• Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms, and ensure labor trafficking is pursued as such rather than as a labor code violation.
• Increase efforts to proactively identify trafficking victims by screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, including individuals in commercial sex, asylum-seekers, and unaccompanied children in Mayotte, and refer all victims to appropriate services in all regions and departments, both domestic and overseas.
• Allow formal victim identification without requiring cooperation or interaction with law enforcement and by entities other than law enforcement officials, including civil society, social workers, and healthcare professionals.
• Increase funding and resources for victim assistance, including services for child victims.
• Systematically train all front-line officials, including labor inspectors, police, prosecutors, and judges, on cyber techniques and victim-centered approaches.
• Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, especially child victims of forced begging and forced criminality.
• Complete testing and formally adopt the National Mechanism for Identification, Orientation, and Protection for victim identification and referral to care and train stakeholders on its use.
• Increase victims’ access to restitution and compensation and increase prosecutors’ efforts to systematically request restitution for all victims during criminal trials.
• Offer the reflection period to all victims, including foreign victims and victims of forced begging and criminality, especially in overseas departments.
• Strengthen international law enforcement cooperation to prevent and investigate extraterritorial commercial child sexual exploitation and abuse by French citizens and continue to prosecute and convict perpetrators.
• Develop and consistently enforce strong regulations and oversight of labor recruitment companies, including by eliminating recruitment fees charged to migrant workers and holding fraudulent labor recruiters criminally accountable.
• Increase the availability of protection services – including short-term shelter, long-term housing, counseling, and medical care – for all trafficking victims, including adult males and children, especially child victims of forced begging and forced criminality.

The government decreased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.

Article 225-4 of the penal code criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to €150,000 ($156,087) for crimes involving an adult victim and up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to €1.5 million ($1.56 million) for those involving a child victim. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.

The government provided most law enforcement and victim protection statistics for 2023, the most recent year data was available, but did not fully disaggregate data by type of trafficking. The government initiated 242 human trafficking investigations in 2023, compared with 250 in 2022 and 336 in 2021 – and the fewest investigations initiated since 2017. The government reported referring 185 trafficking suspects for prosecution in 2023, a multi-year decline compared with 205 prosecutions in 2022, 215 in 2021, 245 in 2020, and 318 in 2019. The Ministry of Interior’s (MOI) statistical service, which collected and reported data on trafficking cases, changed its calculation methods for convictions in 2024. As a result, the most recent conviction data was from 2022 and included all final convictions, whereas previous data included decisions that may have been appealed. Courts reported convicting 65 traffickers in 2022, a decrease compared with 85 convictions in 2021 and the fewest convictions since 2016. In 2022, when trafficking was the primary charge, courts sentenced 71 percent of convicted traffickers to terms of imprisonment, averaging 27 months (69 percent in 2021); 31 percent of prison sentences were partially suspended. Additionally, 24 percent of convicted traffickers received fully suspended sentences. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes.

In its 2022 report, GRETA noted officials’ misconceptions of human trafficking resulted in some trafficking cases not being recognized as such. For example, many officials believed transnational networks or crossing an international border were necessary elements of human trafficking and did not pursue cases as trafficking without these elements. Additionally, NGOs expressed concern some courts used procedures such as “immediate appearances,” which limited authorities’ time and ability to conduct investigations and gather evidence, resulting in fewer convictions. NGOs further reported authorities often prosecuted trafficking crimes under other statues, such as “pimping,” or failed to recognize aggravating circumstances, which sometimes resulted in more lenient sentences for traffickers. GRETA recommended additional training for investigators, prosecutors, and judges to address these concerns. The National Consultative Commission for Human Rights (CNCDH), which functioned as the independent national rapporteur, urged courts to issue more consistent and rigorous sentences to convicted human traffickers, and NGOs reported trafficking sentences were not a sufficient deterrent, especially in cases of labor trafficking.

