Editing Sexual slavery (section)

==Present day==
Official estimates of individuals in sexual slavery worldwide vary. In 2001 the [[International Organization for Migration]] estimated 400,000, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] estimated 700,000 and [[UNICEF]] estimated 1.75 million.<ref>
[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/slaves/etc/stats.html Sex Slaves: Estimating Numbers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911233842/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/slaves/etc/stats.html |date=11 September 2017 }}, [[Public Broadcasting System]] "Frontline" fact site.
</ref>

===Africa===
{{see also|Slavery in modern Africa}}
In Africa, the European colonial powers [[Abolitionism|abolished slavery]] in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, in areas outside their jurisdiction, such as the [[Mahdi]]st empire in [[History of Sudan|Sudan]], the practice continued to thrive. Institutional slavery has been banned worldwide, but there are numerous reports of women sex slaves in areas without effective government control, such as Sudan,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/documents/afr54/076/2004/en |title=Sudan |date=18 July 2004 |access-date=2007-11-08  }}</ref> [[Liberia]],<ref>
{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6264200.stm |title=Africa {{pipe}} Liberia's Taylor appears in court |work=BBC News |date=3 July 2007 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307154811/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6264200.stm |archive-date=7 March 2014 |url-status=live}}
</ref> [[Sierra Leone]],<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/press/2003/01/sl0116.htm |title=Human Rights Watch {{pipe}} Defending Human Rights Worldwide |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=26 July 2010 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630011006/http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/01/sl0116.htm |archive-date=30 June 2012 |url-status=live}}
</ref> northern [[Uganda]],<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/27/uganda13863.htm |title=Uganda: No Amnesty for Atrocities |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=28 July 2006 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103165556/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/27/uganda13863.htm |archive-date=3 November 2008 |url-status=live}}
</ref> [[Democratic Republic of Congo|Congo]],<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03/04/news/nation/17_58_563_3_07.txt |title=Girls at U.N. meeting urge action against sex slavery, trafficking, child labor, AIDS |publisher=Nctimes.com |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629144205/http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03/04/news/nation/17_58_563_3_07.txt |archive-date=29 June 2012 |url-status=live}}
</ref> [[Niger]]<ref>
Andersson, Hilary. (11 February 2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4250709.stm Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Born to be a slave in Niger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008231646/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4250709.stm |date=8 October 2007 }}. BBC News. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
</ref> and [[Mauritania]].<ref>
{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6938032.stm |title=Africa {{pipe}} Mauritanian MPs pass slavery law |work=BBC News |date=9 August 2007 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106014658/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6938032.stm |archive-date=6 January 2010 |url-status=live}}
</ref> In [[Ghana]], [[Togo]] and [[Benin]], a form of [[religious prostitution]] known as ''trokosi'' ("[[ritual servitude]]") forcibly keeps thousands of girls and women in traditional shrines as "wives of the gods", where priests perform the sexual function in place of the gods.<ref>
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/1158115.stm Ghana's trapped slaves] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319135201/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/1158115.stm |date=19 March 2008 }}, By Humphrey Hawksley in eastern Ghana, 8 February 2001. BBC News
</ref>

In April 2014, [[Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping|Boko Haram kidnapped]] 276 female students from [[Chibok]], Borno, a state of Nigeria. More than 50 of them soon escaped, but the remainder have not been released. Instead, [[Abubakar Shekau]], who had a reward of $7 million offered by the [[United States Department of State]] for information leading to his capture, announced his intention of selling them into [[slavery]].

===Americas===
{{Main|Sex trafficking in the United States}}
The ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' reported in 2006 that in the 21st century, women, mostly from [[South America]], Southeast Asia, and the former Soviet Union, are [[Human trafficking in the United States|trafficked into the United States]] for the purposes of sexual slavery.<ref>
May, Meredith. "[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/06/MNGR1LGUQ41.DTL Sex Trafficking FIRST OF A FOUR PART SPECIAL REPORT] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522212825/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2006%2F10%2F06%2FMNGR1LGUQ41.DTL |date=22 May 2012 }}." ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''. 6 October 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
</ref> A 2006 [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] story stated that, contrary to existing misconceptions, American citizens may also be coerced into sex slavery.<ref name="TeenGirls2006">
{{cite news |title=Teen Girls' Stories of Sex Trafficking in U.S. |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=9 February 2006 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1596778&page=1 |access-date=19 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901171602/https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1596778&page=1 |archive-date=1 September 2009 |url-status=live}}
</ref>

