Medicolegal assessment of human trafficking victims. Descriptive study of a series of forensic cases in Catalonia (Spain)

Abstract

Background and objective: Human trafficking or contemporary slavery is the recruitment and transfer of people by force or deception for sexual, labour or other types of exploitation. Although the violence, abuse and deprivation that trafficking entails are a threat to the health of its victims, in Spain the clinical or forensic data available in this regard is scarce. At the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Catalonia (IMLCFC), a unit specialized in the forensic assessment of these victims was created. The objective of this work was to describe a series of forensic cases of trafficking victims.

Material and method: Retrospective study of victims in judicial cases opened for an alleged crime of human trafficking registered in the IMLCFC until 06/30/2023.

Results: 57 different victims were registered. The majority were women (71.9%). The average age was 30.5 years (s.d. 10.31). All the victims were foreigners, mostly from Latin America (45.5%). The exploitation was mainly sexual (61.4%). There were some sociodemographic differences and in the conditions and consequences of trafficking between victims of sexual exploitation and the rest. Mental health problems were very common in all victims at the time of the assessment (87.5%).

Conclusions: The consequences of trafficking on health, especially mental health, are notable and the forensic assessment of victims is valuable in judicial proceedings. It is necessary to deepen our knowledge of the phenomenon in our environment.

Keywords: Forensic assessment; Human trafficking; Mental health; Mujeres; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Salud mental; Trastorno por estrés postraumático; Trata de seres humanos; Valoración forense; Victims or survivors; Víctimas o supervivientes; Women.