This publication presents the first report at the EU level on statistics on trafficking in human beings. It
includes data for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. The EU and its Member States have selected trafficking
in human beings as one of the priority areas in the fight against organised crime. This resulted in the
adoption by the Council and the European Parliament of Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and
combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims and the adoption by the Commission on
19 June 2012 of the EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012–2016,
endorsed via Council Conclusions by the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 25 October 2012.