Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms. * Improve sentencing practices by training judges about the severity of trafficking crimes and the importance of applying the stringent penalties available under the trafficking law. * Continue to increase training for judges and prosecutors with a focus on a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach to law enforcement efforts and trials as well as on the use of psychological coercion and fraud as means of trafficking. * Improve efforts to proactively identify victims within the country, especially foreign nationals, refugees, asylum-seekers, and Roma, and increase training for government officials, particularly border police, labor inspectors, and municipal law enforcement, on proactive victim identification among vulnerable groups. * Allow formal victim identification by and referral from entities other than the national police, including civil society, social workers, and healthcare professionals. * Increase awareness of and trafficking survivor access to damages and compensation and increase prosecutors’ efforts to systematically request restitution for survivors during criminal trials. * Ensure labor trafficking is investigated and prosecuted as a trafficking crime and not pursued as an administrative labor code violation. * Increase migrant worker protections by increasing efforts to monitor labor recruitment companies, including prosecutions for fraudulent labor recruitment. * Continue efforts to inform foreign worker groups of worker rights and responsibilities and victim assistance resources in their native languages. * Enforce the law prohibiting recruitment fees charged to workers and ensure any recruitment fees are paid by employers. * Pursue financial crime investigations in tandem with human trafficking cases. * Ensure consistent early access to free legal aid. * Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. * Increase survivor input when forming policies, programs, and trainings.

The government maintained uneven law enforcement efforts – while investigations and prosecutions decreased, the number of convictions significantly increased. Section 179 of the Criminal Code criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of four to 10 years’ imprisonment. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. In 2022 and 2023, an interagency working group drafted a report with recommendations aimed at better defining and distinguishing between labor exploitation and forced labor, which the Ministry of Interior (MOI) published in July. However, the report did not recommend legislative amendments, nor a measurable action plan.

Law enforcement initiated 19 investigations, a decrease compared with 25 investigations in 2022; 29 investigations initiated in prior reporting periods remained ongoing. Of the 19 new investigations, 12 were for sex trafficking, five were for labor trafficking, and two were for both sex and labor trafficking; of the five labor trafficking cases one was for forced criminality and four were for forced begging. Prosecutors indicted 25 alleged traffickers, a decrease compared with 30 in 2022. Courts convicted 18 traffickers, a significant increase compared with eight in 2022. The government did not adequately disaggregate data between sex and labor trafficking for prosecutions or convictions. Courts overturned no convictions on appeal. Courts acquitted nine individuals. Ten out of 18 convicted traffickers received fully suspended sentences and served no jail time. In comparison, of the 41 convicted rapists in 2023, 71 percent were sentenced to one year or longer in prison. Lenient sentencing, specifically fully suspended sentences, remained a serious concern. Over the past 10 years, approximately 69 percent of all trafficking convictions resulted in fully suspended sentences or a fine. The MOI Information Center for the Fight against Human Trafficking and Crime Prevention (IC) report published in March 2021 analyzed sentences for traffickers from 2015 to 2020, with a specific emphasis on the use of section 39 of the Criminal Code which permitted judges to reduce sentences below minimum sentencing thresholds. The report asserted that because judges applied section 39 to 77 percent of all trafficking cases, almost 70 percent of convicted traffickers received a sentence lower than the prescribed four-year minimum for conviction under Section 179; 64 percent of convicted traffickers received a suspended sentence; and even for those traffickers who received prison sentences, at least 10 traffickers (13 percent) were released from prison early. Lenient sentencing undercut efforts to hold traffickers accountable, weakened deterrence, created potential security and safety concerns – particularly for victims who cooperated with investigations and prosecutions – and was not equal to the seriousness of the crime.