The [[San Francisco Gate]] reported that San Francisco is one of the centers of sexual slavery in the United States. Most of the victims trafficked in San Francisco are women from [[East Asia]], with women of Korean descent being particularly over-represented among the victims. There is extremely high demand for women of East Asian descent in the sex industry in the United States. In one case, all 100 women detained at a massage parlor in San Francisco were Korean. According to San Francisco police, the number of Asian massage parlors in San Francisco increased by 100% between the years 2004 and 2006, owing to the extreme profitability of the industry. The report described a sense of urgency among San Francisco authorities regarding the widespread trafficking of East Asian immigrant women.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SEX TRAFFICKING / San Francisco Is A Major Center For International Crime Networks That Smuggle And Enslave / FIRST OF A FOUR PART SPECIAL REPORT |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/SEX-TRAFFICKING-San-Francisco-Is-A-Major-Center-2468554.php |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=sfgate.com |date=6 October 2006 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2001 the United States State Department estimated that 50,000 to 100,000 women and girls are trafficked each year into the United States. In 2003, the State Department report estimated that a total of 18,000 to 20,000 individuals were trafficked into the United States for either forced labor or sexual exploitation. The June 2004 report estimated the total trafficked annually at between 14,500 and 17,500.<ref>
{{Cite journal |author=Nathan Heller |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2120331/ |title=The Times' sex slaves story, revisited |journal=Slate |access-date=8 July 2012 |date=2005-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816133509/http://www.slate.com/id/2120331/ |archive-date=16 August 2011 |url-status=live}}
</ref> The Bush administration set up 42 Justice Department task forces and spent more than $150 million on attempts to reduce human trafficking. However, in the seven years since the law was passed, the administration has identified only 1,362 victims of human trafficking brought into the United States since 2000, nowhere near the 50,000 or more per year the government had estimated.<ref>
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201401_pf.html Human Trafficking Evokes Outrage, Little Evidence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527065343/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201401_pf.html |date=27 May 2017 }}. ''The Washington Post''. (22 September 2007). Retrieved 2011-03-08.
</ref>

The Girl's Education & Mentoring Services (GEMS), an organization based in New York, claims that the majority of girls in the sex trade were abused as children. Poverty and a lack of education play major roles in the lives of many women in the sex industry.

According to a report conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, anywhere from 100,000 up to 300,000 American children at any given time may be at risk of exploitation due to factors such as drug use, homelessness, or other factors connected with increased risk for commercial sexual exploitation.<ref name="penn">
[http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/~restes/CSEC_Files/Exec_Sum_020220.pdf Microsoft Word – Exec_Sum_020220.doc] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002000344/http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/~restes/CSEC_Files/Exec_Sum_020220.pdf |date=2 October 2008 }} . (PDF). Retrieved 8 March 2011.
</ref> However, the report emphasized, "The numbers presented in these exhibits do not, therefore, reflect the actual number of cases of CSEC in the United States but, rather, what we estimate to be the number of children 'at risk' of commercial sexual exploitation."<ref name="penn"/>

The 2010 Trafficking in Persons report described the United States as, "a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor, debt bondage, and forced prostitution".<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617173933/http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/142761.htm Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 Country Narratives – Countries N Through Z]". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
</ref> Sexual slavery in the United States may occur in multiple forms and in multiple venues. Sex trafficking in the United States may be present in Asian [[massage parlors]], Mexican [[cantina]] bars, residential brothels, or street-based [[pimp]]-controlled prostitution. The anti-trafficking community in the United States is debating the extent of sexual slavery. Some groups argue that exploitation is inherent in the act of [[commercial sex]], while other groups take a stricter approach to defining sexual slavery, considering an element of force, fraud or coercion to be necessary for sex slavery to exist.

The prostitutes in illegal massage parlors may be forced to work out of apartment complexes for many hours a day.<ref name="May2010" /> Many clients may not realize that some of the women who work in these massage sex parlors have actually been forced into prostitution.<ref name="May2010" /> The women may initially be lured into the US under false pretenses. In huge debt to their 'owners', they are forced to earn enough to eventually "buy" their freedom.<ref name="May2010">
{{cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/10/MNGN9LFHRO1.DTL | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | title=Diary of a sex slave / Last in a four-part special report / Free, but trapped / In San Francisco, You Mi begins to put her life back together – but the cost is high | author=Meredith May | date=24 August 2010 | access-date=4 March 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622043001/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2006%2F10%2F10%2FMNGN9LFHRO1.DTL | archive-date=22 June 2012 | url-status=live}}
</ref> In some cases women who have been sex trafficked may be forced to undergo plastic surgery or abortions.<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20060424_sex_slavery_ms_magazine|title=Greed, Sex Slavery and Forced Abortions—Made in the USA|date=24 April 2006|work=Truthdig|access-date=30 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113845/http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20060424_sex_slavery_ms_magazine|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead }}
</ref> A chapter in ''The Slave Next Door'' (2009) reports that human trafficking and sexual enslavement are not limited to any specific location or social class. It concludes that individuals in society need to be alert to report suspicious behavior, because the psychological and physical abuse occurs which can often leave a victim unable to escape on their own.<ref>Bales, Kevin and Ron Soodalter. ''The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009</ref>

In 2000 Congress created the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act with tougher punishments for sex traffickers. It provides for the possibility for former sex slaves to obtain a T-1 visa.<ref name="May2010" /> To obtain the visa women must, "prove they were enslaved by 'force, fraud or coercion'."<ref name="May2010" /> The visa allows former victims of sex trafficking to stay in the United States for 3 years and then apply for a green card.<ref name="May2010" />

