2017 REPORT
MUNICIPAL UNIT AGAINST 
HUMAN TRAFFICKING 
(UTEH)
Barcelona City Council
April 2018
Index
01. Introduction 3
02. Presenting the UTEH 5
2.1. Objectives 6
2.2. Target population 6
2.3. Access to the service 7
2.4. Structure of the unit 7
2.4.1 Professionals and disciplines 7
2.4.2 How it works 8
2.4.3 Levels of intervention 8
03. UTEH Activities 10
3.1. Detection 11
3.1.1 General detection 11
3.1.2 Specialised detection 12
3.1.3 Means of recruitment 12
3.1.4 Trafficking networks and their means of control 13
3.1.5 Common detection indicators 14
3.2. Identification 14
3.2.1 Period for re-establishment, reflection and administrative situation 16
3.3. Assistance and recovery 18
04. Child victims of human trafficking 31
4.1. Children's Sub-committee 32
05. Quality standards 33
5.1. Cross-organisational standards 34
5.1.1 Training 34
5.1.2 Inter-institutional committee on human trafficking 34
06. Budget 35
07. Conclusions and future challenges 37
2 Index
01
Introduction
Barcelona City Council has been tackling human trafficking (HT) for sexual exploitation  
since 2006, when ABITS (Agency for a Comprehensive Approach to Sex Work) and the  
SAS (Socio-educational Care Service) were created. 
Since 2015, Barcelona City Council has redoubled its fight against human trafficking in the 
city. Through the creation of the Inter-institutional Committee Against Human Trafficking, 
it aims to promote a more intense and effective inter-institutional coordination among the 
various social and policing stakeholders involved in the fight against human trafficking. The 
aim is to analyse and broaden the coverage of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, 
while also including all other forms of human trafficking: employment exploitation, 
servitude, slavery, committing crimes, forced marriages, organ trafficking, etc.
The work done by this committee includes the production of the Barcelona Circuit Against 
Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation and the need arose to organise a specialised 
unit that enables the deployment of the circuit, which is also linked to other circuits, such 
as gender-based violence, and is a reference point for Barcelona, both for professional 
people and the general public as a whole. 
This initial objective led to the creation of the Municipal Unit Against Human Trafficking 
(UTEH) in October 2016. This pilot project started by tackling human trafficking for sexual 
exploitation, and it included all the work previously carried out by the ABITS Agency, 
in order to clearly differentiate the agency from sex work, and working on this facet of 
trafficking as part of the Barcelona Circuit Against Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation.
The unit's current objective is to combat trafficking in all its manifestations. Structurally, the 
UTEH is part of the Department for Assistance and Shelter for Gender-based Violence, 
which in turn, is part of the Directorate for Feminism and LGTBI Affairs. It works in 
coordination with various municipal services and departments, and in particular with the 
Socio-educational Assistance Service - ABITS Agency (SAS-ABITS), Barcelona's Guàrdia 
Urbana police force (GUB), the Barcelona Social Emergency Centre (CUESB), basic social 
services, health services, the Care, Recuperation and Reception Service (SARA), the 
Information and Assistance Point for Women (PIAD), the children and adolescents care 
teams (EAIA), the Migrant and Refugee Care Service, (SAIER), the Social Insertion Service 
(SIS), etc.
4 Introduction
02
Presenting the UTEH
5 Presenting the UTEH
2.1. Objectives
A To guarantee the rights of potential human trafficking victims, promoting 
comprehensive care and mitigating the harm done.
B Coordinating with all other specialised stakeholders in the fight against human 
trafficking.
C Promoting specialised training and advice for professionals concerning human 
trafficking in general and specific cases.
D Promoting awareness-raising about human trafficking among the general public. 
E Acting as a reference point and observatory for human trafficking in Barcelona. 
2.2. Target population
Any person who is a potential victim of human trafficking, detected (through indications or 
indicators) or formally identified as a victim of human trafficking or just exploitation, who is, 
at a given moment in time and for any reason, in Barcelona or has lived in or been linked to 
the city.
Action is taken where the victim is, or is suspected of being, a minor, whether they can 
prove they are a minor or not, but where there are clear indications that they are a minor, 
taking into account the best interests of the child, and procedures established in current 
legislation, and in coordination with the competent bodies: Directorate General for the Care 
of Children (DGAIA), Juvenile and Immigration Prosecution Service and police forces.
The Unit also attends to the people closest to human trafficking victims, mainly dependent 
children, recognised as victims by international and state legislation. 
All persons who show signs or are detected or identified as being human trafficking victims 
are attended to.
> Regardless of whether their administrative status has been regularised.
> Regardless of whether they have connections to an exploitation ring (and efforts are 
made to disassociate them).
> Regardless of whether they are engaging in prostitution, begging or other forms of 
exploitation
No police identification or report is required to activate the specific resources made 
available to them by the Directorate of Feminism and LGTBI Affairs.
6 Presenting the UTEH
2.3. Access to the service
The Unit does not proactively carry out direct detection, but is a second-level resource. 
However, it offers intensive collaboration, providing tools and information that will facilitate 
this detection. It does so in person, and it is flexible in terms of covering the needs of each 
service or organisation, travelling where necessary and acting as a professional support 
and advice service.
The UTEH receives:
> Information on or the referral of cases detected by other specialist organisations 
in the city. 
In exceptional cases:
> Complaints or reports from the general public.
> Direct requests from the trafficked persons themselves.
2.4. Structure of the unit
2.4.1 Professionals and disciplines
The UTEH service began in January 2017, consisting of two professionals from the municipal 
workforce for the first six months of operations: a coordinator and a social worker, who 
took on the task of giving specialised advice to professionals and carrying out the first 
direct-care actions with human trafficking victims. 
In June 2017, UTEH hired a professional to provide specialised legal advice to human-
trafficking victims, and a professional to provide specialised psychological advice was 
subsequently hired in July. Finally, in September 2017, a further professional was added, 
in order to provide socio-educational support to human trafficking victims.
In addition to these professionals, the UTEH has maintained the free legal representation 
service, provided by the ABITS Agency from 2013 onwards, to help human trafficking 
victims who want information about declaration or reporting procedures and which 
gives them the option of exercising the right to appear as a private prosecution in legal 
processes against alleged traffickers.
7 Presenting the UTEH
2.4.2 How it works
The UTEH's office hours were defined over the course of 2017, according to available staff 
and the needs of the service. In principle, with only two professionals (a coordinator and  
a social worker), continual, 24 hour a day assistance was provided (by phone or in person). 
