Press release: Germany lags behind in the fight against human trafficking

Nr. 29/2012 - 28.02.2012

Index developed by Göttingen researchers gives only six of 182 countries high marks

(pug) Germany has cut back on its efforts to protect victims of human trafficking. This fact was revealed by the latest Anti-trafficking Policy Index from 2010 that evaluates governmental efforts against human trafficking. The index was developed by researchers at the University of Göttingen, the University of Heidelberg and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). It examines the policy performance of countries in their fight against human trafficking in the three prime policy areas: prevention of the crime, protection of the victims and prosecution of the traffickers.

Whilst Germany received top marks for its prosecution of human traffickers and prevention of violence in 2010, its ranking in terms of victim protection dropped compared to 2009. “Germany granted more amnesties and provided less medical aid,” says Dr. Seo-Young Cho of Göttingen University’s Faculty of Economic Sciences. “It’s possible that victims are prosecuted or deported before they are recognised as victims of human trafficking by German legislation,” explains the author of the index. For this reason, Germany was awarded only three points in the category of victim protection in 2010 – a two-point decrease over 2009. The category of criminal prosecution rates a country's legislation and enforcement performance in the fight against human trafficking. Prevention is the category that evaluates government activities in monitoring borders, implementing public and media campaigns, facilitating information exchange and promoting education on the subject of human trafficking.

The researchers evaluated statistics from a total of 182 countries. The actions taken by governments were ranked on a scale from 1 to 5 – with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest score. The scores in the three categories were then aggregated into the overall index where a country scores worst with three points and best with 15 points.

In 2010, six countries each received the highest score of 15, according to the coding scheme, for the best political policies in the fight against human trafficking: the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, Slovenia, Spain and Belgium. Scoring lowest with 3 points each, North Korea and Somalia ranked worst. “All in all, governmental efforts regarding victim protection and prevention increased between 2009 and 2010. Yet, with regard to prosecution performance, efforts have declined,” notes Dr. Cho.

The index of governmental action against human trafficking is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security. For more detailed information on the index’s methodology, including explanations by the researchers, go to www.human-trafficking-research.org.

Contact:
Dr. Seo-Young Cho
Georg-August University of Göttingen
Faculty of Economic Sciences
Chair of International Economics
Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen
Phone (0551) 39-7368, Fax (0551) 39-8173
Email: scho@uni-goettingen.de
Internet: www.uni-goettingen.de/de/dr-seo-young-cho/94564.html