Spanish nationals.

In addition, in 2023, the National Police and the Guardia Civil carried out 1,677 administrative inspections in places where prostitution was practised, a task that led to the identification of 7,049 people at risk of prostitution in these establishments, where most of the victims were women between 33 and 37 years of age, of Colombian, Spanish and Romanian nationality.

Labour exploitation

In terms of actions taken against networks that undertake human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, 195 victims were rescued, two of them minors. The majority of the victims are male, between 23 and 27 years old, from Colombia, Moldova or Morocco.

There were 612 victims rescued from situations of labour exploitation, without the involvement of human trafficking networks, three of them minors, and with a similar profile: men between 23 and 27 years old, from Morocco, Colombia or Spain.

The action of the State Security Forces and Corps led to the dismantling of 28 criminal organisations in the field of labour trafficking and exploitation, which culminated in the arrest of 334 people.

As in the previous case, National Police and Guardia Civil carried out 5,893 administrative inspections in workplaces, which led to the identification of 18,813 workers.

Trafficking for forced marriages, begging and criminality

The State Security Forces are also active in combating trafficking in human beings for purposes other than labour and sexual exploitation. Over the course of 2023, they intervened in five cases of trafficking for forced marriages, involving five victims, two of them minors, of Moroccan, Pakistani and Romanian nationality. The operations resulted in the arrest of 12 persons.

Action was also taken in two cases of trafficking for the purpose of forced criminality, which resulted in the rescue of six victims from Albania and Bosnia. The operations culminated in five arrests. Likewise, two reports of trafficking for begging have been dealt with, with two victims, one of them a minor, and three detainees.

Review of the National Strategic Plan 2021-2023

The National Strategic Plan against Trafficking and Exploitation of Human Beings 2021-2023, better known as PENTRA, which has been coordinated by the Intelligence Centre for Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime under the Secretary of State for Security, came to an end in 2023. This plan has sought, through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach, to implement measures to improve the protection, assistance and recovery of victims, as well as to prevent and combat this serious human rights violation.

During 2024, compliance with PENTRA will be evaluated with the aim of working on the development of a second plan to further help bring about the eradication of human trafficking and exploitation.

Non official translation