The Mediterranean island’s Office for Combating Trafficking in Persons investigated a total of 666 cases over the past two and a half years, latest police data shows.
Specifically, 169 cases were investigated in 2021, another 265 in 2022 and 232 this year – so far, Philenews also reported on Thursday.
At the same time, the number of identified exploitation victims was: 21 in 2021, 16 in 2022 and 20 in 2022.
Head of the Office for Combating Trafficking in Persons at the Police Headquarters, Eleni Michali, said there have been significant convictions for trafficking in persons in the last two years.
And this is attributed to the strong efforts made to get victims to testify in court, she added.
The specific cases are extremely difficult because police rely on the will of the victims to appear before court to testify, she explained.
The victims are basically very vulnerable people – easy to succumb to pressure and to get bribed. All in all, these sort of cases are difficult to prove since prostitution is allowed under certain conditions.
And there is a fine line before proof that one is living off prostitution or that there are others behind the exploitation of a person.
