Austria Human Trafficking: A one-billion business

October 11, 2009

Comment: The article was written on the occasion of the EU anti-trafficking day, at which occasion three Austrian ministers made an appeal in Brussels. It mentions that according to EU yearly estimates 100,000 people become victims in Europe, 80% of these are women and children and quotes an expert saying that Austrians are not aware of the fact that fighting trafficking takes an effort from everybody, like purchasing decisions.

The article also mentions the national task force and strategy to fight trafficking and criticizes it for not including training and sensitisation for police and judges. It also mentions that Austrians – if at all aware of the problem – only consider forced prostitution as an existing form of slavery.

The article is well balanced, draws from several expert sources and tries to sensitize the public about the different forms of modern-day slavery and about its existence right in their doorstep in Austria. It takes a critical stance both at the current level of awareness and the amount of government attention is given to the problem.

The original article can be found here in German.
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