This assistance was gradually adapted and on 31 December 2017, the service's operational 
times were as follows:
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
From 9 am From 9 am  From 9 am  From 9 am  From 9 am  
to 2 pm to 3 pm to 3 pm to 3 pm to 2 pm
From 4 From 4 From 4 
to 6 pm to 6 pm to 6 pm
From September 2017, the UTEH provided potential human trafficking victims and 
professional people with an emergency telephone number (677 445 190), which is 
operational Mondays to Thursdays, from 9 am to 6 pm, and on Fridays from 9 am to 2 pm.
For situations arising outside of these hours, a protocol for coordination and action with 
the Barcelona Social Emergency Centre (CUESB) was established in 2017, in order to 
respond to emergency situations concerning potential victims who may need emergency 
accommodation until the UTEH opens on the following working day.
2.4.3 Levels of intervention
As far as possible the UTEH's office hours are adapted to the needs of the people it attends 
to, and to the actions previously scheduled with other specialised services, organisations 
and institutions. During these hours, the UTEH offers:
> Direct assistance to potential human trafficking victims, always by appointment, in the 
areas of social, psychological, legal and healthcare assistance, covering basic needs, 
referral to other services or institutions, document processing, etc.
> Indirect assistance: coordination with referred services and other professionals and 
services in the network.
> Other direct-assistance actions for human-trafficking victims.
A Direct assistance
When there are sufficient indications of a possible human trafficking situation; when there 
is a need for a specialised approach to the situation or when a human-trafficking victim 
situation is formally identified, the UTEH intervenes, offering comprehensive assistance.
The types of comprehensive assistance offered by the UTEH are as follows:
A Social assistance
B Legal advice
C Psychological assistance 
D Legal support and representation
8 Presenting the UTEH
The UTEH also offers emergency assistance to human trafficking victims, in collaboration 
with organisations and institutions that specialise in dealing with human trafficking, for the 
following situations:
A Sudden detection of a human trafficking victim by one of the organisations that 
intervenes directly in human trafficking situations, and which clearly requires the 
coordination of emergency care, protection and shelter mechanisms, 
B The intervention of the various competent police forces in the detection or 
identification of human trafficking victims in Barcelona, during the course of 
investigations that are directly or indirectly related to human trafficking. Participating and 
collaborating in the development of resulting police operations, offering information 
and assistance to detected or identified human-trafficking victims.
C In cases where the UTEH is already providing comprehensive care, for those situations 
that, in the opinion of UTEH specialists, can not wait to be dealt with until normal office 
hours.
The UTEH aims to ensure the collaboration and working relationship between the service 
and the city's various police forces, and offers professionals from those police forces, and 
from other services, all necessary information and training concerning human trafficking 
and the context where potential human-trafficking victims are found and the UTEH's 
intervention process.
Regular coordination meetings are held with other services from public and private 
networks and institutions, where cases are shared and joint work is initiated to detect and 
target the human-trafficking situation, and to work together to establish more appropriate 
operational and working measures. 
B Indirect assistance
> Advice. The UTEH offers advice to various services and professionals that may detect 
potential human-trafficking victims. This advice does not involve direct assistance for the 
potential human-trafficking victim.
> Complementation. Where the case requires it, the UTEH carries out interviews or 
actions that are complementary to those performed by the organisation or service 
attending to the person, in order to explore any possible human-trafficking situation, 
clarify indicators that are compatible with a human-trafficking situation and facilitate 
potential victims' access to their rights.
> Co-referencing. The UTEH carries out coreferential actions when the main burden 
of the intervention with the human-trafficking victim or potential victim falls to the 
organisation or service that detected the situation and provides comprehensive 
assistance
9 Presenting the UTEH
03
UTEH Activities
10 UTEH Activities
3.1. Detection
Detection is understood as the mechanisms used to recognise an adult, adolescent or child 
as a possible victim of human trafficking with the aim of exploitation, by using indicators 
of suspicious activities, regardless of whether or not the person wishes to be formally 
identified or register a complaint.
3.1.1 General detection
Any professional or member of the public can detect a human-trafficking situation. The 
creation and existence of a specific municipal service for tackling human trafficking is in 
response to the latent need of professionals who work in assistance services that have a 
general overview and who do not directly work in human-trafficking environments. In 2017, 
various consultations were made by social services and organisations. These collaborations 
led to the following referrals:
REFERRING SERVICE OR ORGANISATION
 2017 %
RAVAL CHILDREN'S CENTRE 4 3.67%
EAIA 1 0.92%
SAIER 1 0.92%
SARA 2 1.83%
NOU BARRIS PUBLIC-AREA MEDIATION SERVICE 1 0.92%
REQUESTED/NOT PERFORMED 1 0.92%
11 UTEH Activities
3.1.2 Specialised detection
Various services, institutions and organisations have a long tradition of tackling human 
trafficking, and they carry out specialised detection. Referrals have been received not only 
from organisations linked to the City of Barcelona, but also from organisations whose head 
offices are in other parts of Spain. In 2017, there were referrals from the following services 
and organisations:
REFERRING SERVICE OR ORGANISATION
 2017 %
APIP-ACAM 1 0.92%
APRAM 1 0.92%
BETANIA BURGOS 1 0.92%
National Police Force 28 25.69%
RED CROSS 3 2.75%
Guàrdia Urbana police force 10 9.17%
Mossos d’Esquadra police force 3 2.75%
SAS 48 44.04%
SICAR 4 3.67%
The detection and referral of cases to the Municipal Unit Against Human Trafficking (UTEH) 
came mostly from the SAS service. This is explained by the fact that before the UTEH was 
created, the work of combating human trafficking for sexual exploitation was carried out by 
the ABITS Agency of this service, through the ABITS Plan for the comprehensive tackling of 
sex work, approved by the Full Meeting of Barcelona City Council in 2006. 
The second largest referrer of human trafficking cases to the UTEH are the security forces, 
thanks to the work carried out by technical staff from Barcelona City Council's Department 
for Gender-based Violence Assistance and Shelter, in order to guarantee the collaboration 
and work process between the UTEH and those police forces.
3.1.3 Means of recruitment
Regarding the ways in which people are recruited by trafficking rings, the variety and 
nature of the mechanisms used by the mafias is surprising. This can be seen in the 
statements made by people attended to, a large proportion of whom were recruited by 
friends, relatives or acquaintances.  This is due to the fact that people who are known to 
the potential victim inspire more trust than other, more "impersonal" recruitment techniques 
using adverts, or internet, in addition to the fact that in some countries of origin, people 
in vulnerable situations do not have easy access to new technologies. Although it is less 
frequent, this other form of recruitment through online adverts (offering false jobs online 
or even friends or "partners" on social media) involves a medium that is potentially very 
dangerous and which is experiencing rapid growth.