The government had several bodies responsible for investigating human trafficking. The Central Office for the Suppression of Trafficking in Human Beings (OCRTEH) within the MOI’s National Directorate of the Judicial Police was responsible for cases of sex trafficking and other crimes, and the Central Office for Combatting Illegal Labor (OCLTI) attached to the National Gendarmerie was responsible for labor trafficking cases and other crimes. OCRTEH and OCLTI operated independently from other investigative bodies and collaborated with local authorities, such as local sexual exploitation units of the French National Police and labor inspectorates. OCRTEH was divided into four operational units, including a unit focused on online trafficking networks and the sexual exploitation of children. Additionally, the Office for Minors (OFMIN) was responsible for investigating online child sexual exploitation. In February 2024, OFMIN launched an investigation into a social media platform, alleging the company facilitated crimes such as the online sexual exploitation of children, and arrested a suspect in August 2024. While the government did not have courts specialized in human trafficking trials, there was a specialized trafficking judge in the overseas department of Mayotte. The government and government-funded NGOs continued providing extensive and in-depth anti-trafficking training programs and conferences for various law enforcement officers, prosecutors, magistrates, labor inspectors, and immigration officials, both nationally and at the local level.

The government continued to collaborate with international organizations, including with EUROPOL and INTERPOL, and dozens of countries on international trafficking investigations. One such operation resulted in the identification of at least 1,374 potential victims, the initiation of 276 new investigations, and the arrest of at least 219 trafficking suspects in 39 countries, including France. French law enforcement continued to participate with several joint investigation teams to facilitate international law enforcement cooperation with various countries, and authorities responded to requests from foreign governments for mutual assistance in investigations and extraditions. The government also provided training and technical assistance to help foreign governments develop their anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.

The government maintained victim protection efforts.

The government did not adequately disaggregate victim identification data between sex and labor trafficking. In 2023 – the most recent year data was available – police identified 404 human trafficking victims, an increase compared with 362 in 2022 and 331 in 2021. Police also identified 26 “victims of exploitation of begging” (45 in 2022 and 31 in 2021), 12 victims of forced labor (62 in 2022 and 24 in 2021), and 18 victims of “reduction to slavery and servitude” (11 in 2022 and 33 in 2021). Most of these victims were potential trafficking victims, but it was unclear if some victims from these statistics were also included in the aggregated human trafficking statistics. In addition, in 2023 police identified 1,043 victims of commercial sexual exploitation, some of whom were potential sex trafficking victims. This compared with 993 victims of commercial sexual exploitation in 2022. Of the 404 identified human trafficking victims in 2023, approximately 10 percent were children (17 or younger), 18 percent were French nationals, and 41 percent were women. In addition to victims identified and referred by the government, NGOs reported assisting an additional 114 human trafficking victims in 2023. NGOs also reported assisting 3,224 victims of commercial sexual exploitation, some of whom were potential sex trafficking victims, 14 forced begging victims, and 750 victims of labor exploitation, some of whom were potential forced labor victims. The government, experts, NGOs, and GRETA expressed concern regarding the government’s national statistics on victim identification and asserted the scale of human trafficking in France was much higher than official statistics.

The Inter-ministerial Mission for the Protection of Women against Violence and the Fight against Human Trafficking (MIPROF) continued to develop its National Mechanism for Identification, Orientation, and Protection in consultation with civil society, but the government remained without an NRM to ensure uniform, proactive identification and assistance to victims across the country. Most ministries and regions had formal procedures for identifying victims, and authorities continued to use an NGO-run referral mechanism. The government continued to assume the majority of individuals in commercial sex and all foreign adult individuals in commercial sex were trafficking victims, and it systematically screened this population for indicators, although this assumption could have led to a misunderstanding of sex trafficking and conflation with commercial sex. However, gaps in victim identification efforts persisted. GRETA expressed concern the government did not proactively screen asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants for trafficking indicators, and these groups often did not seek assistance from law enforcement or self-identify as victims. GRETA also noted the government did not have a formal identification process for French victims or those from European Economic Area countries; most existing identification procedures focused on foreign victims due to the misconception that trafficking involved crossing a border.

