Every year, thousands of women and girls fall into the hands of traffickers in their country of origin, on their way to Europe, within the European Union (EU) or during several phases of their migration journey. Given the underground nature of the criminal networks and poor data collection systems, the actual number of victims is difficult to assess and is likely to be underestimated. According to available EU data, the majority of human trafficking victims are still women and girls, with three-quarters of registered victims being female. Women and girls are primarily trafficked for sexual exploitation purposes.
