Portugal recorded more than 550 crimes of trafficking in persons in the last 12 years
In the last 12 years, Portuguese authorities have detained 20 people and registered 556 crimes of trafficking in human beings, most of which were registered in the districts of Lisbon and Beja, according to a bulletin from the Observatório do Tráfico de Seres Humanos (OTSH).
The bulletin “Trafficking in Persons: Statistics of Justice 2008-2020”, prepared by OTSH in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Justice Policy, states that trafficking in persons represents 0.3% of total crimes against freedom. registered staff in Portugal in 12 years. According to the document, the districts of Lisbon and Beja were those that recorded the highest number of crimes of trafficking in human beings between 2008 and 2020, accounting for 70 and 32 respectively.
The year in which the most det-type crimes were recorded was 2019, with 58.
“Between 2009-2012, there is an annual downward trend in the number of crimes recorded by police authorities. Between 2013 and 2015, there is an annual increase. With a fall recorded between 2016-2017 and between 2018-2019 the number Those registered once again show an increase, with 2019 being the most representative with 81 registered crimes”, reads the document, which indicates 2020 as the year with the fewest crimes of trafficking in persons and which accounts for “a further decrease compared to the same period last year”. (-40 crimes)”.
The observatory reveals that, between 2008-2020, there were a total of 52 crimes in the trial phase of the cases found in the first instance of the crime of trafficking in persons and 234 defendants. Most of the defendants had Portuguese nationality and were men.
It is also known that 126 of the defendants were convicted, during that period, in criminal proceedings found in the first instance for the crime of trafficking in persons, 63 of which were effectively in prison and 44 in suspended sentences with probation, and 87 were acquitted. for “lack of evidence”.