12 UTEH Activities
3.1.4 Trafficking networks and their means of control
The main purpose of control exercised by trafficking rings is to ensure continued financial 
benefit as a consequence of exploitation, using various means to ensure its victims are 
isolated.
Some of the means used to ensure continued exploitation of the person concerned include 
taking away their documents and threats. The victim's passport is taken away and they 
are frequently moved to different areas for exploitation, making monitoring and recovery 
difficult while preventing the victim from forming personal support networks. Furthermore, 
they often experience physical attacks or threats from people who reside in the destination 
country, and it is sometimes the group of compatriots or relatives who put pressure on the 
victim to pay off their debt.
Recruitment usually takes place in the country of origin; in the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, a 
high proportion of the traffickers use voodoo as a means of coercion, in order to guarantee 
payment of the contracted debt. 
According to Ana Dols1, an expert in the subject, “these practices are accepted and 
normalised in some communities or areas, on the basis of the following aspects: 
> Tradition (customs and beliefs transmitted from generation to generation).
> Culture (ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular people or society).
> Religion (practices that are preceptive or based on religious teachings or texts,  
or are considered to be preceptive or religious).
> Superstition (widespread but irrational beliefs that are not based on reason 
or knowledge)".
In 2017, the UTEH opened 51 dossiers on Nigerian women, 16 of whom, once a connection 
had been made and the human-trafficking situation explored, managed to declare, in 
spite of the fear of revealing this information, that they had been subjected to a traditional 
voodoo ritual to seal the debt and to keep them under an obligation to remain with the 
ring, under the fear of suffering the consequences of not complying with the pact; negative 
consequences related to religious beliefs and spiritual forces.
In 2017, in relation to traditional African practices and the links between voodoo and the 
crime of human trafficking, the UTEH together with other professionals from the Inter-
institutional Committee Against Human Trafficking and specialised organisations, received 
training in order to continue exploring this subject and improving the approach towards 
the people attended to.
1 Ana Dols. Legal-juridical treatment of abuses linked to belief in and practising of witchcraft and voodoo in Spain 
(with special reference to the crime of human trafficking). Doctoral thesis, 2017
13 UTEH Activities
3.1.5 Common detection indicators
Detection indicators are a fundamental tool for objectively detecting human trafficking. 
They are listed in various protocols and in the bibliography relating to human trafficking, 
and Barcelona City Council has been using them since the Socio-educational Service 
(SAS), which is part of the Agency for a Comprehensive Approach to Sex Work (ABITS), 
adapted the indicators used by the World Health Organisation 2 to its normal practices. The 
City Council has been working to adapt this tool since 2013, so that it can be used by any 
professional, regardless of their work environment, in order to improve knowledge and the 
detection of human trafficking, specifically for the facet of sexual exploitation. 
In 2017, consensus work was carried out in order to define this tool that uses indicators 
for detecting the victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Three meetings 
were held, in July, September and October, with the participation of many specialists in 
detecting, identifying and attending to victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, 
in order to move forward in the production of this tool. This consensus work led to the 
designing of a tool that allows professionals to better detect situations of human trafficking 
for sexual exploitation. Starting in 2018, this tool will be field tested.
3.2. Identification
Identification is understood as the procedure by which police forces with human-
trafficking responsibilities identify victims for the purpose of providing them with their 
legally established rights, especially concerning the re-establishment and reflection period 
3 and the possible regularisation of their administrative situation (in the case of non-EU 
victims), without this necessarily involving collaboration with the police, a judicial inquiry or 
a complaint.
The process of formally identifying a human-trafficking victim is the exclusive responsibility 
of police and security forces. However, the identification process is complex and not all 
potential victims are able, or wish to go through a formal identification process. 
We therefore believe that the detection process carried out by other professionals involved 
in tackling human trafficking must often directly inter-relate with the formal identification 
process that security forces carry out. Mainly when:
> The victims make declarations recognising that they are indeed victims (self-
identification), but the following situations occur:
> They do not wish to be labelled as “victims”.
> They do not understand what going through a formal identification process 
means.
> They are unaware of their rights if they do.
> They fear reprisals on themselves or their families (here or in place of origin).
> They are determined not to go through this identification process and wish to 
explore other ways of achieving regularisation in the host country.
2 World Health Organisation, "Ethical and safety recommendations for interviewing trafficked women".
3 Art. 59 A of Organic Law 4/2000, of 11 January, concerning the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and 
their social integration (LOEX).
14 UTEH Activities
> They do not wish to break away from the exploitation ring because of the risks 
this may involve.
> They do not trust the security forces or the protection system.
> They are in a situation of personal and emotional vulnerability, which 
means they are unable to face an identification procedure that may lead to 
revictimisation. 
> The police and security forces have no way to corroborate the facts that would 
define a human-trafficking situation.
> Other.
> The team of professionals that offers comprehensive assistance have objectively 
determined, by means of a series of indicators, the existence of a victim situation, but 
the victim is not in a position to undergo an immediate self-recognition process.
In order to favour the identification process, it is essential to undertake joint support work 
with the police forces concerned, to help the human-trafficking victim with decision-
making.
In 2017, of the 109 case files opened by the UTEH, 43 people showed indicators of being 
human-trafficking victims, after carrying out a specialised professional detection process, 
i.e. cases where no self-identification or formal identification process had been initiated. 
Another 26 persons, apart from showing these indicators, had identified themselves as 
victims, but had not proceeded with a formal identification process, mainly for the reasons 
described in the previous paragraph. Lastly, another 35 persons were formally identified 
by the various police forces (National Police Force and Mossos d’Esquadra) as human-
trafficking victims and 5 as victims of exploitation.
IDENTIFICATIONS OF HUMAN-TRAFFICKING VICTIMS
 2017 %
With human-trafficking indicators 43 39.45%
Self-identification 26 23.85%
Formally identified by police forces as human-trafficking 35 32.11%
victims
Formally identified by police forces as victims of exploitation 4 5 4.59%
Both in the case of people who presented indicators and those who self-identified as 
human-trafficking victims, the UTEH carried out advisory tasks that were complementary 
and coreferential with the service responsible for the case, to ensure that the human-
trafficking victims had access to information concerning their rights and to make progress 
in the formal identification process, even though this had not come to fruition because of 
the circumstances of each person and the characteristics of the process of mistrust and 
fear that human-trafficking creates in its victims. In 15 cases, the human-trafficking victims 
had access to other resources and means of administrative regularisation. In 21 cases, 
the services concerned continued to provide assistance and the UTEH kept providing 
specialised advice. And lastly, in the 33 remaining cases, the UTEH maintained continual 
actions to establish a connection of trust with potential human-trafficking victims and to 
provide them with specialised support to help with their recovery.