Corruption, inefficiency, and lack of accountability within the judicial branch remained problematic and may have hindered law enforcement efforts. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in trafficking crimes. Civil society and a government-funded NGO, which served as the national victim-care service provider, continued to express concern that some prosecutors and judges assigned to trafficking cases were not adequately trained on victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches or on the specificities of trafficking crimes. The government introduced Code of Criminal Procedure and victim protection law amendments to require trauma-informed interview and investigative practices. The government trained prosecutors on a trauma-informed approach for child victims. Some prosecutors and judges continued to misunderstand the role of non-violent, psychological coercion and fraud as means for the crime, and continued to rely predominately on evidence of force and physical limitations on victims’ liberty in trials. Experts assessed a lack of understanding of the severity of trafficking crimes, the limited use of corroborating evidence, and an overreliance on the testimonies of traumatized victims had contributed to lenient sentences for convicted traffickers. Furthermore, racial and ethnic bias, particularly for cases involving Romani victims, may have contributed to more lenient sentences.

Police and prosecutors continued to cooperate with Europol, Eurojust, and in an ongoing prosecution with the United Kingdom; and newly cooperated on two joint law enforcement investigations with Germany. The government provided comprehensive anti-trafficking training to civil society stakeholders and government officials, including staff at asylum-seeker and immigration detention facilities; law enforcement officials; labor inspectors; social service workers; consular and diplomatic staff; personnel at the Legal Aid Center; and community service staff in marginalized Romani communities. These trainings focused on improving identification of and assistance to trafficking victims, especially among asylum-seekers and Roma, prevention of human trafficking in mass migration flows, and combating forced labor.

The Coordination Department of the National Unit for Combatting Migration within the Bureau of Border and Alien Police (BBAP) was responsible for coordinating national anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts; however, experts had concerns on their lack of prioritization of trafficking and capacity and resources for internal victim identification. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine further strained law enforcement resources as more than 2.1 million border crossings from Ukraine were made and more than 118,000 refugees from Ukraine registered for temporary protection in Slovakia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Although there was no dedicated trafficking unit within the prosecution service, supervising prosecutors usually assigned cases to those with experience prosecuting trafficking. Prosecutors followed written guidance to provide victims with information on the prosecution process and resources available to them. Each of the eight regional prosecutorial offices had a human trafficking lead who could provide guidance and oversight on trafficking-related cases. However, prosecutors and some front-line officials continued to view possible cases of labor trafficking as administrative labor code violations which they did not prosecute as trafficking crimes. The national police continued to cooperate with the police financial intelligence unit to uncover suspicious transactions indicative of trafficking but did not report further results. In May 2023, 44 countries across Europe, including Slovakia, supported by EU agencies and international organizations, took part in several large-scale coordinated actions on human trafficking which resulted in 212 arrests of alleged traffickers, and in June 2023, authorities in 32 countries, including Slovakia, carried out inspections identifying 261 potential trafficking victims during similar “action days.” However, authorities did not identify any traffickers nor victims in Slovakia during these “action days.”

The government maintained protection efforts. The police formally identified 38 victims in 2023, compared with 45 in 2022; while NGOs and other organizations, including the government funded, NGO-run victim-care service provider, identified at least an additional five potential victims in 2023 (compared with six in 2022) for a total of 43 victims (compared with 51 total victims in 2022). Of the victims identified by police, 12 were women, five were men, 17 were girls, and four were boys. Of the victims identified by police, 29 were sex trafficking victims, seven were labor trafficking victims (including three victims of forced begging), and two were victims of both sex and labor trafficking (including one victim of forced begging and one victim of forced criminality). Of the victims identified by police, only three were foreign nationals (from the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and Moldova). Children comprised approximately 49 percent of the total victims identified, a significant increase from 22 percent in 2022. Observers expressed concern that children were vulnerable to trafficking in government-run residential “re-education” facilities housing disadvantaged children and juvenile offenders; a January 2024 Prosecutor General’s Office report on “re-education” facilities noted poor living conditions, a lack of access to psychological support, physical abuse by staff, and examples of children doing unpaid work. Law enforcement continued to prioritize the screening of Ukrainian refugees and trained regional branches of the police to report potential trafficking indicators. Although several cases were reported based on potential trafficking indicators, officials did not identify any trafficking victims among refugees from Ukraine since February 2022. Gaps in victim identification remained a concern: despite the large number of non-EU nationals present in Slovakia and increased vulnerability to trafficking, the government only identified three foreign nationals as trafficking victims exploited the country. The government continued to utilize its NRM for victim identification and referral. The NRM focused heavily on the potential trafficking situations of foreign nationals in Slovakia or Slovak nationals abroad, but included little on trafficking situations Slovak nationals could experience within Slovakia. Law enforcement officials were the exclusive entities with authority to formally identify victims; experts asserted this may have hindered victim identification, deterred some victims from seeking assistance, and created a potential conflict of priorities between law enforcement efforts and victim assistance.

