Financial Investigations

Trafficking in human beings is at its core a financially motivated crime. Nevertheless, one of the areas least explored and understood in the trafficking process is the profit generated by human trafficking and the financial investments of traffickers. 

Financial investigations, which bring together private and public sector actors, constitute one of the most promising anti-trafficking tools, supporting the identification of trafficking victims and perpetrators, and contributing to investigations and prosecutions. This, in turn, undermines the perception among criminal actors that human trafficking is a high-profit and/or low-risk endeavor. Not only can financial data be used as evidence to trace the trafficking chain, seizing illegal profits identified by the financial sector can also be used towards reparation and compensation for trafficking victims. It can also break the business cycle of human trafficking.

The OSCE Action Plan on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings marked a new milestone in countering trafficking in human beings by calling on the participating States to enhance co-operation to address human trafficking-related money laundering. Considering the significance of linking financial investigations and criminal investigations to dismantle trafficking networks, the participating States agreed, in point 2.1 of the 2013 Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan, to “promote the use of financial investigations linked with trafficking-related offenses.” To further this goal, the Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings has developed a set of recommendations and detailed guide.