4 According to Article 188 of the Spanish Criminal Code, victims are: Spanish nationals or foreigners who have been 
sexually exploited but have not been recruited in their countries of origin nor transported or housed by human 
trafficking networks.
15 UTEH Activities
3.2.1 Period for re-establishment, reflection and administrative situation
According to Organic Law 4/2000, of 11 January, concerning the rights and freedoms of 
foreigners in Spain (Art 59 bis), the victim-identification process involves the competent 
authorities adopting the necessary measures to identify human-trafficking victims, 
established in Article 10 of the European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human 
Beings, of 16 May 2005.
Where the competent administrative bodies consider that there are reasonable grounds 
to believe that a foreign national in an illegal situation is a victim of human trafficking, 
they inform the interested person about the provisions of this article and take to the 
competent authority a proposal for conceding a period of re.establishment and reflection, 
in accordance with the procedure established in the regulations [...]. This must be sufficient 
for the victim to be able to decide whether they wish to cooperate with the authorities 
in the investigation of the human trafficking crime and, where appropriate, in the legal 
proceedings.
At the UTEH's request, 14 formal identification processes were initiated, by means of 
applying for the concession of a re-establishment and reflection period. There were 
also applications for the subsequent authorisation processes for residence in return for 
collaboration with the police and security forces, due to personal circumstances or other 
matters outside the context of the LOEX Organic Law.
16 UTEH Activities
The data is set out in the following table:
RE-ESTABLISHMENT AND REFLECTION PERIOD AND ADMINISTRATIVE SITUATION 
Access to a period of re-establishment applications 14
and reflection5
granted 12
denied 0
condition of human- 1
trafficking victim 
unconfirmed
pending 1
Residency authorisation as a human-trafficking applications 2
victim due to personal circumstances
granted 0
denied 0
pending 2
Residency authorisation as human trafficking applications 4
victim due to collaboration with security forces
granted 1
denied 0
pending 1
Other forms of regularisation applications6 10
granted7 5
denied 0
pending 5
Renewal or modification of residence permit applications 2
granted 2
denied 0
International protection (asylum) applications 3
Admitted for 3
processing / red card
denied 0
Regularisation processes for dependent in progress 5
children 8
applications 1
granted 1
 denied 0
6 Of the 10 requested: 1 for family reunification; 2 for regularisation as a victim of gender-based violence;  
5 for collaborating with the police as victims of sexual exploitation (Art. 59 LOEX); 2 for additional provision  
1a and 4a LOEX; 5 for collaborating with police as victims of sexual exploitation (Art. 59 LOEX).
7 Of the 5 granted: 2 for collaborating with police as victims of sexual exploitation (Art. 59 LOEX); 2 for regularisation 
as victims of gender-based violence; 1 for family reunification.
8 Regardless of the mother's means of regularisation.
17 UTEH Activities
3.3. Assistance and recovery
UTEH's information-collection system grew in parallel with the deployment of the service in 
2017. The fact of having incorporated its various professional supports gradually throughout 
the year meant that the data grew in volume and that there was a notable increase starting 
from July 2017.
The data relating to the assistance and recovery process comes from a series of actions 
carried out by the UTEH's various professional profiles It should be borne in mind that the 
register of actions grew over the course of the year, as the service was able to take on 
more direct-care functions for victims.
In 2017, the Unit's first operational year, 109 family units 9 were attended to, most of them in 
relation to human-trafficking for sexual exploitation.
FAMILY UNITS 2017 %
Total number of family units attended  
to in 2017 109  
Files opened during the period 109 100.00%
Case files
Files closed during the period 31 28.44%
Sexual exploitation 5 4.59%
Worker exploitation 1 0.92%
Type of 
exploitation Human trafficking for sexual exploitation 100 91.74%
Human trafficking for worker exploitation 3 2.75%
The report presented on 21 December 2016 by the United Nations Office On Drugs and 
Crime (UNODC) highlights that human trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labour 
continue to be the most widely detected forms of this crime, although there are also 
human trafficking victims exploited for begging, forced or fraudulent marriages, obtaining 
public benefits, servitude and pornography. The report states that women and girls tend to 
be the victims of human trafficking for forced marriages or sexual exploitation, while men 
and boys tend to be exploited for forced labour. 
CARE
Family units receiving direct assistance 70
Family units receiving indirect assistance 39
TOTAL NUMBER OF FAMILY UNITS 109
9 In this report, reference is made to family units in order to unify the nomenclature of data collected by UTEH with 
the other indicators that have been collected for years by services pertaining to the Department for Gender-
based Violence Assistance and Shelter (SARA and SAH). The family units of human trafficking victims referred to in 
this report are mostly made up of women and women with dependent children. 
18 UTEH Activities
Of the 109 case files, 64.2% were subject to a direct UTEH intervention with the potential 
victim. The remaining 35.8% were subject to indirect work, offering information and advice 
to professionals concerning the various aspects of human trafficking and the care circuit for 
victims in Barcelona. 
Furthermore, the UTEH has been designing an intervention methodology, which is still in 
the design and implementation stage. The help offered to victims must be directly adapted 
to the specific needs of each person. The key questions that must be considered, from a 
local perspective, are as follows:
> The safety of the person and their family or other people close to them.
> Their administrative situation in the host country.
> The fear of suffering reprisals, threats and coercion.
> The trauma experienced, in order to prioritise the avoidance of new victimisation.
> Covering basic economic and accommodation needs.10
In 2017, the service conducted 31 shelter interviews, which take around 3 hours and are 
undertaken by two professionals. A total of 91 interviews were conducted during the 
monitoring of cases subject to comprehensive care, with the aim of providing human-
trafficking victims with information and access to rights (health service card, resident 
registration, access to documents, access to other services and resources in the municipal 
network, access to care services, covering basic needs, legal advice, specialised 
therapeutic treatment, etc.). The service also undertook a significant number of support 
actions. The people attended to often do not know the language spoken in the host 
country, they have never had access to complete self-sufficiency and they need support in 
order to access information and assistance from the city's network of resources. This aspect 
also makes it possible to combat situations of abuse or racism directed at human-trafficking 
victims.
In order to ensure the recovery processes, short-term financial help was given during the 
course of police operations, and to ensure that the victims' basic needs were covered. A 
total of €3,853.00 was granted, mainly for covering basic needs (food, clothing, hygiene), 
transport and documentation processes.
