TYPE OF BORDER CROSSINGS VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING MAKE

Data from cases that IOM assisted over the last ten years show that nearly 80% of international human trafficking journeys cross through official border control points, such as airports and land border control points. This indicates the crucial role that border agencies and service providers at border points can play to identify potential victims and refer them for protection and assistance.

 

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Female victims are more likely to be trafficked through an official border control point than male victims: among all the women in the sample, official border control points are used in 84% of cases, while the same figure for men is 73%.

GENDER

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MAJORITY STATUS

AGE

Children are less likely to be trafficked through official border control points: out of all the children in our sample, official border control points are used in 56% of cases, against 80% for adults.

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Once again, analysis shows that children are less likely to be trafficked through official border control points. Otherwise, the two age distributions are similar.

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Most victims are exploited at some point during their journey, regardless of whether they are trafficked through an official border control point or not. The remaining victims (about a third) may still be unaware that they are being trafficked.

EXPLOITATION EN ROUTE

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EXPLOITATION TYPE

 

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EXPLOITATION SECTOR

 

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Trafficking for forced labour is more likely to pass through official border control points than trafficking for sexual exploitation (labour exploitation makes up 83% of official border control points crossings, but 64% of the crossings which do not go through an official border control points, while the equivalent figures for sexual exploitation are respectively 15% and 22%).

Victims exploited in the construction sector make up nearly half (43%) of all trafficking for forced labour through official border control points, against 35% for trafficking routes which do not pass through official border control points. Manufacturing is next, accounting for 21% of cases (7% for non-official), while agriculture make up 15% of cases (9% for non-official). Finally, domestic work accounts for 11% of all trafficking for forced labour through official border control points (8% for non-official) .

The percentages do not sum to a hundred, since not all sectors of exploitation are shown on this graph. Other sectors include begging and illicit activities, and accounted for very few border crossings.

TRAFFICKING DURATION

Victims who are not trafficked through official border control points tend to be trafficked for a longer period of time: 25% of them are trafficked for more than two years, while the same figure for victims trafficked through official border control points is 19%.

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MEANS OF CONTROL: OFFICIAL BORDER POINTS

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For both types of border crossings, most victims are controlled through confiscation of earnings, psychological abuse, false promises, restrictions on freedom of movement, and excessive working hours.
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A high number of victims are trafficked through official border control points using forged documents (9% of cases) or without having their own documents (23% of cases).

OWN DOCUMENTS

 

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TRAVELLED WITH OTHER VICTIMS

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MEANS OF CONTROL: NON-OFFICIAL BORDER POINTS

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However, victims crossing official border control points are a lot more likely to be controlled through debt bondage, threats to themselves or others, restrictions on freedom of movement, and threats of action by law enforcement. Conversely, victims who are not trafficked through official border control points are more likely to be controlled through the confiscation or destruction of important documents.

FORGED DOCUMENTS

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TRANSPORT MODE

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About a third of official border control points are crossed by bus, another third by train, and 20% by plane. In comparison, trafficking routes which do not pass through official border control points used car (28%), buses (26%) and trains (15%).

Victims often travel in groups: nearly 80% of official border control points crossings are carried out with other victims. In 62% of cases, victims who travel with others through an official border control point are exploited at some point during their journey. When they travel in groups through official border control points, victims are more likely to be travelling by bus (39%) and by train (38%) than by plane (11%).

The analysis in this data story relies on IOM data collected between 2008 and 2018, with the unit of observation being a travel segment. Each statistic is computed for all the observations for which the information is available, resulting in samples of about 10,500 travel segments (except for the sector of exploitation, 6338 segments, and for trafficking duration, 9977 segments). In total, this corresponds to 7,985 victims. Only international travel segments are included in the analysis.