Austria’s Human Trafficking Problem

Austria, while having a government that seeks to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, has had a problematic human slavery scenario. Recent years have seen the country’s legislative system pass laws that severely penalize offenders. Despite such laws, Austria remained a major transit and destination country for trafficking victims from all over the world. Its prostitution business, which is currently unchallenged by the government, has drawn many women to work as sex workers from several Eastern European countries. All too often, however, these women have ended up enslaved by the industry.

While most victims of trafficking in Austria are Eastern European women, significant numbers of individuals from the Dominican Republic and various African countries are also commonly enslaved within the country’s borders. The fact that victims are trafficked from such distances to Austria is a sure indicator of the magnitude of the nation’s human trafficking plight. The current legal nature of prostitution in the country makes it conducive to the wicked exploits of human trafficking rings. Austria’s child prostitution quandary remains knotty still today, with Romanian and Bulgarian children as the primary victims of sexual exploitation. 

Vienna, Austria currently has nearly 2,000 registered prostitutes and hosts up to half of the nation’s sex workers. Trafficking victims are frequently smuggled over the Italian border into Austria, where they could end up in any of the nation’s major cities as sex workers or in rural areas as bonded laborers. Austria’s foreign human slaves most often come from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Nigeria. These individuals are also commonly transported through Austria to Italy, France, and Spain.

Even with its large number of Non-Government Organizations seeking to assist trafficking victims and its recent compliance with the proper standards required for the elimination of human trafficking, Austria is a nation with a devastating dilemma–– one that requires an urgent response from the government.