In a new report published today, the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking group GRETA calls on the Slovenian authorities to improve trafficking victims’ access to justice and effective remedies, and to strengthen the identification of victims of trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation and amongst asylum seekers.
This third report on Slovenia’s implementation of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings focuses on access to justice and effective remedies for victims of trafficking in human beings. It also assesses developments since the publication of GRETA´s second report on Slovenia in 2018.
GRETA acknowledges that progress has been made in some areas, in particular the establishment of the Anti-Trafficking Service within the Ministry of the Interior, which supports the National Anti-Trafficking Co-ordinator and ensures inter-ministerial cooperation, as well as amendments to the Criminal Code and the Aliens Act. The publication of multi-lingual materials to inform victims of trafficking of their rights and detailed guidelines for labour inspectors on victim identification are also welcome developments.
However, the report notes that no trafficking victim has received compensation from the perpetrators through criminal or civil proceedings, nor from the State under the Crime Victims Compensation Act. GRETA therefore urges the Slovenian authorities to enable victims of trafficking to effectively exercise their right to compensation, by ensuring their access to information and legal aid to claim compensation. GRETA also calls on the authorities to review the eligibility criteria for state compensation with a view to making it available in practice to victims of trafficking.
GRETA is concerned by the low number of convictions for human trafficking and the absence of convictions for trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, and urges the authorities to ensure that trafficking offences are classified as such every time the circumstances of a case allow this, and lead to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for those convicted.
Furthermore, GRETA urges the authorities to adopt a specific provision concerning the possibility of not imposing penalties on victims of trafficking for their involvement in unlawful activities, to the extent that they have been compelled to do so.
While welcoming the increased state funding for assistance programmes for victims of human trafficking, GRETA calls on the Slovenian authorities to ensure that access to assistance is not made conditional on the victims’ co-operation in the investigation and criminal proceedings.
GRETA also urges the Slovenian authorities to ensure that all foreigners for whom there are reasonable grounds to believe that they are victims of trafficking, including EU citizens, are provided with a recovery and reflection period.
Slovenia continues to be primarily a country of destination of victims of human trafficking. The total number of victims identified in the period 2017-2021 was 241, of whom 85% were women. The prevailing form of exploitation was sexual exploitation, followed by forced criminality. No victims of labour exploitation were identified, and no child victims. Although the number of asylum seekers has considerably increased, no victims of human trafficking have been identified from among them. GRETA urges the authorities to pay increased attention to detecting victims of trafficking amongst migrants and asylum seekers, including by providing systematic training and issuing clear instructions to staff of reception centres and immigration detention centres on identifying and responding to cases of human trafficking.
The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) is an independent body which monitors the way countries implement the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. All 46 member states of the Council of Europe are bound by the Convention, as well as two non-member states Belarus and Israel.