The [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS) has been suspected of trafficking girls across state lines, as well as across the US–Canada<ref name=ctv/> and US–Mexico borders,<ref>
Moore-Emmett, Andrea (27 July 2010). [http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/07/27/polygamist-warren-jeffs-can-now-marry-off-underaged-girls-with-impunity/ "Polygamist Warren Jeffs Can Now Marry Off Underaged Girls With Impunity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502233139/http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/07/27/polygamist-warren-jeffs-can-now-marry-off-underaged-girls-with-impunity/ |date=2 May 2012 }}. ''Ms. blog''. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
</ref> for the purpose of sometimes involuntary [[plural marriage]] and sexual abuse.<ref name=globe>{{cite news|author=Robert Matas|title=Where 'the handsome ones go to the leaders'|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=30 March 2009}}</ref> The FLDS is suspected by the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] of having trafficked more than 30 under-age girls from Canada to the United States between the late 1990s and 2006 to be entered into polygamous marriages.<ref name=ctv>{{cite news|title=Dozens of girls may have been trafficked to U.S. to marry|access-date=9 December 2012|newspaper=CTV News|date=11 August 2011| url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/dozens-of-girls-may-have-been-trafficked-to-u-s-to-marry-1.682043 }}</ref> RCMP spokesman Dan Moskaluk said of the FLDS's activities: "In essence, it's human trafficking in connection with illicit sexual activity."<ref name=sanangelo>{{cite news|author=Matthew Waller|title=FLDS may see more charges: International sex trafficking suspected|newspaper=[[San Angelo Standard-Times]]|date=25 November 2011}}</ref> According to the ''[[Vancouver Sun]],'' it's unclear whether or not Canada's anti-human trafficking statute can be effectively applied against the FLDS's pre-2005 activities, because the statute may not be able to be applied retroactively.<ref name=vsun>{{cite news|author=D Bramham |title=Bountiful parents delivered 12-year-old girls to arranged weddings |url=http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=68d7a9d0-e12e-4979-b597-30248b4028d0 |newspaper=The Vancouver Sun |date=19 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226140931/http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=68d7a9d0-e12e-4979-b597-30248b4028d0 |archive-date=26 December 2015 }}</ref> An earlier three-year-long investigation by local authorities in British Columbia into allegations of sexual abuse, human trafficking, and forced marriages by the FLDS resulted in no charges, but did result in legislative change.<ref name=hb>{{cite news|author=Martha Mendoza|title=FLDS in Canada may face arrests soon|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-16492427.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508124642/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-16492427.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 May 2013|access-date=9 December 2012|newspaper=Deseret News|date=15 May 2008}}</ref> Former FLDS members have also alleged that children belonging to the sect were forced to perform sexual acts as children upon older men while being unable to leave. This has been described by numerous former members as sexual slavery, and was reported as such by the ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]''.<ref name=Telegraph>
{{cite news|author=Julian Comman|title=Three wives will guarantee you a place in paradise. The Taliban? No: welcome to the rebel Mormons|access-date=9 December 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=19 October 2003|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1444578/Three-wives-will-guarantee-you-a-place-in-paradise.-The-Taliban-No-welcome-to-the-rebel-Mormons.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110031910/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1444578/Three-wives-will-guarantee-you-a-place-in-paradise.-The-Taliban-No-welcome-to-the-rebel-Mormons.html|archive-date=10 November 2012|url-status=live}}
</ref><ref name=SMH/> One former resident of [[Yearning for Zion]], Kathleen Mackert, stated: "I was required to perform oral sex on my father when I was seven, and it escalated from there."<ref name=SMH>{{cite news|author=Ian Munro|title=Grim tales surface of sect's sex slavery|access-date=9 December 2012|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=12 April 2008|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/world/grim-tales-surface-of-sects-sex-slavery/2008/04/11/1207856831642.html}}</ref>

===Asia===
====Central and West Asia====
{{See also|History of slavery#ISIL slave trade|Human rights in ISIL-controlled territory#Slave trade|Genocide of Yazidis by ISIL#Sexual slavery|Sexual jihad|Sexual violence in the Iraqi insurgency|Slavery in 21st-century Islamism}}

The Trafficking in Persons Report of 2007 from the US Department of State says that sexual slavery exists in the [[Persian Gulf]], where women and children may be trafficked from the [[post-Soviet states]], Eastern Europe, [[Far East]], Africa, [[South Asia]] or other parts [[Middle East]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100608.htm |title=United Arab Emirates - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2007 |date=March 11, 2008 |website= US Department of State |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230829152306/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100608.htm |archive-date= Aug 29, 2023 }}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/82807.htm |title=Trafficking in Persons Report: Country Narratives -- Countries Q through Z |date=12 June 2007 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |access-date=8 July 2012}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2004/33195.htm |title=Country Narratives: Near East |publisher=US Department of State |access-date=25 June 2017}}
</ref> There are reports of Saudi royal family members sexually abusing people.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/saudiarabia0708/5.htm | title="As if I Am Not Human": Abuses against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia: V. Forced Labor, Trafficking, Slavery, and Slavery-like Conditions }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gulfinstitute.org/2013/11/12/new-map-depicts-human-trafficking-cases-by-the-saudi-ruling-family/ | title=New Map Depicts Human Trafficking Cases by the Saudi Ruling Family | date=12 November 2013 }}</ref>

