The Council of Europe's expert body on trafficking in human beings, GRETA, has urged the Spanish authorities to adopt a more comprehensive approach to tackling human trafficking.
In its first report on Spain, GRETA underlined that some important steps have been taken by the authorities in recent years, including the adoption of a national action plan to combat trafficking for sexual exploitation in 2008 and the criminalisation of human trafficking in 2010.
However, the Spanish authorities have tended to focus primarily on the trafficking of foreign women for sexual exploitation. More must now be done to tackle trafficking for other purposes – such as labour exploitation – and there should be a greater emphasis on other victims, notably children.
There is also a need for better co-operation between public bodies at state and regional levels. In addition, civil society should be more involved in the implementation and evaluation of anti-trafficking measures, in particular with regard to the identification of victims.
The report underlined that very few residence permits have been granted to victims of trafficking and access to assistance, protection and compensation need to be improved.
The report, which includes comments from the Spanish authorities, is available here
