correlates of sex trafficking in three balkan countries

Trafficking of human beings has reached epidemic proportions: There are approximately 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today whereas the total value of the trade has been estimated to be around $32 billion. Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria have been particularly hit by human slavery. The author has investigated the common correlates that have facilitated the problem in these countries, such as long term poverty, passive societies, low resistance to bribery, high levels of corruption, and weak legal framework. Obstacles rising from the inability to proceed with cross-national prosecutions in combination with low sentences imposed on traffickers in both developed and developing European countries, have rendered the situation explosive. Despite the European Union’s effort to implement the new rules of the Anti-Trafficking Directive which proposes higher penalties for offenders, increased protection for victims and facilitates cross-border prosecution, only six out of the 27 EU members have fully transposed it into their national legislation.