The UTEH issued 35 reports, mostly related to legal processes initiated to combat human 
trafficking, as an element of expert opinion and support to accompany the victims' 
statements included in the various declarations that need to be made, with the aim of 
providing objective information on the human-trafficking situation during the police and 
legal procedures.
10 Based on Guidelines for Municipalities. Stepping up local action against human trafficking, produced by Anniina 
Jokinen, Liliana Sorrentino, Stana Buchowska, Vineta Polatside and edited by Anthony Jay Olsson, funded by the 
Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) Project Facility Fund, the Swedish Institute and the Ministry of Interior of the 
Republic of Latvia.
19 UTEH Activities
ACTIONS
2017 %
Reception interviews 31 1.55%
Follow-up interviews 91 4.54%
Support 80 3.99%
Administrative 691 34.50%
Reports 35 1.75%
Referrals 88 4.39%
Coordination 987 49.28%
2,003
20 UTEH Activities
PROFILE INFORMATION
Gender
In terms of gender, most of the people attended to were cis women (81.65%), or trans 
women (14.68%). This confirms what is indicated in the UNODC report, that most of the 
detected victims are women and children (specifically, the report states that they make up 
71% of the total).
GENDER
2017 %
Cis women 89 81.65%
Trans women 16 14.68%
Men 4 3.67%
Age11
The most common age group for service users is 18 to 39, which includes 81.65% of the 
people attended to in 2017. Within this range, 49,54% of the people are aged between 
25 and 39, followed by 32.11% aged between 18 and 24. Only 8.25% of human trafficking 
victims are over the age of 39 and it was not possible to ascertain the exact age of 10.09%, 
because they did not join the programme in the end. There is a descending trend in the 
age of human-trafficking victims.
AGE
2017 %
Under 18 0 0.00%
Between 18 and 24** 35 32.11%
Between 25 and 39 54 49.54%
Between 40 and 49 7 6.42%
Between 50 and 64 2 1.83%
65 or over 0 0.00%
Unknown 11 10.09%
** It is suspected that there are two under-18 year old girls (minors), but they claim to be 
18 and 20 years old.
11 It should be noted that this data is based on the declared age of the victims and that knowing their real age is 
difficult, as most of them are not in possession of identity documents, they sometimes don't even have those 
documents, and other times they do not even know their age or date of birth, especially when we are referring 
to victims originally from rural areas with scarce or non-existent systems of identity registration.
21 UTEH Activities
Nationality
Regarding the nationality of the people attended to in 2017, it can be seen that nearly half, 
or 46.79%, are Nigerian women. This corroborates the “Trafficking in Persons Report 2015” 
from the US State Department, which states that Nigeria continues to be one of the main 
countries of origin, transit and destination for woman and child victims of forced labour 
and sexual trafficking, as well as one of the African countries where most human-trafficking 
crimes are committed. 
The UNODC report also provides information on over 500 human-trafficking routes 
detected between 2012 and 2014, which mentions those used by victims travelling from 
Sub-Saharan Africa and South-east Asia.
However, the UTEH has responded to people of 20 different nationalities.
NATIONALITY
 2017 %
ALBANIA 4 3.67%
BRAZIL 6 5.50%
BULGARIA 1 0.92%
COLOMBIA 3 2.75%
PHILIPPINES 1 0.92%
GEORGIA 1 0.92%
EQUATORIAL GUINEA 1 0.92%
HONDURAS 1 0.92%
MALI 1 0.92%
MOROCCO 2 1.83%
MOLDOVA 1 0.92%
NIGERIA 51 46.79%
PARAGUAY 5 4.59%
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1 0.92%
ROMANIA 5 4.59%
UKRAINE 2 1.83%
UGANDA 1 0.92%
URUGUAY 1 0.92%
VENEZUELA 15 13.76%
CHINA 6 5.50%
22 UTEH Activities
Dependent children
The dependent children of women victims of human trafficking are the most invisible 
victims of this crime. According to the Public Prosecutor's Report for 2015 “[...] these minors 
are still threatened by a wide range of risks that are hidden in different ways: sometimes 
the children are controlled by the ring as a way of putting pressure on the mother [...], on 
other occasions they are put under the care or vigilance of an organisation member, and 
that increases the human trafficking victim's debt [...], the ring threatens the mother with 
giving the child away for adoption if the income she generates from sexual exploitation 
decreases, sometimes they are subject to mistreatment [...]". 
Taking care of a minor, once the mother has broken away from the exploitation ring, 
which may have been the result of a violent situation, or doing so in a situation of financial 
and social precariousness, increases the risk of family units suffering a violation of their 
rights. Many of the women attended to who have dependent children are part of one-
parent families which lack support and resources. Of the 109 open case files, 15.60% had 
dependent children and 2.75% were pregnant at the time of being assisted. 
It should also be pointed out that 3 minors were under the tutelage of the General 
Directorate for the Care of Children (DGAIA).
DEPENDENT CHILDREN
2017 %
No children 55 50.46%
One child 17 15.60%
2 children 0 0.00%
3 children 1 0.92%
Pregnant 3 2.75%
DGAIA 3 2.75%
Didn't know/didn't answer 30 27.52%
23 UTEH Activities
Children in the country of origin
In many cases, the people attended to had dependent relatives in their home countries. 
This is often a motive for starting a migratory process that ends up in a human-trafficking 
situation. The women bear the weight of supporting their family in their country of origin 
and it is the family that is often subject to threats from the exploitation ring. 17.42% of the 
people attended to, for enough time to thoroughly explore their situation, had children in 
their countries of origin.
The fact that these dependent minors of the women victims are in their countries of origin, 
under the responsibility of relatives or members of the trafficking ring, creates various 
difficulties when it comes to protecting both the victim and her children, and it is therefore 
a factor that seriously hampers her recovery.
CHILDREN IN THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
 2017 %
No children 45 41.28%
One child 10 9.17%
2 children 4 3.67%
3 children 2 1.83%
4 children 2 1.83%
5 children 1 0.92%
Didn't know/didn't answer 45 41.28%
Educational level and knowledge of the host country's language
These are mostly people without schooling, although there are also people with 
secondary-school and university studies. This leads to the conclusion that the financial 
motivation, i.e. insecurity, the feminisation of poverty and the lack of expectations are some 
of the fundamental factors (although not the only ones) that facilitate recruitment of the 
victims.
These people's knowledge of Spanish and Catalan are in correlation with their general 
educational level, as many of the victims have not had access to learning the language.
24 UTEH Activities
Administrative and legal situation
Regarding the various legal situations of the trafficking victims, it is possible to differentiate 
between people in a legal or illegal administrative situation, and most of them have no 
residence permit or legal entry and stay papers (77.06%). 
