Trafficked by someone I know: A qualitative study of the relationships between trafficking victims and human traffickers in Albania

Davy, Deanna (2022) Trafficked by someone I know: A qualitative study of the relationships between trafficking victims and human traffickers in Albania UNICEF Albania & IDRA 66pp.

Record type: Monograph (Project Report)

Abstract

Albania is significantly affected by, and remains primarily a source country for, human trafficking. Of the non-European Union (EU) trafficking victims identified in the EU, Albanians are the second largest group (after Nigerians). Among these victims, there is a high proportion of children and youth. Girls of age 14–18 years are most likely to be targeted for sex trafficking. A recent analysis of 99 human trafficking cases showed that 68 percent of traffickers were either close family members or had close social ties to the victims. Of the 99 cases, 31 percent were reported to be cases in which boyfriends had exploited victims, 25 percent were friends of the victim, and twelve percent involved family members. In 19 percent of cases victims were exploited by people they had met on social media. While we know, therefore, that Albanians are often trafficked by someone that they are close to, we lack further understanding on the ways in which traffickers recruit, exploit and control the victims who are known to them, and the effects of the relationships upon the victims’ escape and vulnerability to re-trafficking. The present study aims to address these knowledge gaps.

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