According to media reports from late 2014 the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL) was [[Slavery in 21st-century Islamism#By ISIS|selling Yazidis and Christian women as slaves]].<ref>
Fiona Keating, [http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iraq-slave-markets-sell-women-10-attract-isis-recruits-1468506 "Iraq Slave Markets Sell Women for $10 to Attract Isis Recruits"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110084401/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iraq-slave-markets-sell-women-10-attract-isis-recruits-1468506 |date=10 November 2014 }}, ''[[International Business Times]]'', 4 October 2014.
</ref><ref>
Samuel Smith, [http://www.christianpost.com/news/un-report-on-isis-24000-killed-injured-by-islamic-state-children-used-as-soldiers-women-sold-as-sex-slaves-127761/ "UN Report on ISIS: 24,000 Killed, Injured by Islamic State; Children Used as Soldiers, Women Sold as Sex Slaves"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017044402/http://www.christianpost.com/news/un-report-on-isis-24000-killed-injured-by-islamic-state-children-used-as-soldiers-women-sold-as-sex-slaves-127761/ |date=17 October 2014 }}, ''[[The Christian Post]]'', 9 October 2014.
</ref> According to Haleh Esfandiari of the [[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars]], after ISIL militants have captured an area "[t]hey usually take the older women to a makeshift slave market and try to sell them."<ref>
{{cite news|last1=Brekke|first1=Kira|title=ISIS Is Attacking Women, And Nobody Is Talking About It|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/08/isis-attacks-on-women_n_5775106.html?cps=gravity|access-date=11 September 2014|work=HuffPost|date=8 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912003756/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/08/isis-attacks-on-women_n_5775106.html?cps=gravity|archive-date=12 September 2014|url-status=live}}
</ref> In mid-October 2014 the U.N. estimated that 5,000 to 7,000 Yazidi women and children were abducted by ISIL and sold into slavery.<ref>
Richard Spencer, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11160906/Isil-carried-out-massacres-and-mass-sexual-enslavement-of-Yazidis-UN-confirms.html "Isil carried out massacres and mass sexual enslavement of Yazidis, UN confirms,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113042653/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11160906/Isil-carried-out-massacres-and-mass-sexual-enslavement-of-Yazidis-UN-confirms.html |date=13 November 2014 }} ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 14 October 2014
</ref>

