Developing Better Indicators of Human Trafficking

Author: Laczka, Frank & Gramegna, Marco

Abstract: As recently as ten years ago, the term "human trafficking" was rarely referred to in debates about migration policy. Today, however, it is one of the major concerns of both governments and organizations active in the migration field and has become a priority for those working in many other policy areas such as human rights, health, gender, law enforcement, and social services. The organization of the largest ever EU conference on "Preventing and Combat- ing Trafficking in Human Beings," held in Brussels from 18-20 September 2002, is an example of the growing political priority being accorded to combating human trafficking. The conference, organized by International Organization for Migration (IOM) on behalf of the EU, brought together over 1,000 representatives of European institu- tions, EU Member States, candidate countries, and relevant third world countries, drawn from governments, international organizations, and NGOs. The conference produced "The Brussels Declaration," which outlines a set of policy recommendations for the EU in the area of human trafficking. In the United States also, trafficking has been high on the political agenda. In

Keywords: human trafficking, indicators, migration, EU, The Brussels Declaration