Review of Official Statistics on Trafficking in Human Beings for Sexual Exploitation and their Validity in the 25 EU Member States. From Official Statistics to Estimates of the Phenomenon

Trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation is a significant issue in the European Union. However, notwithstanding this, data on this phenomenon is scarce and often unreliable in many European Union countries. Furthermore, estimates on the number of victims circulating across Europe are given credibility even though the methodology used to produce them is very rarely explained. This article starts by reviewing the situation on data collection on trafficking in human beings in the 25 EU Member States, providing the reader with an up-to-the-minute report by dividing Member States into three tiers, reflecting the reliability of their data collection systems. Secondly, by using official statistics on victims of trafficking in human beings as a starting point, it aims to present possible estimates of the number of victims in a few selected EU Member States. As a conclusion, some proposals to improve data collection in order to boost the related anti-trafficking policies are suggested.