In the digital magazine ''[[Dabiq (magazine)|Dabiq]]'', ISIL claimed religious justification for enslaving [[Yazidi]] women whom they consider to be from a heretical sect. ISIL claimed that the Yazidi are idol worshipers and their enslavement part of the old [[shariah]] practice of [[Wartime sexual violence|spoils of war]].<ref>
[[Reuters]], [http://www.newsweek.com/islamic-state-seeks-justify-enslaving-yazidi-women-and-girls-iraq-277100 "Islamic State Seeks to Justify Enslaving Yazidi Women and Girls in Iraq,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101221822/http://www.newsweek.com/islamic-state-seeks-justify-enslaving-yazidi-women-and-girls-iraq-277100 |date=1 November 2014 }} ''[[Newsweek]]'', 13 October 2014
</ref><ref>
Athena Yenko, [http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/569402/20141013/islamic-state-dabiq-magazine-isis-slavery.htm#.VD7r9EnD_Gg "Judgment Day Justifies Sex Slavery Of Women – ISIS Out With Its 4th Edition Of Dabiq Magazine,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101063549/http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/569402/20141013/islamic-state-dabiq-magazine-isis-slavery.htm#.VD7r9EnD_Gg |date=1 January 2015 }}  ''[[International Business Times]]-Australia'', 13 October 2014
</ref><ref>
Allen McDuffee, [https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/isis-confirms-and-justifies-enslaving-yazidis-in-new-magazine-article/381394/ "ISIS Is Now Bragging About Enslaving Women and Children,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830060025/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/isis-confirms-and-justifies-enslaving-yazidis-in-new-magazine-article/381394/ |date=30 August 2017 }} ''[[The Atlantic]]'', 13 October 2014
</ref><ref>
Salma Abdelaziz, [http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/world/meast/isis-justification-slavery/ "ISIS states its justification for the enslavement of women,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621204748/http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/world/meast/isis-justification-slavery |date=21 June 2017 }} [[CNN]], 13 October 2014
</ref><ref>
Richard Spencer, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11158797/Thousands-of-Yazidi-women-sold-as-sex-slaves-for-theological-reasons-says-Isil.html "Thousands of Yazidi women sold as sex slaves 'for theological reasons', says Isil,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409195532/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11158797/Thousands-of-Yazidi-women-sold-as-sex-slaves-for-theological-reasons-says-Isil.html |date=9 April 2018 }} ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 13 October 2014.
</ref> ISIL appealed to [[Islamic eschatology|apocalyptic beliefs]] and "claimed justification by a Hadith that they interpret as portraying the revival of slavery as a precursor to the end of the world."<ref>
Nour Malas, [https://online.wsj.com/articles/ancient-prophecies-motivate-islamic-state-militants-1416357441 "Ancient Prophecies Motivate Islamic State Militants: Battlefield Strategies Driven by 1,400-year-old Apocalyptic Ideas,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122235410/http://online.wsj.com/articles/ancient-prophecies-motivate-islamic-state-militants-1416357441 |date=22 November 2014 }} ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', 18 November 2014 (accessed 22 November 2014)
</ref> In late September 2014, 126 Islamic scholars from around the Muslim world signed an [[open letter]] to the Islamic State's leader [[Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi]], rejecting his group's interpretations of the [[Quran|Qur'an]] and [[hadith]] to justify its actions.<ref>
{{cite news|title=Muslim Scholars Release Open Letter to Islamic State Meticulously Blasting Its Ideology|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/muslim-scholars-islamic-state_n_5878038.html|work=HuffPost|date=24 September 2013|author=Lauren Markoe|agency=Religious News Service|access-date=25 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925115145/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/muslim-scholars-islamic-state_n_5878038.html|archive-date=25 September 2014|url-status=live}}
</ref><ref name=christianpost-2014-09-25>{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Samuel|title=International Coalition of Muslim Scholars Refute ISIS' Religious Arguments in Open Letter to al-Baghdadi|url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/international-coalition-of-muslim-scholars-refute-isis-religious-arguments-in-open-letter-to-al-baghdadi-127032/|access-date=18 October 2014|work=[[The Christian Post]]|date=25 September 2014}}</ref> The letter accuses the group of instigating [[fitna (word)|fitna]]—sedition—by instituting slavery under its rule in contravention of the [[Islamic views on slavery#Modern interpretations|anti-slavery consensus]] of the [[ulama|Islamic scholarly community]].<ref name=OpenLetToAlBagh>{{cite web|title=Open Letter to Al-Baghdadi |url=http://lettertobaghdadi.com/index.php |date=September 2014 |access-date=25 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925193528/http://lettertobaghdadi.com/index.php |archive-date=25 September 2014 }}</ref> In late 2014 ISIL released a pamphlet on the treatment of female slaves.<ref>
Amelia Smith (12 September 2014), [http://www.newsweek.com/isis-release-questions-and-answers-pamphlet-how-treat-female-slaves-290511 "ISIS Publish Pamphlet On How to Treat Female Slaves,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216011011/http://www.newsweek.com/isis-release-questions-and-answers-pamphlet-how-treat-female-slaves-290511 |date=16 December 2014 }} ''[[Newsweek]]''
</ref><ref>
Greg Botelho (13 December 2014), [http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/12/world/meast/isis-justification-female-slaves/ "ISIS: Enslaving, having sex with 'unbelieving' women, girls is OK,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216004620/http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/12/world/meast/isis-justification-female-slaves/ |date=16 December 2014 }} [[CNN]]
</ref><ref>
Katharine Lackey (13 December 2014), [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/13/pamphlet-islamic-state-guidelines-sex-slaves/20359049/ "Pamphlet provides Islamic State guidelines for sex slaves,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921000131/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/13/pamphlet-islamic-state-guidelines-sex-slaves/20359049/ |date=21 September 2017 }} ''[[USA Today]]''
</ref><ref>
Carey Lodge (15 December 2014), [http://www.christiantoday.com/article/islamic.state.issues.abhorrent.sex.slavery.guidelines.about.how.to.treat.women/44435.htm "Islamic State issues abhorrent sex slavery guidelines about how to treat women,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216005105/http://www.christiantoday.com/article/islamic.state.issues.abhorrent.sex.slavery.guidelines.about.how.to.treat.women/44435.htm |date=16 December 2014 }},''[[Christianity Today]]''
</ref><ref>
Adam Withnall (10 December 2014), [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-releases-abhorrent-sex-slaves-pamphlet-with-27-tips-for-militants-on-taking-punishing-and-raping-female-captives-9915913.html "Isis releases 'abhorrent' sex slaves pamphlet with 27 tips for militants on taking, punishing and raping female captives,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925193544/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-releases-abhorrent-sex-slaves-pamphlet-with-27-tips-for-militants-on-taking-punishing-and-raping-female-captives-9915913.html |date=25 September 2015 }} ''[[The Independent]]''
</ref> In January 2015, further rules for sex slaves were announced.<ref>
{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-islamic-state-sexslaves-exclusive-idUSKBN0UC0AO20151229|title=Exclusive: Islamic State ruling aims to settle who can have sex with female slaves|author1=Jonathan Landay, Warren Strobel|author2=Phil Stewart|name-list-style=amp|date=29 December 2015|work=Reuters|access-date=2 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623210953/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-islamic-state-sexslaves-exclusive-idUSKBN0UC0AO20151229|archive-date=23 June 2017|url-status=live}}
</ref>

