What is Forced Labor

Although male trafficking constitutes a considerable part of the human trafficking flow, men are rarely identified as victims. Victims of labor-related trafficking, mainly men, are being overlooked. The same happens with the marginal but not negligible percentage of male victims of sexual exploitation. Identification is crucial to promptly assist, support, and protect victims of trafficking. The overall objective of this chapter is to identify the causes and consequences of the invisibility of male victims of human trafficking. It aims to show the association of human trafficking with female non-citizens being trafficked for prostitution, combined with a securitarian approach to migration control, interferes with efforts to identify and protect all victims of human trafficking. As a result, male victims of human trafficking are prevented from accessing justice, thus rendering the transposition and implementation of the Palermo Protocol and the Anti-Trafficking Directive contradictory and ineffective.