Maltese girl among victims of sex trafficking in Malta in 2018 – US State Department
19442 Mins Read
A Maltese girl was among a number of victims of sex trafficking in Malta last year, according to the Trafficking in Persons report by the US State Department, published on Friday.
Police identified 23 foreign trafficking victims and one Maltese victim, compared to 30 foreign victims in the previous reporting period, the report says.
Sixteen of the forced labour victims were male and six were female.
Forced labour victims included 17 Filipinos (13 from a single case), three Mauritians, one Nepali, and one Pakistani.
The report says that the Maltese police’s vice squad, which is responsible for investigating trafficking, conducted three probes in 2018, compared to seven in 2017.
Police also conducted seven investigations for illegal prostitution in massage parlours, but they found no evidence of trafficking.
Sex trafficking victims included one Moldovan woman and one Maltese girl—the first government-identified child victim to date.
The report recommended that Malta vigorously and expeditiously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, including convicting traffickers and sentencing convicted traffickers to significant prison terms. It also urged Malta to increase efforts and training of relevant staff and officials to proactively identify trafficking victims among vulnerable immigrant populations, particularly migrant workers and women in prostitution.
Another recommendation was for improvement in coordination efforts among ministries to effectively implement the national action plan. It also recommended an improvement of license control for massage parlours.
The Parliamentary Secretariat for Reforms, Citizenship and Simplification of Administrative Processes said the TIP report noted “the country’s successful efforts to prosecute more traffickers, facilitate and fast-track the support granted by the state to the victims and increase awareness about human trafficking.”
Although Malta is not yet a Tier 1 country, the TIP report recognised Malta’s continued improvements in its approach towards human trafficking, it said.
“The Parliamentary Secretariat positively welcomes this report and notes its recommendations to introduce regulation to combat sexual exploitation within massage parlours and expedite the investigation, prosecution and conviction of traffickers.
“[The secretariat] notes [the report’s] recommendations to introduce regulation to combat sexual exploitation within massage parlours and expedite the investigation, prosecution and conviction of traffickers,” read the statement.
It said that the two issues were addressed in the government’s consultation document, which it said would be launched in the coming weeks.
The consultation process will be the first step towards the creation of a “holistic national strategy against human trafficking”.
A nation-wide education campaign about human trafficking will also be launched in the same period.