Selling women and children still occurs in the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndr.de/der_ndr/presse/mitteilungen/NDR-und-SWR-Terrorgruppe-IS-verdient-Millionen-durch-Loesegelder-fuer-jesidische-Sklavinnen-und-deren-Kinder,pressemeldungndr16578.html|title=NDR und SWR: Terrorgruppe IS verdient Millionen durch Lösegelder für jesidische Sklavinnen und deren Kinder|last=NDR|website=ndr.de|access-date=2016-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414143137/https://www.ndr.de/der_ndr/presse/mitteilungen/NDR-und-SWR-Terrorgruppe-IS-verdient-Millionen-durch-Loesegelder-fuer-jesidische-Sklavinnen-und-deren-Kinder,pressemeldungndr16578.html|archive-date=14 April 2016|url-status=live}}
</ref> Yazidi women have also reported being raped and used as sexual slave by members of ISIS. In November 2015 it was reported that "around 2,000 women and girls are still being bought and sold in ISIS-controlled areas. The young become sex slaves and older women are beaten and used as house slaves, according to survivors and accounts from ISIS militants".<ref>
{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-uncovered/yazidi-women-tell-rape-enslavement-hands-isis-n462091|title=ISIS Sells Women 'for Just $10, or 10 Cigarettes'|date=30 November 2015 |publisher=NBC News|access-date=2016-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401092457/http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-uncovered/yazidi-women-tell-rape-enslavement-hands-isis-n462091|archive-date=1 April 2016|url-status=live}}
</ref>

Children have been used in the Persian Gulf as camel jockies. Most children are trafficked from Africa and South Asia. This practice has ceased in most areas though.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/uae-defies-ban-on-child-camel-jockeys-1914915.html | title=UAE defies ban on child camel jockeys | website=[[Independent.co.uk]] | date=3 March 2010 }}</ref>

====South Asia====
In 2006 the [[Ministry of Women and Child Development]] estimated that there are around 2.8 million [[sex worker]]s in India, with 35 percent of them entering the trade before the age of 18 years.<ref>
[http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=86159 Around 2.8 mn prostitutes in India] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091023190945/http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=86159 |date=23 October 2009 }} ''[[The Indian Express]]'', 8 May 2007.
</ref><ref>
{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7376762.stm |title=BBC report on number of female sex workers in India |work=BBC News |date=1 May 2008 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304234403/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7376762.stm |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live}}
</ref> The number of prostitutes has also doubled in the recent decade.<ref>
{{cite news |author=Upasana Bhat |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/5140526.stm |title=Prostitution 'increases' in India |work=BBC News |date=3 July 2006 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909005740/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/5140526.stm |archive-date=9 September 2009 |url-status=live}}
</ref> One news article states that an estimated 200,000 [[Nepal]]ese girls have been trafficked to red light areas of India.<ref>
{{cite news |date=15 February 2009 |title=Over 200,000 Nepali girls being trafficked to Indian red light areas |edition=English Xinhua |agency=Xinhua News Agency |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/15/content_10821971.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104165101/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/15/content_10821971.htm |archive-date=4 November 2012}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=India |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/India.htm |website=www.hrw.org}}</ref> One report estimates that every year between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into the red-light districts in Indian cities, and that many of the girls may only be 9 or 10 years old.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/india.htm |title=India – Facts on Trafficking and Prostitution |publisher=Uri.edu |access-date=8 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624061509/http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/india.htm |archive-date=24 June 2012}}</ref>

In January 2010, the Supreme Court of India stated that India is "becoming a hub" for large-scale child prostitution rackets. It suggested setting up of a special investigating agency to tackle the growing problem.<ref name="Indiabecoming2010">
{{cite news |date=29 January 2010 |title=India becoming a hub of child prostitution: SC |work=The Times of India |agency=PTI |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-becoming-a-hub-of-child-prostitution-SC/articleshow/5513771.cms |url-status=live |access-date=29 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201011427/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-becoming-a-hub-of-child-prostitution-SC/articleshow/5513771.cms |archive-date=1 February 2010}}
</ref> An article about the Rescue Foundation in ''New Internationalist'' magazine states that "according to Save the Children India, clients now prefer 10- to 12-year-old girls". The same article attributes the rising number of prostitutes believed to have contracted [[HIV]] in India's brothels as a factor in India becoming the country with the second-largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world, behind South Africa.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.newint.org/columns/makingwaves/2006/06/02/rescue-foundation/ |title=The Rescue Foundation – New Internationalist |publisher=Newint.org |access-date=8 July 2012 |date=2006-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021235449/http://www.newint.org/columns/makingwaves/2006/06/02/rescue-foundation/ |archive-date=21 October 2012 |url-status=live}}
</ref>

