Human Trafficking Crime – Legal Defense & Penalties

In Spain, human trafficking is neither exceptional nor distant. Every year dozens of criminal proceedings are opened for this crime. In 2024 alone, the Prosecutor’s Office recorded more than 180 trafficking cases, while the National Police and Civil Guard conducted approximately 400 operations and dismantled more than one hundred criminal organizations dedicated to human exploitation

What is the crime of human trafficking and where is it regulated?

The crime of human trafficking is regulated in article 177 bis of the Criminal Code. It punishes not only the final exploitation, but the entire process of control over a person for purposes of exploitation.

Very briefly, there is trafficking when three elements concur:

Human trafficking conduct

Recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person. Also the exchange or transfer of control over them.

Means for human trafficking

Violence, intimidation, deception or abuse of a position of superiority, necessity or vulnerability. Also payment to whoever has control over the victim to obtain their «consent».

Purpose of exploitation

Examples of human trafficking

«Boyfriend» who recruits in the country of origin

A classic example is the supposed «boyfriend» who, in the country of origin, promises a life together or decent work in Spain. He organizes the trip, advances tickets and, once here, confiscates documentation and controls the person, forcing them to prostitute themselves or work in conditions of semi-slavery.

Here the following usually concur:

• Recruitment and transfer.
• Deception and abuse of vulnerability.
• Purpose of sexual or labor exploitation

Networks that control clubs, apartments or workshops

Another frequent example: a network recruits vulnerable women or workers in Romania, Colombia or Nigeria, organizes their arrival and distributes them in hostess clubs, apartments or clandestine workshops.

They impose high debts for travel, accommodation and «protection», confiscate their passport, control their movements and force them to work or prostitute themselves to «get out of debt», which in reality is never fully paid.

Here the prosecution usually speaks not only of human trafficking crime, but also of:

• Article 318 bis (irregular entry or stay).
• Criminal organization.
• Money laundering, because the profits are channeled through shell companies or apparently legal businesses.

Trafficking for sexual exploitation or voluntary prostitution / labor exploitation

​What are the indicators of human trafficking?

In practice, judges, prosecutors and police forces handle a series of human trafficking indicators that allow them to detect exploitation situations. Not all need to be present, but the more that appear, the stronger the suspicion becomes.

Human trafficking for sexual exploitation

• Cannot refuse clients.
• Obligation to have sex without condoms.
• Working while sick or pregnant.
• Turns over all money to the person in charge.
• Has no breaks, days off or control over schedule.
• Constant transfers from one place to another to work.

Forced labor or servitude

• Endless working hours or inability to leave the workplace.
• Debts imposed for travel, accommodation or maintenance.
• Threats to continue working.
• Living in the same place as work under very precarious conditions.

Criminal activities and forced begging

• Obligation to steal, sell drugs or participate in scams.
• Constant control by the trafficker during the acts.
• Daily transfers to begging areas.
• Complete handover of proceeds collected.
• Particularly vulnerable person (pregnancy, disability, illness).

Indicators of recruitment, transport and harboring

• Didn’t know exactly what they were coming for or where they would work.
• Was promised a job different from the real one.
• Was promised a romantic relationship or marriage to attract them.
• Didn’t organize their own trip or route.
• Was accompanied by people who controlled their movements.
• Use of clandestine routes or false documentation.
• Lives where they work, in overcrowding and

What happens if none of these indicators are present?