In a high percentage of cases, these people also have pending expulsion orders due to 
illegal residence.
ADMINISTRATIVE SITUATION
 2017 %
Illegal 84 77.06%
Legal 15 13.76%
Tourist visa 3 2.75%
Didn't know/didn't answer 7 6.42%
Period of stay in Spain and travel through the various autonomous communities
The victims' period of stay in Spain and their degree of mobility are fundamental indicators, 
because these factors also tend to determine whether or not they are staying in Spain 
legally, the possibilities of them having documents and whether they are the subject of 
expulsion-order procedures. Furthermore, they are a factor that makes it impossible to 
establish a relationship of trust and connections and a social support network. 
In addition to a supposed illegal entry on the coast, these people may arrive through 
legal means, which become illegal when they overstay the legal period (six months per 
year in two maximum periods of three months). It is not possible to obtain documents 
by the exceptional means of social settlement for a length of stay of under three years. 
Applications for asylum are legally conditioned to lengths of stay of under one month, 
although in practice, the fact of being a human-trafficking victim over a continuous period, 
should mean the admission of an application for international protection for those reasons, 
without taking length of stay into consideration.
25 UTEH Activities
EMERGENCY CARE
In 2017, the UTEH was present at 3 police operations in the City of Barcelona, in sexual-
exploitation environments. And at least 27 people were attended to at police stations. 
The UTEH responded to emergency situations approximately 44 times during the year.
SHELTER
Shelter is one of the main requests detected in 2017. The City Council's gender-violence 
shelter operation has had to adapt in order to include human-trafficking victims, due to the 
variety of profiles that also require high levels of security. In many cases, shelter is needed 
in the first phase of care, when the person first agrees to break away from the exploitation 
ring, as a first step to offering them stability and a place to rest where they are able to 
explore their situation.
SHELTER
Total number of family units housed 18 16.51%
Total number of different people housed 23 **
Total number of different women housed 14 77.78%
Total number of Total number of different trans 
people housed in women housed
1 5.56%
hostels and hotels
Total number of different men housed 3 16.67%
Total number of children/adolescents 
housed 4 **
Total number of other relatives 
of victims housed 1 **
Total number of 
people housed in Total number of different women  20 18.35%
specialised resources given shelter
Total number of days spent in shelter 
Stays in shelter resources
598 **
resources
Average number of days in shelter per 
person 35.18 **
26 UTEH Activities
SPECIALISED SHELTER RESOURCE FOR WOMEN VICTIMS OF HUMAN
TRAFFICKING FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
The City Council maintains 3 emergency places from the SICAR.cat project, which pertains 
to the Order of the Sisters of Adoration, Slaves of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity, in 
the Province of Aragon.  In 2017, a total of 20 women were sheltered through the project 
and an average occupation rate of 82.95% was maintained. Three women received prior 
attention from the Gender-based Violence Shelter Operation, and one of them later found 
shelter with SICAR. 55% of the beneficiaries came from the African continent (Nigeria, 
Gambia, Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea Conakry), 20% from Latin 
America and the remainder from Eastern Europe (10%) and Asia (15%). Of these, 80% were 
in an illegal situation; half of them did not have any documents. Most of the referrals came 
from public services. Voluntary return was requested for 3 of the women, while 7 of them 
continued with their personal process in the continuance phase of the programme. Two 
women were referred to another specialised resource for safety reasons.
The self-sufficiency phase aims to consolidate the empowerment process for the women, 
through staying in three Barcelona City Council flats under the management of Barcelona's 
Social Services Consortium. In 2017, the flats were occupied by 3 women and 4 minors, two 
family units which are continuing their process in 2018. In 2017, the flats were 100% occupied 
by the two family units and a single woman.
From the middle of 2018, Barcelona City Council, with management also delegated to 
Barcelona's Social Services Consortium, plans to increase the shelter resources for human-
trafficking victims with 5 more flats, 4 four of them offering medium and high levels of 
self-sufficiency. This clears the way for various types of victim; women, men, transgender 
people, single-parent families, married couples with or without children, disabled people, 
people who find coexistence difficult, etc., regardless of the purpose of the human 
trafficking. The fifth flat is used as a flat for emergency stays, for human-trafficking victims or 
potential victims in high-risk situations, whatever their profile or type of human trafficking, 
who need shelter quickly under secure conditions, and supervised by a professional team 
that makes it possible to begin the process of exploration, connection and restitution.
SPECIALISED PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT
Human trafficking has serious repercussions on the health of people who suffer it. The 
situations of violence, coercion and exploitation that they have experienced lead to 
physical and mental health disorders and harm. Psychological and psychiatric disorders are 
the main comorbidities found in human-trafficking victims.
In addition to information, guidance and psychological care, the UTEH offers specialised 
psychological treatment to the people it assists.
In 2017, it worked closely with the Vall d’Hebron Transcultural Psychiatry Service, which has 
wide-ranging experience in tackling mental health in migrants who present multi-traumatic 
symptoms. They have developed a joint referral operation for cases that include psychiatric 
symptomatology.
27 UTEH Activities
SPECIALISED PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION
2017 %
Total number of people undergoing psychological 17
treatment
People undergoing psychological treatment  12 11.01%
on 31/12/2017
Referrals to the Vall d’Hebron Transcultural  7 6.42%
Psychiatry Service
Of the total number attended, 10 were cis women, 5 trans women and 2 men  
(one of them a relative of a human-trafficking victim).
CULTURAL MEDIATION
All UTEH professionals speak fluent English, a language that is accessible to Nigerians. In 
cases concerning other nationalities where the person does not speak Spanish, Catalan 
or English, the UTEH has used the Barcelona Intercultural Translation and Mediation 
Service, for Georgian, Russian, Chinese and Tagalog, while using Seprotec for Albanian. 
Furthermore, from September to December, it made use of a Chinese cultural mediator, 
who collaborated with the UTEH and other member organisations of the Inter-institutional 
Committee on direct-assistance operations with people of that nationality (24 hours in 
total), helping to solve problems that were not only caused by language but also by cultural 
differences.
RECOVERY, EMPOWERMENT AND SOCIAL AND LABOUR MARKET
INSERTION FOR WOMEN VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING FOR SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION
In 2017, the RAI programme was maintained. This is an intervention project for the 
recovery, empowerment and social and labour market insertion of women victims of 
human trafficking for sexual exploitation, which is carried out jointly by SURT, the Women's 
Foundation, Private Foundation and SICAR.cat. 