The government continued to fund victim services through Ac-Se, an anti-trafficking NGO-managed network of 88 partners, including 58 partner shelters; five NGOs acting as reception facilities and specialized service providers; two combined reception and advice centers; and 22 specialized service providers assisting adult victims of sex and labor trafficking. The Ac-Se network provided victims with shelter, legal, medical, and psychological services. However, GRETA reported the network did not cover the entire country and did not have any partner NGOs in overseas French departments. Law enforcement continued cooperating with Ac-Se under a formalized mechanism to inform, assist, and protect trafficking victims. This close coordination with civil society and multidisciplinary approach resulted in seamless assistance to trafficking victims identified during operations and allowed NGOs to accompany victims to interviews with law enforcement and ensure local shelters were prepared to receive victims. MIPROF and OCRTEH provided training to investigators on trauma-informed interviewing techniques. The government did not report how much funding it allocated to NGOs providing victim assistance in 2024, compared with €553,000 ($575,442) in 2023.

While police and NGOs referred victims to Ac-Se, only the police, gendarmerie, and judiciary could formally identify victims. Formal identification required victims to cooperate with law enforcement, and NGOs reported obtaining formal recognition as a trafficking victim was difficult. Formal victim status offered additional rights and protections, such as access to legal aid and compensation for damages and, in practice, was necessary to obtain asylum or a residence permit, healthcare, and housing. NGOs observed judges and prosecutors were sometimes reluctant to formally certify labor trafficking victims because of the protections subsequently granted to them and recommended judges and prosecutors take additional specialized training. Officials continued to publish and distribute to police stations and potential victims a standard document, available in four languages, on victim rights, interview steps, and available services. GRETA and OCRTEH previously reported front-line officials were not adequately trained on human trafficking and did not routinely inform victims of their rights or anti-trafficking procedures, despite the availability of a standard form on victim rights; as a result, victims often did not choose to participate in criminal justice proceedings.

Although formal victim identification required law enforcement cooperation, victims who chose not to participate in criminal justice proceedings could still receive free medical attention and access to other services available from Ac-Se. Local governments provided French language classes to victims, and some victims could qualify for subsidized housing and job training programs. The government continued to fund a shelter, with space for 20 victims, and a small number of emergency apartments through the Ac-Se network, with space for approximately 100 victims; however, NGOs and GRETA continued to express concern regarding the overall limited number of accommodations available to victims throughout the country. Unless victims were in immediate danger or in a highly vulnerable situation requiring geographic relocation, they were not eligible for admittance into Ac-Se’s shelter program. Ac-Se reported accommodating 95 people through its shelter network in 2023. The government maintained additional housing options that could accommodate trafficking victims but did not provide specialized services. There were no accommodation centers dedicated to adult male trafficking victims; officials sometimes referred adult male victims to communal homes or shelters for persons who were homeless, which did not adequately meet the specific needs of trafficking victims. Police referred child victims to the child welfare system, which provided shelter in reception units located in health institutions’ pediatric or child psychiatric wards that offered specialized medical, psychological, and legal care. These units were not yet operational in all parts of the country, and budgetary constraints affected the availability of some services. A government-funded NGO-run shelter could accommodate up to 12 children, including trafficking victims, and offered health, psychological, and judicial support.

The law entitled trafficking victims to free legal aid, if requirements were met; victims who did not meet the requirements for legal aid could receive assistance from NGOs. In its 2022 report, GRETA asserted lawyers were often unfamiliar with trafficking cases and urged the government to ensure all victims had systematic early access to legal assistance. GRETA expressed concern the requirements for legal aid generally limited access to French and EU nationals and those with valid French visas, which restricted the rights of some victims’ access to justice, particularly their ability to claim compensation. The government employed several victim-witness assistance measures during criminal justice proceedings. Judges heard trafficking cases in private at the victim’s request, and remote testimony, including by video, was also available. Courts could allow victims to remain anonymous during their testimony, including by allowing victims to use an address other than their residence in court filings. In rare instances, victims could be eligible for police protection or relocation. While victims usually had access to a psychologist during court proceedings – a legal requirement for children – NGOs and GRETA asserted the overall psychological counseling available to victims was insufficient. The government took additional precautions to prevent re-traumatizing children; for example, the law limited the interview of children to one time, law enforcement used child-friendly procedures, and the government had specialized law enforcement officials and courts for child victims. The government had specialized private victim interview rooms for adults and children, but GRETA and NGOs reported law enforcement was often unaware of them or did not use them. NGOs and GRETA noted, despite the legal entitlement, the government did not consistently provide interpreters to victims during trials or information in a language they understood, the responsibility of which would then pass to NGOs.

