TRAFSTAT Croatia – Tools for the Validation and Utilisation of EU Statistics on Human Trafficking (finalized project)

In accordance with the general efforts to get involved in relevant international projects, the MPPG has participated and contributed to the successful conclusion of the project ‘Tools for the Validation and Utilisation of EU Statistics on Human Trafficking’, funded by the European Commission. The main objective of the project was to assist Eurostat in the collection of data on trafficking in human beings by applying the methodology used by the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

Pursuant to the Council Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, which highlights the need for developing methodologies and data collection methods, the project aimed at producing more valid and useful EU statistics on human trafficking. The core research team included Professor Jan van Dijk and Dr. Leontien van der Knaap from the International Victimology Institute Tilburg (INTERVICT) at Tilburg University, Professor Marcelo Aebi and Claudia Campistol from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and University of Lausanne.

The project was divided into two parts. The first phase concentrated on analysing the level of comparability of data on trafficking in human beings through Europe and efforts to strengthen it by recommendations for improvements. The second project phase focused on the use of data in relation to performance indicators on anti-trafficking policies and the development of early warning systems on tendencies in human trafficking, concerning for instance new types of exploitation or victims.

The project has resulted in technical guidelines for increasing the quality of gathered data, as well as its comparability across the European Union, for example, by addressing the issue of double counting. Furthermore, it provided recommendation for policy purposes, especially with regard to the high political sensitivity ofdata collection on human trafficking and related illegal immigration and prostitution.

National correspondents for Croatia were Prof. Dr. Davor Derenˇcinovic´ć and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Getoš Kalac, responsible for providing, clarifying and analysing human trafficking statistics from the then EU candidate country Croatia for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012. TRAFSTAT project has been significant for the MPPG since it has contributed to the establishing of the Group as an authority in the field of trafficking in human beings in Croatia, but also in Southeast Europe.

MPPG contact for TRAFSTAT Croatia: Assoc.Prof.Dr. Anna-Maria Getoš Kalac