The RAI aims to work on a series of skills and abilities that enable women victims of human 
trafficking for sexual exploitation to recover, know their surroundings better, work towards 
a profession and approach the job market. This was the fourth edition of this biannual 
project, which began in January 2016. 
A total of 20 women took part in the selection for the project, 13 of whom came from 
Nigeria, while the rest came from other Sub-Saharan African countries, Latin America and 
Eastern Europe. 85% of them had no previous work experience, leading to 17 of the women 
starting the project in the pre-work phase. The programme's objectives were met: 90% of 
the women began a therapeutic process and had access to various training courses. 
It should be stressed that 10 women were able to join the formal job market, but under 
conditions that continue to be extremely precarious (temporary contracts in precarious, 
feminised sectors).
28 UTEH Activities
LEGAL REPRESENTATION
From 2013 onwards, the City Council has guaranteed free legal representation for human-
trafficking victims. Human-trafficking victims find themselves in a situation of social and 
economic helplessness which means they are unable to assume the expense of hiring 
a person who can provide them with specialised legal advice, and where necessary, 
represent them with sufficient expertise throughout the legal procedure involved in 
denouncing the rings that control them. This action is taken in accordance with Article  
25 of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime (2000), and Article 6.2.b) 
of its protocol for the prevention, suppression and punishment of human trafficking, 
especially for women and children, which establishes that, within their means, participating 
states will adopt appropriate measures to provide assistance and protection for the victims 
of crimes cited in the convention, particularly in cases involving threats of reprisals or 
intimidation, with the aim of presenting and examining their opinions and worries during 
all the appropriate stages of legal actions taken against the traffickers. Also in accordance 
with Article 56 of the Council of Europe's 2011 Istanbul Convention, which came into force 
in 2014, concerning prevention and combating violence against women and domestic 
violence. 
For this reason, in 2017, the following actions were taken in order to advise or represent 
human-trafficking victims as a private prosecution.
LEGAL REPRESENTATION
Total number of people assisted 19 **
Specialised legal 
support and People attended to previously (2016) 8 42.11%
representation
New people 11 57.89%
In 2017, there were 8 ongoing procedures that had been initiated when human-trafficking 
situations were still tackled by the ABITS Agency's SAS service, one of which concluded 
in 2017, with the conviction of the traffickers. In 2017, four more procedures were opened, 
as the 11 people attended to by the legal representation service decided to act as private 
prosecutions and accept being represented in the cause by the UTEH service. A total of 
11 procedures are still ongoing, remaining unresolved on 31 December 2017.
The total number of people assisted with legal representation included 13 cis women, 
5 trans women and 1 man.
LEGAL PROCEDURES
2017 %
Total number of legal procedures 12
Concluded in 2017 1 8.33%
Not concluded (initiated before 2017) 7 58.33%
Initiated in 2017 4 33.33%
29 UTEH Activities
The regulatory development of Act 19/1994, concerning the protection of witnesses and 
experts in criminal cases is planned. Until a witness protection programme similar to the 
ones existing in neighbouring countries is introduced, the measures established in the 
Witness and Experts Protection Act are as follows: 
> That no identifying data of the victim nor the witnesses be recorded in the procedure, 
and that the victim be designated a name or abbreviations.
> That when practising any kind of judicial process in the court or outside, procedures 
that make identification impossible should be used, such as distorting their image or 
voice.
> That for the purpose of citations and notifications, their home address should be 
stated as being the courtroom itself, which will ensure that those communications will 
reach the addressee or can be collected by them from the courtroom. 
> Police protection for the victims.
In the most extreme cases, usually with alleged organised crime, a new identity may 
be provided to the victims and witnesses, as well as the financial means for changing 
residence and jobs.
Furthermore, they can be protected through ordinary precautionary measures established 
in the Criminal Procedure Act (Articles 13, 504, 544 bis i 731 bis), such as pre-trial 
detention for alleged criminals awaiting trial, restraining orders against approaching or 
communicating with specific persons or residing in certain locations, or ensuring that any 
declarations made by the victims in courts or tribunals are carried out by video-conference 
or by avoiding any visual confrontation with the accused that might intimidate them or 
affect their statements, as well as any other necessary measures to protect the victims. 
By means of the protection measures generally established in the Witness and Expert 
Protection Act and the Criminal Procedure Act, which must be agreed through a judicial 
ruling.
Of the 19 people legally represented in 2017, 10 (52.63%) acted as protected witnesses 
during the pre-trial phase of the legal proceedings.
Unfortunately, in protected-witness cases, the courts frequently reveal the identity of the 
protected witness during the oral trial (even where they have not appeared as a private 
prosecution). In 2017, the identity of one of the protected witnesses was revealed and in 
another case, the request was denied. The other procedures were still unresolved on 31 
December 2017 and have still not entered the last phase of the legal proceedings, where 
witness identities may be revealed. 
Therefore, the act of denouncing, whether acting as a private prosecution or not, is in 
itself a situation that puts the victim in a vulnerable situation, if the courts decide to reveal 
the identity of protected witnesses. Not protecting the identity of the victims during 
legal proceedings puts them in a subordinate position with regard to their traffickers and 
consequently in a situation of oppression and revictimisation. This means that the traffickers 
have access to another effective means of coercion against their victims, due to the legal 
obstacles they suffer while protected. This prevents them from freely denouncing their 
situation due to the fear of reprisals against them and their relatives in their countries of 
origin.
30 UTEH Activities
04
Child victims of human trafficking
31 Child victims of human trafficking 
In 2017, there were two possible cases involving minors, whose ages were not confirmed 
through documentation, one confirmed case involving a minor and three adults who were 
recruited while they were minors.
Victims continue to be recruited who start being exploited while they are minors and 
who are not detected or identified until they have reached adulthood. This subject was 
introduced to the Children's Subcommittee and it was worked on throughout 2017 by the 
UTEH, the SAS and the GUB, in order to analyse the situation, improve the early detection 
of these situations and to consider actions when it is suspected that there may be minors in 
public places who are the victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
4.1. Children's Subcommittee
As part of the Inter-institutional Committee Against Human Trafficking, it was agreed 
to create a subcommittee to tackle the situation of minors in the city who are human-
trafficking victims; the most invisible victims. This subcommittee consists of: for Barcelona 
City Council, the Councillor's Office for Feminism and LGTBI Affairs (including the services 
of the UTEH and the ABITS Agency), the Commissioner for Security and representatives 
from Barcelona's Guardia Urbana police force (GUB); for the Generalitat, the Central Human 
Trafficking Unit and the Regional Community Unit of the Mossos d’Esquadra police force, 
the Catalan Institute for Women and DGAIA; the UCRIF and the Foreigners Technical Section 
of the National Police Force and Juvenile Prosecution Service of Barcelona; the Barcelona 
Consortium of Social Services, and as specialised organisations: SICAR.cat, the APIP-ACAM 
Foundation and the Red Cross.