In Pakistan, young girls have been sold by their families to big-city brothel owners. Often this happens due to poverty or debt, whereby the family has no other way to raise the money than to sell the young girl.<ref name="Bushell">
{{cite web | url=http://www.ipoaa.com/pakistan_slave_trade.htm | title=PAKISTAN'S SLAVE TRADE:Afghan refugees sold into prostitution; indentured servitude flourishes;scenes from a slave auction | author=Andrew Bushell | access-date=28 March 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411054312/http://www.ipoaa.com/pakistan_slave_trade.htm | archive-date=11 April 2008 | url-status=live}}
</ref> Cases have also been reported where wives and sisters have been sold to brothels to raise money for gambling, drinking or drug addictions. Sex slaves are reportedly also bought by 'agents' in [[Afghanistan]] who trick young girls into coming to Pakistan for well-paying jobs. Once in Pakistan they are taken to brothels (called ''kharabat'') and forced into sexual slavery, some for many years.<ref>
Donald G. McNeil Jr. (1 August 2007) [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/world/asia/01hiv.html Sex Slaves Returning Home Raise AIDS Risks, Study Says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806024702/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/world/asia/01hiv.html |date=6 August 2017 }}, ''New York Times''
</ref> Beardless young boys in Afghanistan may be sold as [[bacha bazi]] for use in dancing and prostitution ([[pederasty]]), and are sometimes valued in tens of thousands of dollars.<ref>
{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2012/04/09/afghanistans_dancing_boys_are_invisible_victims.html|title=Afghanistan's 'dancing boys' are invisible victims|work=Toronto Star|date=9 April 2012|access-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806061301/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2012/04/09/afghanistans_dancing_boys_are_invisible_victims.html|archive-date=6 August 2017|url-status=live}}
</ref>

====East and Southeast Asia====
{{See also|Sexual slavery in China}}
In Thailand, the Health System Research Institute reported in 2005 that children in prostitution make up 40% of Thailand's prostitutes.<ref name="unicri.it"/> It said that a proportion of prostitutes over the age of 18, including foreign nationals mostly from [[Myanmar]], China's [[Yunnan]] province, [[Laos]] and Cambodia, are also in some state of forced sexual servitude.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicri.it/wwd/trafficking/minors/countries.php |title=UNICRI Trafficking in Minors, Report on Thailand 2005 |access-date=2005-06-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024072431/http://www.unicri.it/wwd/trafficking/minors/countries.php |archive-date=24 October 2005 }}</ref> In 1996, the police in Bangkok estimated that there were at least 5,000 Russian prostitutes working in Thailand, many of whom had arrived through networks controlled by Russian gangs.<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.asiapacificms.com/articles/russian_mafia/|title=The Russian Mafia in Asia - Asia Pacific Media Service|publisher=Asiapacificms.com|author=Bertil Lintner|date=3 February 1996|access-date=2 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130912064633/http://www.asiapacificms.com/articles/russian_mafia/|archive-date=12 September 2013|url-status=live}}
</ref> The Tourism Police Bureau in 1997 stated that there were 500 Chinese and 200 European women in prostitution in Bangkok, many of whom entered Thailand illegally, often through Burma and Laos. Earlier reports, however, suggest different figures. (Police Colonel Sanit Meephan, deputy chief of Tourism Police Bureau, "Thailand popular haunt for foreign prostitutes", ''The Nation'', 15 January 1997)

Part of the challenge in quantifying and eliminating sexual slavery in Thailand and Asia generally is the high rate of police corruption in the region. There are documented cases where Thai and other area law enforcement officials worked with human traffickers, even to the extent of returning escaped child sex slaves to brothels.<ref name="My Name Lon">{{cite book|last1=Sharron|first1=Derek|title=My Name Lon - You Like Me?|date=2005|publisher=Bangkok Book House|location=Bangkok, Thailand|isbn=978-974-92721-5-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mynamelonyoulike00dere/page/61 61...62]|edition=3rd 2005|url=https://archive.org/details/mynamelonyoulike00dere/page/61}}</ref>

Ethnic [[Rohingya]] women are kidnapped by Myanmar military and used as sex slaves.<ref>
Dhaka Tribune Adil Sakhawat Published at 01:20 AM 13 January 2017 [http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2017/01/13/survivors-claim-myanmar-army-taking-away-young-rohingya-women-sex-slaves/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810132432/http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2017/01/13/survivors-claim-myanmar-army-taking-away-young-rohingya-women-sex-slaves/|date=10 August 2017}}
</ref> Many Rohingya women were detained at a human trafficking syndicate transit camp in Padang Besar, Thailand, and treated like sex slaves.<ref>
NEWS MALAYSIA Rohingya women migrants used as sex slaves [http://womeninmigration.org/2015/06/rohingya-women-migrants-sexual-violence/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810092132/http://womeninmigration.org/2015/06/rohingya-women-migrants-sexual-violence/|date=10 August 2017}}
</ref>

