The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) has urged the Spanish authorities to guarantee effective access to compensation to victims of human trafficking and to increase proactive investigations into trafficking for labour exploitation.
In a report published today evaluating Spain’s implementation of the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking Convention, particularly the access of victims to justice and effective remedies, GRETA welcomes progress in the legal framework and policies but also identifies several shortcomings which need to be addressed.
The report notes that Spain remains primarily a country of destination and transit for victims of trafficking. During the 2017-2022 period, a total of 1,687 victims of human trafficking were identified. While sexual exploitation remained the predominant form of exploitation, the number of persons identified as victims of trafficking for labour exploitation increased. The number of identified child victims remained low (79 in 2017-2022).
GRETA acknowledges that progress has been made in some areas, including the adoption of a National Strategic Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings and a National Action Plan on Forced Labour for 2021-2023. GRETA also notes positively the increased protection provided by the Law on Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents and the changes to the procedure for granting the status of a victim introduced by the Royal Law Decree on urgent measures related to the war in Ukraine.
Although victims of trafficking can claim compensation from the perpetrators during criminal proceedings as well as compensation from the State, the number of victims who have obtained compensation from the perpetrators remains low, and no victim of trafficking has received State compensation. GRETA urges the Spanish authorities to make additional efforts to guarantee effective access to compensation, including by reviewing the eligibility criteria for access to “public aid” and for recovering unpaid salaries. The authorities should make full use of the legislation on the freezing and forfeiture of assets, as well as of international cooperation, to secure compensation for victims.
While welcoming the reinforced law enforcement and judicial response to human trafficking, GRETA expresses concern about the low number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions for human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation. It urges the authorities to increase proactive investigations into this type of trafficking and recommends further training of relevant professionals on the specificities of human trafficking.
Concerning trafficking for labour exploitation, GRETA also urges the authorities to ensure that labour inspectors have sufficient resources to carry out inspections, review the legislative framework for any loopholes that may limit the prosecution and adjudication of cases, address the risks of human trafficking in the agricultural sector and improve the detection of possible victims in this sector.
GRETA welcomes the availability of free legal aid for victims of trafficking. However, noting that the practical application of the legal provisions is uneven across Spain, GRETA considers that the authorities should take further steps to ensure their full and effective implementation, notably the timely appointment of a lawyer.
Formal identification of victims of trafficking remains under the responsibility of specialised units of the Policía Nacional and the Guardia Civil. GRETA urges the Spanish authorities to put in place and operationalise a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and to ensure that, in practice, formal identification of victims does not depend on the presence of sufficient evidence for the initiation of criminal proceedings. It also calls for strengthening the proactive detection of victims of trafficking among asylum seekers and migrants arriving in Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands.
The authorities should also ensure that all presumed foreign victims of trafficking, including EU/EEA nationals, are offered a recovery and reflection period and provided with all the measures of protection and assistance during this period.
GRETA welcomes the increased availability and range of assistance measures for female victims of sexual exploitation. However, it underscores that there are still no specialised shelters for female victims of other forms of exploitation nor male victims of trafficking and urges the authorities to increase places in specialised accommodation for these victims.
Finally, the report notes that insufficient efforts have been made to address trafficking in children and that the procedures for identifying child victims do not fully guarantee the child´s best interests. To address this problem, GRETA urges the authorities to improve the procedures for the identification of child victims, in particular among unaccompanied foreign children, and to increase the availability of places in safe and specialised accommodation with trained professionals.
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.
