Sex trafficking is a crime of transportation of humans for sexual purposes. In some countries the trade is related to sexual exploitation and physical enforcement is often involved, but in other regions of the world, women pay the traffickers by their own decision.

In many cases sexual trafficking involves kidnapping, deception, when the women who would like to emigrate abroad are often told that they can get legal work in the country of destination, but finally they end up as sexworkers in stripclubs, brothels or as streetwalkers. Most of the time, they become captives of the traffickers or pimps without official documents of personal identification. Therefore they don’t have serious chance to escape. In those cases when the victims pay the human traders, they do it in the hope of a better future for themselves and their families.

Most traffickers have contacts with trafficking agents or direct relations to sex clubs or brothels where the women have to work. Sometimes, individuals under the age of 18 are also forced to give sexual services, which makes the crime of human trafficking even more serious. Sometimes the police are aware of the existence of the criminal organizations, but it is often extremely hard to completely abolish them, or in some extraordinary cases, in certain countries the police are also interested in the crime. Globalization IN the last few decades that involved cancelling the internal borders between some countries, such as members of EU, has contributed to the increase of the human trade. The business have been flourishing in and between many Asian countries, while in Europe, women from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc have been trafficked to Western-European countries. The number of African victims taken to Europe is also significant.

Austria also was an important destination of trafficked sexworkers, but since now it has been regulated strictly for many years and prostitution is accepted legally and women who are willing to work in the sex industry can come to the country by law, this act is reduced there and the trafficking agents prefer other destinations to transport women to.