In 2023, the government maintained €1.415 million ($1.564 million) of funding over a five-year period to an NGO operating the national victim-care program, voluntary repatriation, and the national trafficking hotline – broken down to an annual amount of €283,117 ($312,836). This was consistent with the amount allocated in 2022, but an increase compared with €208,274 ($230,137) allocated in 2021 and €212,451 ($234,752) in 2020. The government-funded, NGO-run victim assistance program provided Slovak and foreign victims with shelter, financial support, recovery assistance, cultural mediator services, repatriation to Slovakia, health care, psycho-social support, legal assistance, interpretation, and job training. The government-funded victim-care provider assisted a total of 28 victims in 2023 – 10 newly enrolled victims and 18 victims enrolled from previous years. Of the 28 victims assisted, at least three victims were foreign nationals, at least four were sex trafficking victims, and at least five were labor trafficking victims. The percentage of victims who decided to enroll in the government-funded victim care program was typically low, with 10 of 43 victims (23 percent) enrolled in 2023; this compared with 47 percent in 2022, 26 percent in 2021 and 20 percent in 2020. The program could assist a maximum of 20 trafficking victims. The victim-care service provider stressed the voluntary participation in the program, while realizing that after deciding to leave the victim-care program, some survivors remained in poor mental states and frequently experienced homelessness. In its June 2020 Report, GRETA noted concern regarding the traditionally low participation in the victim-care program and urged the government to investigate further. Civil society criticized the quality of care and services provided to victims by the victim-care service provider and urged the provider to prioritize efforts to improve victim recovery and independence; civil society also recommended oversight of the program by an entity outside the MOI. The government reported foreign victims, including both EU and third-country nationals, had access to the same scope and quality of victim care and support. All potential victims were eligible for at least 90 days of crisis care, regardless of whether they were formally identified by police; victims enrolled in the assistance program were eligible for up to 180 days of care without having to participate in an investigation. However, victims who chose to cooperate with law enforcement were eligible to access victim care for the duration of the investigation and trial, which was often much longer than 180 days. The government-funded victim-care service provider operated a shelter for trafficking victims that usually served a maximum of three to five trafficking victims; otherwise victims could also be accommodated in domestic violence shelters, with men and women housed separately, or in shelters for those experiencing homelessness. Experts urged the government to ensure there were adequate specialized accommodations to address the unique needs of trafficking victims. There were limited accommodations for victims with families. Children were not usually assisted through the national victim-care program; rather, authorities placed unaccompanied child trafficking victims in the care of child protective services in a government-run children’s home or an NGO-run crisis home for children. However, if a child trafficking victim required additional services, it was possible to utilize trafficking-specific services through the national victim-care program. Two government-run and two non-governmental children’s homes were officially designated as available for those child trafficking victims, among child victims of other crimes, who had to be placed in foster care. However, it remained unclear if the child victims identified in this reporting period were housed in a children’s home or elsewhere.

