A total of 62 cases of human trafficking were recorded in Slovakia in 2020, with 16 of the victims being younger than 18, TASR learnt on Thursday from the Interior Ministry, which noted that the rate of underage victims is alarming. "Children were most often trafficked for sexual exploitation (nine cases, with the youngest victim being 11), forced begging (four cases) and forced marriage (five cases)," stated Michaela Paulenova from the ministry's press department, adding that a five-month-old boy was exploited for forced begging. Of the 62 victims, 60 were Slovaks, with 27 males and 35 females. According to Paulenova, most of the trafficking cases concerned forced labour or services. In 22 cases, the victims were exploited for prostitution or other sexual purposes. The remaining cases concerned forced marriages, begging and combinations of various purposes.
Source: TASR
