The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss centre records almost 300 victims of human trafficking

Nearly 300 victims of human trafficking in Switzerland
Exploitation linked to the sex trade plays an important role in trafficking in Switzerland. Keystone-SDA

Last year, 208 victims contacted the specialist unit FIZ Advocacy and Support for Migrant Women and Victims of Trafficking. For 59 others, an examination is underway or is not possible due to a loss of contact.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The FIZ annual report, published on Monday, showed that the number of trafficking victims supported by organisation fell by around 13% in 2024 compared with the previous year (230).

Exploitation linked to the sex trade plays an important role in trafficking. Of the 208 victims treated, FIZ identified 159 as victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.

+ A series on nannies and human trafficking in Switzerland

Another 45 were exploited to work in other jobs. Four were victims of other forms of trafficking, such as forced marriages, illegal activities, begging or organ removals, according to FIZ.

Demand for secure accommodation

Most of the people newly admitted to the centre’s protection programme for victims of human trafficking in 2024 were from Hungary (20 people), Romania (10) and Colombia (9).

More

However, demand for refuge for victims has risen sharply. The centre housed 51 people in safe accommodation. They spent a total of 5,677 nights there, 19% more than the previous year. To cope with the increased need, a new sheltered flat was opened in 2024, the eighth in total.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. 

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

40 years of the Schengen Area: a Europe without internal borders

More

Schengen Area marks 40-year anniversary

This content was published on In 1985, five European states laid the foundations for a common area without border controls. Switzerland joined in 2008.

Read more: Schengen Area marks 40-year anniversary

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR