The number of Romanians identified as victims of human trafficking has stayed constant in recent years, but it fell below 1,000 for the first time in 2013, according to Romulus Nicolae Ungureanu, president of the National Agency against People Trafficking.

“We’re talking about 896 Romanian citizens identified as victims of both sexual exploitation, but also exploitation through labor. In terms of sexual exploitation, I would mention that 439 people were victims of traffickers in 2013,” said Ungureanu, quoted by local Agerpres.

“439 victims of human trafficking means 439 women sexually exploited, 439 stories, 439 destroyed families, children that may have been left behind, at home, or that were not able to recognize their mothers when we managed to bring them back in the country,” he added.

He said that the profile of potential victims presented a continuous mobility in recent years, as traffickers adapt to the social and economic context, to the measures taken by the authorities, but also the vulnerabilities change every year.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com