Where should you pay attention to?

Signals of human trafficking

Underneath please find a list of signals that might point at human trafficking.

1. Plural dependence

1a. employer/exploiter also arranges accommodation, clothing, and transport

• Not personally handling of  voyage, visa etc.
• Possessing a false or falsified passport
• Being an illegal resident in the Netherlands
• Fear for instance of being maltreated, expelled etc.
• Lack of own accommodation in the Netherlands
• Sleeping at the working-spot
• No knowledge of own working-address
• Being pushed into a social isolation by employer/exploiter

1b. Victim has debts

• When we can speak of  debts to third parties (for instance to exploiter or pimp)
• When exploiter or pimp has paid a  certain amount of money

2. Severe restrictions of basic freedom of the person involved

2a. Victim cannot or is not allowed to have contacts with outside world

• No medical assistance provided
• Victim is not free to move around independently

2b. Victim does not have disposal of own documents

2c. Victim does not have disposal of own earnings
• Not being able to decide freely about own earnings
• Unreasonably high contribution of income

3. Working or providing services under extremely bad circumstances

• Victim receives unusually low wages in comparison with the market. Victim works under dangerous circumstances
• Victim is making extremely long daily or weekly working hours
• Unproportionally long working hours under all circumstances
• Being blackmailed, or receiving threads regarding family/relatives
• The combination of: non EU, marriage or staying with partner and shortly afterwards working as a prostitute.
• Related to locations which can be linked to human trafficking
• Being forced to earn daily a certain amount of money
• Slavish behavior towards exploiter and/or pimp
• Accommodations with camera-surveillance (also inside); hiding places, fake furnishing, bodyguards etc.

4. Injure of corporal integrity of the victim

• Organs renunciation
• Forced to working into prostitution, beyond own will
• Threatened or confronted with violence
• Threats of actively use of violence, bearing signs of corporal violence
• Marks which could indicate dependence of exploiter/pimp (for instance tattoos or voodoo materials)
• Forced to perform various sexual acts

Source: List of signals from Instructions for Handling/approach Human Trafficking by the Ministry of Justice.

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