“Trafficking for criminal exploitation is a growing trend across State Parties to the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention, with criminal networks increasingly recruiting children via online platforms, gaming sites and social media,” stated Conny Rijken, President of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), speaking at the 26th Conference of the OSCE Alliance against Trafficking in Persons. Titled “The Rise of Forced Criminality: Addressing a Security Blind Spot”, the conference took place in Vienna on 20-21 April 2026.
Addressing the panel “Charting the Way Forward: Turning Insight into Impact”, GRETA’s President underscored the importance of early victim identification, as required by Article 10 of the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention, which is a precondition for applying the non-punishment principle.
“Trafficking for the purpose of exploitation in criminal activities is directly related to the application of the non-punishment provision, enshrined in Article 26 of the Anti-Trafficking Convention,” noted GRETA’s President. Under this provision, Parties shall provide for the possibility of not imposing penalties on victims of trafficking in human beings for their involvement in unlawful activities, to the extent that they have been compelled to do so.
“The adoption of specific non-punishment provisions in national law has accelerated in response to GRETA’s recommendations, with 22 out of 47 countries evaluated by GRETA having adopted such a provision. Nevertheless, legislative measures alone are not sufficient; they must be supported by a comprehensive strategy including guidance and training for law enforcement officers, judges and prosecutors”, concluded Conny Rijken.
These issues were also discussed during a side-event entitled “Identification and non-punishment of victims of human trafficking in complex cases, including in detention settings and financially exploitative schemes”, co-organised by the Council of Europe and the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), on 20 April.
Another side-event, “Beyond the Crime: Mental Health and Psychosocial Impacts of Trafficking for Forced Criminality”, co-organised by IOM and the Ministry of Migration and Asylum of Greece, included as a panellist Petya Nestorova, Executive Secretary of GRETA. In her presentation, she referred to a recent report prepared with the support of the Council of Europe by the Serbian NGO Atina, titled “From trauma to testimony: Guidelines for psychological support to trafficking survivors in criminal investigations and court proceedings.”
