This report is published at a time when punitive approaches to migration, crime and border control are increasing across Europe. For years, victims of trafficking for forced criminality have been  treated as offenders or ‘illegal immigrants’ rather than as rights holders who have experienced exploitation and coercion. Despite growing recognition of the scale and severity of trafficking for forced criminality across Europe,  institutional responses continue to fail at effective prevention, identification and protection. Whilst some governments in the last decade have introduced specific laws designed to protect victims of trafficking from punishment for the crimes they were forced to commit, the majority of these laws fall short of international standards, or are inconsistently implemented.

This report examines how trafficking for forced criminality is manifesting within the contemporary European context and calls for rights-based responses by states that centre victim protection, and access to justice and accountability, rather than punitive migration restrictions.

You can read the full report here.