Human Trafficking: Belgium Vs. Greece

Human Trafficking – Belgium Versus Greece Human trafficking touches nearly every country in the world, whether the nation is a source, transit, or destination for traffickers and in 2012, the International Labor Organization estimated 20.9 million people around the world are living under conditions of forced labor. People of all ages, genders, ethnicities, races, nationalities, and orientations fall victim to human traffickers; poverty, gender discrimination, political violence, and lack of education and opportunities can all make people more susceptible to becoming victims. This industry is pervasive regardless of the industrialization level; even the European Union, which has some of the more liberal human rights policies in the world, suffers

It cannot be disputed that Belgium’s response has been significantly more effective in fighting the pervasive industry of trafficking in persons, and this comes down to the “integral and integrated” approach endorsed in the Kingdom of Belgium’s 2012-2014 NAP. Whereas the Belgian trafficking legislation is, for the most part, very similar to that of their contemporaries, Belgium’s focus on preventative programs and education on the issue has been the most effective in its ability to fight human trafficking. Recently, there has been an increased focus by the government on the education of social service providers, such as hospital staff, welfare providers, and diplomatic workers, on identifying and helping victims of human trafficking (Kingdom of Belgium, 2012). Belgium has also worked to educate and train judges and police officers on procedures for swift intervention in suspected human trafficking cases and how to appropriately interact and work with the victims. These community initiatives for prevention are particularly effective because they increase the general public’s knowledge on an issue typically is considered only a problem in far-off, developing nations when, in fact, it often occurs in every developed nation in the world. Targeting community members and first-line responders is also important because, due to the

The Trafficking in Persons Report 2013 reported there had been complaints about corruption in the police force, such as officers accepting bribes to keep quiet and direct involvement in human trafficking rings. In 2013, the United States Department of State also described in its Report on Human Rights Practices that a 2012 investigation by the Hellenic Police Internal Affairs Unit noted 610 complaints about officers, many of which involved the exploitation of women and a few about direct involvement with traffickers. Corruption is generally attributed to financial instability, and the lack of funding can be seen elsewhere in Greece’s fight against trafficking in persons. For example, despite advocating for NGO funding in its 2004 NAP, the Greek government has failed to uphold this promise due to Greece’s subsequent financial crisis. Even years after the initial hardship of the debt crisis, the government has not gone beyond supporting the initiative taken by anti-trafficking NGOs in the country. The Greek government does not directly fund any, which can severely limit the amount of groundwork these organizations can