Human trafficking is a widespread issue that plagues every region of the world. Many governments and international organizations have worked to create policies, training programs, and initiatives that combat human trafficking, but the issue is still very prevalent. Human trafficking has many avenues, including sexual exploitation, child marriage, forced labor, and organ theft. In recent years, Germany has fallen behind on prosecution efforts to condemn human trafficking, especially sexual trafficking, and has not enacted sufficient policies to deter human trafficking, hold traffickers accountable, and protect victims.

In particular, Germany has become more lenient in its punishment against convicted traffickers. The U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons recently downgraded Germany to Tier 2 on the Tier ranking system mandated by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Germany was previously ranked as Tier 1, which indicated that Germany made significant efforts against human trafficking to meet the standards of the TCPA. Not only have the number of prosecutions and convictions for sexual traffickers decreased, but sentences for convicted traffickers have been shortened or eased. In fact, there were 77 convictions for human trafficking in Germany in 2015 and only 50 convictions in 2017. Of those 50 convictions, only 36 percent were sent to prison and served their term, as opposed to only receiving fines or other lighter punishments. 

            As a country with legalized prostitution, Germany has enacted multiple policies in order to address human trafficking. However, some of the policies Germany has to prevent and deter trafficking are not efficient or effective in practice. For example, the Act Protecting Persons Working in Prostitution (Prostituiertenschutzgesetz) was enacted in 2017. The act was put in place to provide protection for sex workers by having prostitutes and sex businesses legally register with German police officials in order to promote the overall safety and health of sex workers in Germany and deter human trafficking. This act includes many regulations with which both sex businesses and individual sex workers must comply. However, some argue that this act increased the risk of exploitation of sex workers from traffickers, in that more policies exacerbate the lack of trust between prostitutes and authorities, decreasing the likelihood that reports of trafficking or abuse will be filed with the German police. 

One of the regulations of the act requires sex workers to carry their issued photo identification card at all times while they are working. While this might seem like a good way to increase accountability and decrease the likelihood of sex trafficking, individuals and organizations have criticized the regulations included in the act, citing that the regulations are counterintuitive and do not protect prostitutes and victims of human trafficking. Andrea Hitze, an employee of the Dortmunter Mitternachtsmission, (a guidance center for prostitutes) believes that the act will not decrease or discourage human trafficking. In fact, “Hitzke rather suspects that human traffickers who force their victims into prostitution will do everything possible to behave inconspicuously. So, they will register the women properly, but then possibly take their ‘[prostitute] passport’ away.” Hitze emphasizes that this creates opportunities for human traffickers to blackmail and control their victims. 

As a Member State of the European Union (EU), Germany has received evaluations by the Secretariat of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA). Germany is a country that is divided into 16 federal states, but lacks a “comprehensive national action plan” against human trafficking. GRETA released multiple evaluations and recommendations in the past few years analyzing the current state of human trafficking in Germany. GRETA emphasized two main recommendations to Germany in the reports in order to increase the level of effort of the German government in combating human trafficking. 

GRETA recommended that Germany should work to coordinate the “institutional framework and structures for action against [trafficking in human beings (THB)] at federal and Länder level” (meaning at the federal and local or state level). GRETA advised that increasing coherence of policies and plans, rather than having individual states carry out prosecution against human traffickers with varying policies punishments, will streamline efficiency in combating human trafficking. Another recommendation made by GRETA includes finalizing the German appointment of an independent National Rapporteur in charge of monitoring, evaluating, and recommending the state of anti-trafficking efforts in Germany. This measure would provide Germany with an effective mechanism for managing and overseeing national efforts to combat human trafficking. 

Although its efforts thus far have been well-intentioned, the policies currently in effect in Germany do not provide enough protections for victims of human trafficking, and there are not sufficient sanctions or deterrents to prevent trafficking. As a Member State of the European Union, Germany should follow the recommendations presented by GRETA to support one of the many EU missions, combating human trafficking. The risk of human trafficking is significantly higher in sex work, and recent policies that Germany has enacted are not as effective in practice as in theory. With widespread criticisms of certain aspects of Germany’s Act Protecting Persons Working in Prostitution, it is clear that adjustments to legislation are imperative.