The law entitled foreign victims to a 30-day reflection period during which they could decide whether to file a complaint or participate in criminal justice proceedings; however, some authorities were not familiar with the reflection period and did not offer it. In 2023, the government issued less than five non-renewable temporary residence permits for the reflection period (eight in 2022), which allowed foreign victims to remain in the country legally and to work; to protect victims’ privacy, the government did not report specific data in statistics where the number of victims was less than five. Following the reflection period, the government issued residence permits only when victims cooperated with police investigations or enrolled in the government’s reintegration program. Temporary residence permits for trafficking victims, which allowed victims to work, were issued in one-year increments renewable throughout the duration of the criminal justice proceedings against the alleged trafficker. The government reported issuing 221 and renewing 313 temporary residence permits in 2023. If criminal justice proceedings resulted in a successful conviction, victims received a 10-year residence permit; the government reported issuing seven and renewing 72 such residence permits in 2023. Foreign victims of sex trafficking who did not want to participate in criminal justice proceedings could be granted temporary residency if they agreed to participate in the government’s “pathway out of prostitution” program, which required suspension of involvement in commercial sex. NGOs expressed concern that the conditions required to participate in the program, including the provision of documentation, were often difficult to meet and the program did not always adequately provide assistance to victims or address next steps beyond ceasing involvement in commercial sex. The government reported issuing 297 and renewing 692 temporary residence permits for victims of sex trafficking and individuals ceasing involvement in commercial sex, including potential trafficking victims, in 2023.

Foreign trafficking victims who did not participate in criminal justice proceedings could also be granted residence permits and were eligible for international protection under refugee status in cases where victims had a credible fear of retaliation, including from public authorities in their country of origin, if returned. The government also assisted foreign victims who chose to return to their country of origin. The government offered a specialized support program for asylum-seekers who were trafficking victims, but it required victims to be formally recognized; the program provided secure lodging, psychological support, and a path to request asylum. The government’s refugee agency advocated for temporary residence permits for trafficking victims to be available without formal victim status, as many foreign victims were afraid to report their trafficking situations. GRETA reporting cited instances where trafficking victims in the asylum system had numerous interactions with law enforcement but were never identified as victims, and where NGOs had identified trafficking victims, but law enforcement disagreed or deported the victim despite the victim having reported a potential trafficking crime.

The government did not make available international protection where victims had a credible fear of retaliation if returned to their country of origin, along with most other protections for asylum-seekers, to victims in the French department of Mayotte. Due to inconsistent screening of migrants on Mayotte, the government did not take effective measures to prevent the inappropriate penalization of potential victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. The government did not screen for trafficking among the 3,000 to 4,000 unaccompanied Comorian children at risk for sex and labor trafficking on Mayotte; the government reportedly provided only approximately 40 children per year with accommodation and education.

The government continued to lack comprehensive statistics on compensation, restitution, and damages awarded to trafficking victims. Victims who were citizens of France or the EU or had legal immigration status could bring a civil suit against a trafficker for damages, provided the crime was committed within French territory; however, the government has not reported granting compensation to any trafficking victims since 2021. Criminal courts could order traffickers to pay restitution to victims who were citizens of France or the EU, when the act was committed on French territory, or the victim had legal immigration status. The government did not report awarding restitution to any victims since 2022. GRETA and NGOs reported victim restitution remained rare and amounts for compensation and restitution, when issued, were small. GRETA previously reported when courts ordered traffickers to pay restitution or damages, victims often did not receive payment because courts did not fully enforce the payment, and traffickers often declared bankruptcy. Victims lacking legal status were ineligible for restitution or damages, potentially increasing their vulnerability to further exploitation. The government could provide confiscated assets from traffickers to victims or associations providing care, although the government has not reported doing so in several years. GRETA reported if prosecutors charged a suspect with a labor law violation instead of labor trafficking, victims would receive less compensation; NGOs noted a similar failure to recognize aggravating circumstances in trafficking crimes led to some traffickers being convicted of lesser “pimping” charges, which also affected the amount of compensation available to victims.

