Human trafficking in Greece

Greece is a transit and destination country for women and children who are subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution and conditions of forced labor for men, women, and children. Female sex trafficking victims originate primarily in Eastern Europe and former Soviet bloc countries. Traffickers use physical, emotional, and sexual abuse for coercion. Greece's European Union membership, coupled with a shared border with Turkey, means the country sees massive flows of illegal immigrants looking to enter the EU. Traffickers also use Greece not only as a destination but a transit stop on the way to Western Europe.

The Government of Greece does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government made clear progress in prosecuting labor and sex trafficking offenses, identifying victims, implementing a child victim protection agreement with Albania, and advancing prevention activities. Concerns remain about trafficking-related police complicity, inadequate victim identification among the Hellenic Coast Guard, border police, and vice police, as well as inadequate funding for anti-trafficking NGOs. The economic crisis in Greece also places strains on allocation of funding and resources towards anti-trafficking efforts.

Main Article: Human Trafficking

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation." All of the world’s countries are affected by human trafficking, either as a source, destination, or transit country, or a combination of the three. According to the International Labour Organization, an estimated 2.4 million people are victims of trafficking at any given time. Global trade in women is estimated to be worth between 7 and 12 billion dollars annually; the chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) stated that human trafficking may even have overtaken drug trafficking as a lucrative criminal enterprise.

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