Due to persistent gaps in victim identification, authorities may have detained or deported unidentified foreign national trafficking victims. Civil society experts continued to express concern the government did not adequately screen foreign workers, undocumented migrants, and asylum-seekers, despite the increasing share of foreign workers in the Slovak labor market. In 2023, as in the previous year, law enforcement authorities arrested, charged, or convicted foreign nationals for illegal cigarette production in several cases and some experts raised concerns about whether the foreign nationals involved were sufficiently screened for trafficking indicators prior to the initiation of criminal proceedings. GRETA continued to express concerns about the ability and willingness of labor inspectors and the BBAP to thoroughly screen undocumented migrant workers or asylum-seekers for trafficking indicators and refer them to assistance before deportation. Asylum-seekers could be kept in detention for up to six months per Slovak law. The Center for Legal Aid with staff trained to identify trafficking victims visited detention centers regularly during the reporting period, but did not report identifying any victims in 2023 or 2022. A government-funded NGO, responsible for administering the victim-care program and monitoring asylum-seeker and detention facilities for undocumented migrants, visited a detention center twice during the reporting period but had not reported identifying any victims at such centers since at least 2018. In its June 2020 Report, GRETA urged the government to increase the quality of screening for trafficking victims. It was unnecessary for the government to grant work permits, as foreign victims received subsidiary protection and could work legally, although NGOs noted that obstacles, including length of stay, sometimes precluded this. The law authorized permanent residency for foreign victims who would face hardship or retribution if returned to their country of origin; however, authorities issued no such residence permits during the reporting period. A government-funded NGO assisted in the voluntary return of three victims, repatriating two to Bulgaria.

The pre-trial and trial process was lengthy and not always adapted, without prosecutors or judges sufficiently trained, to avoid re-traumatization of victims. The 2017 Crime Victims Act provided psychological assistance to victims in pre-trial proceedings, banned direct cross-examination of victims, and allowed recorded testimony as official trial evidence, among other protections. However, civil society reported pre-recorded testimony was rarely used. To improve its victim-centered approach, the government utilized several victim interview rooms across Slovakia for vulnerable victims, including trafficking victims; and in 2023, launched special interview rooms for children at six courts. Additionally, in March 2023, the government amended the victim protection law to eliminate child victims’ contact with perpetrators in court. However, civil society criticized law enforcement for sometimes pressuring victims to cooperate and having an overly interrogative approach to victim interviews, which could have deterred victim cooperation. Experts expressed concern that the law’s limit of one victim interview for law enforcement may have hindered opportunities to build rapport with traumatized victims who were unlikely to provide reliable testimony in a single interview session. Though not systematic, judges were generally willing to accommodate requests to provide a separate waiting area for victims and remove the suspected trafficker from the courtroom during victim testimony. Furthermore, a 2020 guideline required investigators to invite the government-funded NGO administering the victim-care program to victim interviews to ensure victims knew their rights and received information regarding the victim-care program, free legal advice, and restitution. The government’s victim-witness assistance program also consisted of providing secure accommodation to victims, and courts could keep a victim’s identity confidential during criminal proceedings. In its June 2020 report, GRETA continued to urge the government to utilize its witness protection programs for trafficking victims as provided for under Act 256/1998.