Although several provisions in French law allow for prosecutorial discretion, GRETA reported the lack of a specific provision protecting victims from being inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked left victims vulnerable to penalization, especially child victims of forced criminality and forced begging. The Ministry of Justice issued guidance to avoid prosecuting children for forced criminality, but this continued to leave adult victims vulnerable, and this request was not codified in law. The guidance instructed investigators to focus on punishing the organizers of criminal networks and to instead provide assistance to the child victims these networks forced to commit crimes; however, NGOs noted many children were still treated as “victim-perpetrators” who were granted victim status only after being convicted of unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. In anticipation of an increased risk of human trafficking during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games – particularly of forced criminality – the CNCDH called on authorities to shift away from this approach of treating child victims as juvenile delinquents to one that prioritized victim identification, protection, and support. Additionally, due to inadequate screening among vulnerable populations, the government did not take effective measures to prevent the inappropriate penalization of potential victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. NGOs reported some foreign sex trafficking victims were pursued by authorities for immigration violations without proper screening for trafficking indicators, particularly in the months leading up to the Olympics. GRETA and NGOs expressed concern the convictions for formally recognized trafficking victims could not be expunged, which could prevent some victims from accessing employment.

The government increased prevention efforts.

MIPROF continued to coordinate national anti-trafficking efforts. The anti-trafficking steering committee, comprising national, regional, and local governments and NGOs, met twice in 2024. The CNCDH continued to serve as the independent national rapporteur for trafficking, but resources to fulfill its mandate remained insufficient. The government began to implement the new 2024-2027 NAP. The government also implemented a specific NAP on child sex trafficking and launched a MIPROF-led national strategy to implement the plan in May 2024. In June 2024, the government launched an OCRTEH-led national plan to combat sex trafficking, which would serve as the enforcement mechanism for the 2024-2027 NAP and the child sex trafficking NAP. MIPROF continued the partnership it formed with a short-term rental platform ahead of the Olympics to raise awareness of human trafficking. Additionally, the government conducted an awareness campaign for visa applicants in French embassies throughout the world, as well as a targeted campaign to raise awareness of the risks of labor trafficking among Tunisians applying for visas in connection with the Olympics. Ac-Se continued to operate a hotline for trafficking victims, and the government operated hotlines and an online chat platform for victims of sexual violence and for children in abusive situations, including trafficking; however, the government did not report the number of trafficking-related calls or reports received. The government continued to fund a project by an international organization to combat child labor and forced labor in Madagascar.

The government did not report having a licensing or accreditation process for labor recruiters, and there was no law prohibiting or criminalizing recruitment companies from charging recruitment or placement fees to workers. Passport withholding, contract switching, and wage withholding – all key trafficking indicators – were illegal, and workers could pursue legal recourse. Fraudulent labor recruitment and the prevalent use of subcontractors, especially in agriculture, remained a concern and increased workers’ vulnerability to trafficking. The government made efforts to hold labor recruiters accountable by arresting suspected traffickers, but efforts were not comprehensive nor proportional with the suspected scale. In 2023, labor inspectors investigated 14 cases of possible labor exploitation involving 49 potential victims, of which authorities determined four cases were labor trafficking; three of these cases were referred to prosecutors. OCLTI arranged trainings for labor inspectors on human trafficking, although the CNCDH recommended increased training for all front-line officials to ensure labor trafficking cases were correctly categorized and not deemed as crimes with lesser penalties or administrative violations. Labor inspectors could identify potential trafficking victims during inspections and refer the cases to police but continued to lack the authority to formally identify trafficking victims. Labor inspectors also continued to lack the authority to inspect private homes, thereby limiting identification of domestic servitude. French law required companies with more than 5,000 employees to enact due diligence measures to identify risks and prevent serious harm to human rights, including labor exploitation and trafficking, by subcontractors and suppliers.

