Austria/Europe

16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence – Human trafficking must be made visible  End violence! Every year, the international campaign ‘16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence’ draws attention to the omnipresent problem of violence. On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the United Nations once again published shocking figures: more than 80,000 women were victims of femicide last year – most […]

Under the name “Operation Bogotá”, the authorities have succeeded in tracing an international network which forced women from Colombia into prostitution in Austria. Forty-three victims were freed, while five suspected perpetrators were arrested. 43 women freed For years now, Austria’s Federal Bureau of Investigation has been working together with the Colombian police and Europol on

Every day, women around the world are victims of violence – many believe this is a problem “abroad,” “far away,” or simply “not here.” But that is unfortunately not true. Reality paints a very different and deeply concerning picture: in 2025 alone, eleven so-called femicides have already been recorded – eleven women who lost their

Spanish authorities made a shocking discovery recently while carrying out a large-scale police operation against human trafficking, as 162 women were freed from forced prostitution in several apartments which had been converted into “massage salons”. The women lived in unimaginably awful conditions – they were forced to service their clients in bunkbeds, where they then

The term resilience has its origins in psychology and sociology and describes the ability of individuals, groups or systems to cope with crises, adapt and emerge stronger from stressful situations. This year’s Vienna Conference on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings has the theme ‘Resilient Together: Preventing Human Trafficking in Times of Crisis’ – a highly

With its seventh  National Action Plan for Fighting Human Trafficking, 2024-2027, Austria is continuing its consistent strategy in the struggle against one of the most serious human rights violations. Created by the Council of Ministers on 13 March 2024, the Plan is a comprehensive state tool which takes a clear position against any form of

Without realising it, we benefit from the exploitation of others in our everyday lives. Modern slavery is not a distant reality: tens of thousands of people in the United Kingdom live in exploitative conditions – despite legal measures such as the Modern Slavery Act. But why are we not able to protect these people effectively?