Sixth of human trafficking victims exploited by parents; More victims sought help online

Fourteen percent more victims of human trafficking sought help through a special chat line in the past year, the Center Against Child Trafficking and Human Trafficking (CKM) said in the report, “Invisible victims of human trafficking.” One in six victims is extorted by one or both of their parents.

In 2021, 285 victims contacted the treatment and expertise center Fier’s anonymous chat line. According to a spokesperson of the CKM, three-quarters of them were being exploited at the time. “Many victims have been sexually exploited for a year or more when they seek help, a quarter for five years or more. This results from these victims falling almost completely off the radar.”

According to the spokesperson, these are often children who are not yet known to social workers or the police. One in five victims is under the age of 15. “It mainly concerns girls, although the number of boys coming forward is also increasing. The aid workers also increasingly see victims forced to commit criminal acts. In 2021, these were mainly girls. Some of them were both sexually and criminally exploited,” the spokesperson said.

In 16 percent of the cases, the victims are exploited by one or both of their parents. According to CKM, these victims are often difficult to identify, which means their parents can exploit them for years. “The extremely unsafe situation in which these children find themselves call for concrete actions. We, therefore, urge the State Secretary of Justice and Security to investigate how to better identify and protect these children and stop their parents.”