The government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, including by criminalizing the purchase of sex, regularly fining purchasers of commercial sex, and incorporating specific demand reduction objectives in national anti-trafficking strategies. OCRTEH continued cooperating with a major online short-term rental platform, which allowed law enforcement to inform rental hosts of indicators their property was being used to facilitate commercial sex and sex trafficking, including a special tab on the platform that allowed investigators to facilitate information requests; OCRTEH established new partnerships in 2024 with additional short-term rental platforms, hotels, and transport companies. The government made efforts to reduce the demand for participation in extraterritorial commercial child sexual exploitation and abuse by its citizens, including by conducting awareness campaigns at airports and with tourism operators and by including warnings on its website for travelers. OFMIN began work on a national platform to report instances of French citizens involved in child abuse, including trafficking crimes, abroad.

Trafficking affects all communities. This section summarizes government and civil society reporting on the nature and scope of trafficking over the past five years. Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in France. Previous NGO reports estimated one-third of sex traffickers were close family members of victims, although recent government data suggest the vast majority of victims now have no prior close relationship to traffickers. Traffickers increasingly exploit French girls in sex trafficking; NGOs estimate between 10,000 and 15,000 French teenagers are victims of child sex trafficking. In suburban areas, romance schemes continue to increase, whereby traffickers, many of them young French individuals, coerce vulnerable girls and women into sex trafficking through a sham romantic relationship; authorities estimate more than 50 percent of all trafficking victims in France are French girls and young women exploited by these small networks. Traffickers recruit girls in government-funded shelters and subsequently exploit them in sex trafficking. Commercial sex occurs almost exclusively in hotels and short-term apartment rentals, and sex traffickers increasingly use online platforms to recruit and exploit victims. Traffickers also use online platforms and remote monitoring to exert control over victims from anywhere in France and regularly move their operations to avoid detection.

Approximately half of trafficking victims in France are foreign nationals – primarily from the Caribbean, China, Romania, and South America – many of whom are exploited by transnational criminal networks located outside of France. Traffickers encourage foreign victims, particularly from Nigeria, to claim asylum to obtain legal residency and facilitate further exploitation. Sex trafficking networks controlled by Bulgarian, Chinese, French, Hungarian, Nigerian, Romanian, and South American traffickers exploit women through debt bondage, physical force, and psychological coercion, including the invocation of voodoo and drug addiction. Authorities note Nigerian gangs linked to the Black Axe, Arobaga Vikings, the Maphite, and the Eiye syndicate, once among the most prominent sex trafficking networks, have significantly decreased their activities in recent years. Chinese national criminal networks use as many as 400 massage parlors as fronts for the purchase of commercial sex, where employees are highly vulnerable to sex trafficking. Refugees, predominantly women and children, fleeing the Russia-Ukraine war are vulnerable to trafficking; traffickers reportedly attempt to recruit Ukrainian refugees in emergency shelters in France. French citizens sometimes engage in extraterritorial commercial child sexual exploitation and abuse abroad.

Labor trafficking most frequently occurs in domestic work, followed by construction, small commerce, agriculture, fishing, and livestock. Expansive criminal networks force children to commit crimes; most victims are from Romania and North Africa, although some are French citizens, and many have a prior relationship with the trafficker. Children in unsanctioned foster homes are at increased risk of forced labor. Seasonal migrant workers, particularly from Eastern Europe and North Africa, are vulnerable to labor trafficking while harvesting grapes for winemakers in the Bordeaux and Champagne regions and are often hired through subcontractors using fraudulent job descriptions and wages. Roma and unaccompanied children in France are vulnerable to forced begging and forced criminality; Romani parents often exploit their children in these crimes. Traffickers exploit persons with intellectual disabilities in forced labor in agriculture and begging. The estimated 3,000 to 4,000 unaccompanied Comorian children on the island of Mayotte, a French department, remain vulnerable to trafficking, exacerbated by the lack of protection services. Increasingly, women from Madagascar travel illegally to Mayotte seeking economic opportunity; many of these individuals become involved in commercial sex and are highly vulnerable to sex trafficking.