Restitution from criminal cases, compensation from the government, and damages from civil suits were all available to trafficking victims, but courts rarely ordered or awarded any of these. The March 2021 IC report found that between 2015 and 2020, the court awarded restitution or government compensation to victims in only six of 39 cases. In 2023, courts awarded €7,065 ($7,807) and €6,944 ($7,673) in restitution to two victims in a sex trafficking case (courts did not award restitution in 2022). Civil society and an IC report from March 2021 concluded prosecutors did not pursue a victim’s right to restitution in an attempt to avoid prolonging proceedings. Experts encouraged the government to pursue a more streamlined mechanism for victims to obtain restitution, while not impeding trial proceedings. The 2017 Crime Victims Act enabled the government to grant between €6,460 ($7,138) and €32,300 ($35,691) of state funding in compensation to victims if filed within one year. The amended 2017 crime victims protection act simplified the process to receive compensation, enabling victims to claim compensation after the start of the criminal proceedings, as opposed to after completion. The government reported providing compensation to two trafficking victims in 2023, compared with one in 2022. It was unknown whether any victims filed civil suits and the government did not report awarding damages to any victims in 2023. NGOs continued to argue excessive legal costs and lengthy proceedings discouraged many victims from filing civil suits. The victim-care service provider could provide victims with legal representation in criminal, civil, family or labor law matters in cooperation with law firms and pro bono attorneys. The government’s Legal Aid Center could only assist trafficking victims with civil cases and during asylum proceedings; however, to date it had not done so. The March 2021 IC report found the national victim-care provider was unaware of most cases in court proceedings, despite its responsibility to provide legal advice and representation to trafficking victims. The report concluded most trafficking victims had not received pre-trial legal counseling or been made aware of their rights, including for compensation and restitution. The report recommended increased access to free legal counseling as early as preparatory proceedings. In its 2020 report, GRETA urged the government to ensure trafficking victims had systematic early access to legal practitioners with specialized knowledge of trafficking who could represent them in criminal cases, and provide sufficient counsel able to advise on pursuing compensation claims. Under the 2017 Crime Victims Act, victims who opted to seek compensation from their traffickers through a civil suit could not also request restitution through criminal proceedings.

The government slightly increased prevention efforts. The State Secretary of the MOI was the national coordinator for anti-trafficking efforts. The inter-agency Expert Group coordinated by the MOI’s Crime Prevention Department was led by the MOI State Secretary and functioned as the national anti-trafficking coordination committee. It met five times in 2023 and was responsible for coordinating policy documents, implementing and evaluating anti-trafficking programs, organizing trainings, evaluating trafficking-related action plans, and coordinating awareness-raising campaigns. The Expert Group comprised 28 members, including both government ministries and NGOs. The IC, which merged with the Crime Prevention Department in 2023, also contributed to national coordination by administering contracts for the victim-care program, gathering trafficking data, publishing an annual human trafficking report, coordinating awareness-raising campaigns, and functioning as the national rapporteur. However, GRETA previously questioned whether the IC had been sufficiently independent to critically monitor national efforts. Experts expressed concern this merger could further harm the IC’s independence and weaken its ability to independently and critically monitor anti-trafficking efforts. In October 2023, the government approved a new 2024-2028 anti-trafficking NAP, which sought to address anti-trafficking recommendations from GRETA’s 2020 report and the 2023 TIP Report. The government worked with an international organization to ensure the new NAP included prevention and protection efforts targeting refugees from Ukraine in Slovakia. The MOI maintained staff at local and regional information centers throughout Slovakia who could offer information and assistance on all crimes, which included human trafficking. Services included prevention, victim identification, and assistance such as psychological counseling and legal advice. In 2023, the regional centers did not report identifying any victims compared to one victim in 2022.

The government continued trafficking prevention and public awareness campaigns, and sought to incorporate survivor input and stories into awareness activities. The government prioritized prevention efforts among marginalized Roma communities, including through trafficking prevention and victim identification training of Roma community civil order service staff and through a bilingual leaflet and social media awareness campaign on forced marriages (involving domestic servitude). The MOI, along with international organizations, also continued a campaign targeting refugees from Ukraine. Materials available in six languages were distributed at border crossings, refugee assistance centers, government offices, and made available online. The government prioritized law enforcement attention at border areas and refugee assistant centers. The government continued to operate a website in several languages and used media platforms to raise awareness. The MOI reported delivering 142 trafficking prevention trainings to approximately 3,000 participants, including refugees from Ukraine, hotel personnel, and youth. A government-funded NGO trained staff and volunteers at a facility for asylum-seekers on trafficking indicators.