===Europe===
[[File:Amsterdam red light district.jpg|thumb|[[De Wallen]] red-light district in Amsterdam. Most of the trafficked girls and women come from eastern Europe.]]
In the Netherlands, the Bureau of the Dutch Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings in 2005 estimated that there are from 1,000 to 7,000 trafficking victims a year. Most police investigations relate to legal sex businesses, with all sectors of prostitution being well represented, but with window brothels being particularly overrepresented.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.bnrm.nl/search.aspx?simpleSearch=report |title=Zoeken op Bnrm English |publisher=English.bnrm.nl |access-date=8 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629151055/http://english.bnrm.nl/search.aspx?simpleSearch=report |archive-date=29 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.bnrm.nl/reports/third/index.aspx |title=third |publisher=English.bnrm.nl |date=18 September 2007 |access-date=8 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629152038/http://english.bnrm.nl/reports/third/index.aspx |archive-date=29 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.bnrm.nl/reports/fourth/index.aspx |title=fourth |publisher=English.bnrm.nl |date=18 September 2007 |access-date=8 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408140041/http://english.bnrm.nl/reports/fourth/index.aspx |archive-date=8 April 2012 }}</ref> Dutch news site Expatica reported that in 2008, there were 809 registered trafficking victims in the Netherlands; out of those 763 were women and at least 60 percent of them were reportedly forced to work in the [[sex industry]]. Of reported victims, those from Hungary were all female and all forced into prostitution.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/local_news/Increase-in-human-trafficking-in-Netherlands_49349.html |title=Increase in human trafficking in Netherlands < Dutch news {{pipe}} Expatica The Netherlands |publisher=Expatica.com |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629172452/http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/local_news/Increase-in-human-trafficking-in-Netherlands_49349.html |archive-date=29 June 2012 |url-status=live}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url=http://crossroadsmag.eu/2009/02/dutch-authorities-register-809-human-trafficking-victims/ |title=Dutch authorities register 809 human trafficking victims |publisher=Crossroadsmag.eu |access-date=8 July 2012 |date=2009-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918191924/http://www.crossroadsmag.eu/2009/02/dutch-authorities-register-809-human-trafficking-victims/ |archive-date=18 September 2015 |url-status=live}}
</ref>

In Germany, the trafficking of women from [[Eastern Europe]] is often organized by people from that same region. German authorities identified 676 sex-trafficking victims in 2008, compared with 689 in 2007.<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/eur/136033.htm |title=2009 Human Rights Report: Germany |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=11 March 2010 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113102825/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/eur/136033.htm |archive-date=13 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}
</ref> The German Federal Police Office [[Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)|BKA]] reported in 2006 a total of 357 completed investigations of human trafficking, with 775 victims. Thirty-five percent of the suspects were Germans born in Germany and 8% were German citizens born outside Germany.<ref name=bka>
[https://web.archive.org/web/20040410001529/http://www.bka.de/lageberichte/mh.html Reports on human trafficking], by the [[Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)|BKA]]. {{in lang|de}}
</ref>

In Greece, according to NGO estimates in 2008, there may be a total 13,000–14,000 trafficking victims of all types in the country at any given time. Major countries of origin for trafficking victims brought into Greece include Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Albania, Moldova, Romania and Belarus.<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119082.htm |title=2008 Human Rights Report: Greece |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=25 February 2009 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119145045/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119082.htm |archive-date=19 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}
</ref>

In Switzerland, the police estimated in 2006 that there may be between 1,500 and 3,000 victims of all types of human trafficking. The organizers and their victims generally come from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Thailand and Cambodia, and, to a lesser extent, Africa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/social_affairs/detail/Swiss_sex_industry_is_thriving.html?siteSect=201&sid=6770227&cKey=1149319826000 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120917111024/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/social_affairs/detail/Swiss_sex_industry_is_thriving.html?siteSect=201&sid=6770227&cKey=1149319826000 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 September 2012 |title=Prostitution in Switzerland is thriving, generating an annual turnover of SFr3.2 billion, say police |publisher=Swissinfo.ch |date=3 June 2006 |access-date=8 July 2012 }}</ref>

In Belgium, in 2007, prosecutors handled a total of 418 trafficking cases, including 219 economic exploitation and 168 sexual exploitation cases. In the same year, the federal judicial police handled 196 trafficking files, compared with 184 in 2006. In 2007 the police arrested 342 persons for smuggling and trafficking-related crimes.<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119070.htm |title=2008 Human Rights Report: Belgium |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=25 February 2009 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119094147/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119070.htm |archive-date=19 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}
</ref> A recent report by RiskMonitor foundation estimated that 70% of the prostitutes who work in Belgium are from Bulgaria.<ref>
{{cite web |author=Petar Kostadinov |url=http://sofiaecho.com/2009/04/07/701626_70-per-cent-of-prostitutes-in-belgium-are-from-bulgaria-report |title=70 per cent of prostitutes in Belgium are from Bulgaria – report – Bulgaria |publisher=Sofiaecho.com |date=7 April 2009 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423072938/http://sofiaecho.com/2009/04/07/701626_70-per-cent-of-prostitutes-in-belgium-are-from-bulgaria-report |archive-date=23 April 2012 |url-status=live}}
</ref>

In Austria, Vienna has the largest number of reported trafficking cases, although trafficking is also a problem in urban centers such as Graz, Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck. The NGO Lateinamerikanische Frauen in Oesterreich–Interventionsstelle fuer Betroffene des Frauenhandels (LEFOE-IBF) reported assisting 108 victims of all types of human trafficking in 2006, down from 151 in 2005.<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119067.htm |title=2008 Human Rights Report: Austria |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=25 February 2009 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113120154/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119067.htm |archive-date=13 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}
</ref>

In Spain, in 2007, officials identified 1,035 sex trafficking victims and 445 labor trafficking victims.<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119106.htm |title=2008 Human Rights Report: Spain |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=25 February 2009 |access-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119092015/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119106.htm |archive-date=19 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}
</ref>