In March 2017, the first Sub-committee meeting was held and it commissioned a report 
from the University of Barcelona that included an analysis of the situation, based on the 
statements of various specialised persons in this field, and a series of proposals that the 
Subcommittee would continue to work on in 2018.
32 Child victims of human trafficking 
05
Quality standards
33 Quality standards
5.1. Cross-organisational standards
5.1.1 Training
The UTEH organised various specialised training courses in human trafficking throughout 
2017. It has served a total of 104 professionals from the various organisations, services and 
institutions specialising in the detection and tackling of human trafficking.
A Psychological impact on victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation
B Traditional African beliefs and human trafficking for sexual exploitation
C The Chinese community, gender and prostitution
D Geopolitics of Nigerian prostitution
The Unit has also taken part in specialised conferences as a specialised human-trafficking 
service:
E "Prevention in human trafficking" (Red Cross).
F Danube Cities Against Human Trafficking Round Table: “Preventing & Combating 
Human Trafficking and Exploitation at the Local Level”. EU Strategy for the Danube 
Region EUSDR, Priority Area 10: “Institutional Capacity Building and Cooperation”.
G "Security, democracy and cities. Co-producing urban security policies". "Cities and 
organised crime” (EFUS).
H "Human trafficking: the psychological impact on survivors" International Conference. 
PHIT - Psychological Health Impact of Trafficking in Human Beings for Sexual Exploitation 
on Female Victims (University of Barcelona)
In 2017, there were three training workshops on detection for professionals from municipal 
services: SAIER, CUESB and SARA.
5.1.2 Inter-institutional committee on human trafficking
The Inter-institutional Committee was created in 2015, and it is made up of the following 
services and institutions: for Barcelona City Council, the Councillor's Office for Feminism 
and LGTBI Affairs (including UTEH and ABITS Agency services) the Commissioner for 
Security and representatives from Barcelona's Guardia Urbana police force (GUB); for 
the Generalitat, the Central Human Trafficking Unit and the Regional Community Unit 
of the Mossos d’Esquadra police force, the Catalan Institute for Women and DGAIA; the 
UCRIF and the Foreigners Technical Section of the National Police Force, the Guardia Civil 
police force, Barcelona's Foreigners Prosecution Service; the Examining Judiciary, the 
Unit of Coordination Against Violence Towards Women and the Government Delegation 
in Catalonia's Office for Foreigners, as well as the specialised organisations: SICAR.cat, 
GENERA, APIP-ACAM Foundation and the Red Cross.
In 2017, a full session was held in March, which included the Catalan Bar Association in the 
committee's work sessions for the first time. In that session, it was agreed to work through 
subcommittees in order to focus on the committee's work in two priority areas: 
> Exploring the situation of child victims of human trafficking, and  
> creating a tool for detecting victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
34 Quality standards
06
Budget
35 Budget
The budget allocated to the UTEH in 2017 was €432,737.75. Furthermore, the municipal 
workforce was increased by assigning two people to the unit: a professional to coordinate 
the service and a social worker for direct interventions. 
CONCEPTS 2017 % OF TOTAL
Inter-institutional Committee against Human 
Trafficking 31,431.76 7.26%
Management of the service's assistance12 85,325.57 19.72%
Work placement programme 125,457.98 28.99%
Residential accommodation 186,669.44 43.14%
Financial aid 3,853.00 0.89%
Total 432,737.75
12 Including psychological and social-sanitary care, basic legal advice and legal representation.
36 Budget
07
Conclusions and future challenges
37 Conclusions and future challenges
Main conclusions
> The need for a specific municipal resource like the UTEH is made clear by the requests 
for care, advice and coordination received from both general and specialised services 
since its creation.
> The main request from the team of professionals that detect and refer human-
trafficking situations focus on having tools that enable improved detection, a feature that 
involves offering training and specialised tools to that effect. 
> Focusing interventions on the self-identification of human-trafficking victims has been 
shown to be ineffective if the aim is for a greater number of human-trafficking victims to 
have guaranteed access to the rights that are being violated and to support during their 
process. The services attending to human-trafficking victims must be highly flexible and 
able to adapt to the various realities of human-trafficking victims, if the aim is to pursue 
long-term successful processes and to offer sufficient security so that potential human-
trafficking victims feel able to break away from exploitation rings. 
> The coordinated work among social authorities, police, public-prosecutor and 
judicial authorities is fundamental in order to guarantee the process of reflection and 
recovery that people who have suffered a human-trafficking situation require. Similarly, 
empowering the victim as the centre of the process is vital for achieving an efficient 
persecution of the crime and putting the traffickers on trial.
> Leaving their country of origin and seeking to improve their circumstances is one of 
the main reasons why the victims contact human-trafficking rings, but it is not the only 
one, as human trafficking is a multi-factorial phenomenon. Other factors include various 
types of discrimination based on gender, migratory legislation in host countries, the 
stigma surrounding prostitution, etc. 
> In the networked task of attending to human-trafficking victims, early detection of 
exploitation situations is vital when the victims are minors, as there is an extremely high 
risk of secondary victimisation.
38 Conclusions and future challenges
Future challenges
> Throughout this first operational year, it has become clear that there is a need for 
increased social resources, shelter and specialised psychological care for human-
trafficking victims, that would enable greater flexibility for access. In particular, there is 
great need for shelter resources for men and for victims of other types of exploitation 
other than those already available for victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
> The creation of safe shelter places, that are low demand and difficult for the rings 
to identify, is one valid alternative for working with these people in the initial stages, 
guaranteeing protection and anonymity, peace for working on their identification as 
victims and a subsequent referral to more specialised resources, and if possible, once 
they themselves have recognised their condition.
> A wide-ranging examination of how legal procedures are currently managed is 
needed, in order to improve protection for victims and contribute to easing the burden 
placed on human-trafficking victims as being the only evidence, by means of new 
investigative approaches, as well as improving training for all professionals involved in 
the process.
> Coordinated work is essential for guaranteeing protection for relatives of human-
trafficking victims, through mechanisms that already exist, but prevention in the 
countries of origin and transit is also very important, in order to put an end to the 
corruption that facilitates the work of the mafias and improves the information reaching 
people in the countries of origin about the risks involved.
> Lastly, it is necessary to carry out ongoing dissemination and awareness-raising work 
about human trafficking, which not only reaches the professionals involved, but also the 
general public.
39 Conclusions and future challenges