In response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the government coordinated with international organizations in Slovakia on prevention and capacity-building efforts, including efforts to improve assistance to and issue trafficking prevention guidelines for unaccompanied minors from Ukraine. Since 2022, an international organization-led taskforce continued to operate as part of the refugee coordination model and met quarterly to coordinate among government agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders on trafficking prevention for refugees from Ukraine. Although the government worked to provide funding to accommodation facilities for refugees from Ukraine, some private citizens who had received a government subsidy to house refugees asked refugees directly for additional payments, which may have increased the vulnerability of refugees from Ukraine to exploitation and trafficking through debt-bondage. The government did not report efforts to address this potential exploitation of refugees from Ukraine. A government report released in July 2023 found that government oversight and monitoring of the subsidy program was inadequate. Furthermore, the government significantly decreased the housing subsidies from March 2024 and civil society flagged this could force housing providers to request additional payments from refugees or stop providing the subsidized housing at all. Concerns regarding foreign worker vulnerability to fraudulent labor recruitment practices and labor trafficking as well as low victim identification within the Ukrainian refugee population remained significant. Foreign workers were able to change employment without requiring prior approval from the government.

A 2004 law on employment services prohibited labor recruiters from charging a recruitment fee to workers and employment agencies were required to register with the government. However, the government did not report law enforcement measures taken to enforce the prohibition of charging fees to workers or fraudulent labor recruitment. Experts urged the government to increase verification of recruitment agencies employing third-country nationals, particularly refugees from Ukraine. The government made efforts to inform refugees from Ukraine of their employment rights during the reporting period, but did not report further efforts on other foreign workers. Experts and civil society continued to urge the government to increase efforts to inform foreign worker populations of their rights. Lack of awareness of the availability of services, language barriers, and fear of immigration officials continued to prevent some foreign victims from seeking help from authorities.

Civil society recommended increased victim identification training for labor inspectors to improve referrals to police. Despite the large foreign-worker population in Slovakia that experienced an increased risk of trafficking, the government has not reported identifying any trafficking victims through joint inspections between law enforcement and labor inspectors for the last seven years, at least. This continued to raise concerns regarding the government’s ability to identify trafficking victims, despite specific training. GRETA noted that joint inspections tended to focus on immigration enforcement rather than take a victim-centered approach. GRETA continued to recommend anti-trafficking training for all labor inspectors, especially on victim identification and referral. It is regular practice for labor inspectors to contact immigration officials if undocumented employed foreign workers are identified and foreign trafficking victims without legal employment status may have been reluctant to discuss their trafficking situation with labor inspectors for fear of deportation, as a result. A government-funded anti-trafficking hotline, operated by an NGO, took calls for 12 hours a day in five languages, and reported receiving 578 calls in 2023, but did not identify potential trafficking victims in 2023. The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.

As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Slovakia, and traffickers exploit victims from Slovakia abroad. Traffickers exploit Slovak men and women in labor trafficking in agriculture, manufacturing, and construction in Western Europe, increasingly in German-speaking countries. Traffickers exploit Slovak women in sex trafficking in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and other European countries. Increasingly, traffickers exploit victims domestically within Slovakia, a development that was exacerbated by pandemic-related border closures. As of February 2024, more than 114,000 Ukrainian refugees, predominantly women and children, fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, were in Slovakia seeking sanctuary and are vulnerable to trafficking. Some temporary workers from non-EU European countries, recruited for the manufacturing and construction industries, are subjected to conditions indicative of forced labor, including non-payment of wages or extended working hours. NGOs report men and women, mostly from the Balkans and Asia, are vulnerable to forced labor in Slovakia and may be unable or afraid to seek assistance from authorities. Women from Southeast Asia are vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor in domestic service, restaurants, massage parlors, spas, or online. Slovak women of Romani descent are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking. Traffickers transport them to the UK by force or deception for sham marriages for the purpose of sex trafficking or forced labor. Romani girls are vulnerable to forced “traditional” Romani marriages which often include the transfer of a girl who is subjected to forced or coerced domestic service while in the care of her new “husband.” In some cases, parents of Slovak Romani children exploit their children in forced criminal activity in the UK. Traffickers force Slovak men, women, and children of Romani descent and Slovaks with disabilities and mental health conditions to beg throughout Western Europe. Traffickers also exploit children who leave institutional care facilities and lack family or support structures in sex and labor trafficking.