• Increase efforts to investigate trafficking crimes and prosecute and convict traffickers under the trafficking statute.
• Develop specific guidelines for identifying trafficking victims and screening among vulnerable populations and conduct joint trainings for relevant authorities, such as law enforcement and labor inspectors, on implementation.
• Enhance efforts to proactively identify victims by screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, including children, individuals in commercial sex, migrants, and refugees.
• Implement formal victim identification and referral mechanisms throughout the country, especially in rural areas, by establishing anti-trafficking working groups in all municipalities.
• Expand access and availability to specialized shelters for all trafficking victims and partner with NGOs providing services to trafficking victims.
• Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
• Strengthen procedures on how to protect victims from threats and re-victimization during investigations and prosecutions.
• Train investigators and prosecutors on victim-centered approaches and building cases, including collecting evidence to substantiate charges.
• Improve nationwide trafficking data collection across all government agencies to capture comprehensive information, including the number of identified victims.

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.

Articles 147 and 157 of the criminal code criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties ranging from two to 12 years’ imprisonment, which were sufficiently stringent and, with regard to sex trafficking, commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.

In 2024, authorities investigated 13 new trafficking cases (one sex trafficking, eight labor trafficking, and four unspecified forms of trafficking), compared with 10 investigations in 2023. Authorities did not initiate prosecution of any suspected traffickers, a significant decrease from 11 in 2023. Courts convicted 10 traffickers, the same as in 2023. Traffickers received prison sentences ranging from two to nine years. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes. Lithuanian authorities cooperated with foreign counterparts on 19 international investigations, which resulted in the identification and further investigation of 40 suspected traffickers.

The Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau and the General Prosecutor’s Office were responsible for investigating and prosecuting trafficking crimes. Neither the police nor the prosecutor’s office had specialized trafficking units. However, the prosecutor’s office had specialized prosecutors who worked throughout Lithuania investigating human trafficking, among other crimes, and the Police Organized Crime Investigation Unit conducted pre-trial trafficking investigations. Government representatives reported limited funding led to police utilizing funds from general budget allocations for pre-trial trafficking investigations. Government officials reported collecting adequate evidence remained a problem in prosecuting trafficking cases, particularly given difficulty investigating online cases and gathering digital evidence since traffickers increasingly use online methods that did not include physical coercion. NGOs reported police often started, but eventually terminated investigations, especially in rural areas, because they lacked the skills or experience to substantiate charges against some suspects. Observers noted some police officers lacked a sensitive, victim-centered approach when investigating trafficking cases. In 2024, the government provided a range of trafficking-related trainings for police, probation officers, border guards, labor inspectors, and social services on various topics, including anti-trafficking legislation, interviewing techniques, the identification of child victims, and victim assistance.

The government maintained victim protection efforts.

Authorities identified 12 trafficking victims (one sex trafficking, 10 labor trafficking, and one unspecified form of trafficking), compared with 16 victims identified in 2023. The vast majority of identified victims were foreign nationals exploited in Lithuania. Authorities did not identify any child trafficking victims in 2024 for the second consecutive year, compared with three in 2022. By comparison, NGOs identified 115 potential victims – all adults, including four persons with disabilities. NGO statistics included individuals with any presumed element of trafficking before police determined the circumstances of the crime. As in previous years, experts expressed concern the data collected across government agencies was inconsistent because of a lack of coordination among various institutions and did not provide a comprehensive picture of the trafficking situation. Authorities applied formal written recommendations for victim identification. According to NGOs, the recommendations did not always work effectively in practice; authorities often focused on assessing cases’ probability of successful investigation and prosecution rather than victim identification and referral to services. Furthermore, observers reported authorities in rural regions underutilized the recommendations and had less experience identifying victims. Some municipalities established anti-trafficking working groups, and authorities in those municipalities implemented the recommendations much more effectively. In 2024, 19 out of 60 municipalities had anti-trafficking working groups, the same as in 2023. The State Border Guard Service maintained separate written procedures to identify trafficking victims and vulnerabilities among foreign nationals and migrants; the Migration Department performed a secondary vulnerability screening on asylum-seekers. Similar to previous years, NGOs noted government efforts to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable groups were insufficient and authorities lacked the skills and experience required to conduct screening for trafficking among some vulnerable populations including migrants and individuals in commercial sex. According to NGOs, in practice, police fined individuals in commercial sex much more often than consumers of commercial sex acts. Advocates urged the government to abolish administrative liability for individuals in commercial sex and introduce criminal liability for consumers.

The government maintained a formal referral mechanism between the police and NGOs to refer victims to NGO-operated care facilities. Care facilities provided short- or long-term assistance, such as health care, psychological and social counseling, and shelter, to trafficking victims. According to NGOs, as with the identification recommendations, authorities in municipalities with anti-trafficking working groups implemented the victim referral mechanism more effectively, leading to different standards of care across the country. Lithuanian law entitled all victims of all crimes, including trafficking, to receive assistance before, during, and, if necessary, after criminal proceedings. Lithuanian law also entitled all crime victims, including trafficking victims, access to assistance, including counseling, regardless of whether victims sought assistance from or reported the crime to law enforcement. The government allocated €300,000 ($288,300) to NGOs for victim assistance, the same as in 2023. NGOs noted funding for victim assistance remained insufficient. Government-funded NGOs supported 241 trafficking victims, a significant increase compared with 182 in 2022. This number included individuals vulnerable to trafficking and identified victims from previous years who continued to receive assistance. There were no specialized shelters for trafficking victims. Consequently, NGOs reported they faced difficulties finding and arranging shelter for victims. When necessary, NGOs rented apartments that were not customized to the needs of trafficking victims and limited the ability to protect them from perpetrators. Authorities could place Lithuanian female trafficking victims in municipal and NGO-operated family support centers and social service centers for domestic violence victims. Five crisis centers provided assistance to male victims, including finding accommodations. Authorities could place child victims in foster care or community childcare homes, as there were no shelters specifically for child trafficking victims. Authorities referred child victims of sexual abuse, including trafficking, to the family care center for child victims and their mothers. At the center, experts conducted initial assessments and examinations of and made recommendations on assistance for child victims. Child protection services and NGOs provided a wide range of services to child victims, including medical, psychological, and psychiatric assistance. According to observers, identifying child victims and referring them to care remained a challenge, especially in rural areas. The government continued to slowly convert large childcare institutions into community homes to increase quality of care and decrease vulnerability.

Foreign trafficking victims had the same access to care as Lithuanian victims. The government accommodated vulnerable asylum-seekers, including potential trafficking victims, at the Naujininkai refugee accommodation center in Vilnius and unaccompanied children at the refugee reception center in Rukla. Legislation allowed foreign victims a 30-day reflection period to decide whether to cooperate with law enforcement; foreign victims cooperating with law enforcement could receive temporary residency. The government issued a residency permit to six trafficking victims in 2024. International organizations and civil society continued to criticize law enforcement and immigration officials’ implementation of 2023 amendments to the Law on the State Border and Its Protection, which authorized “pushbacks” of migrants into Belarus; such “pushbacks” potentially increased vulnerability to trafficking, exacerbated distrust of foreign officials, and deterred potential victims from reporting trafficking crimes or seeking assistance.

While the government ensured the physical safety of victims during criminal proceedings, according to NGOs, protection in some cases was insufficient, citing instances when traffickers verbally threatened victims to intimidate them into not cooperating with the authorities. Courts allowed victims to testify remotely and appoint individuals to serve as their representatives so their rights were defended without having to participate directly in court proceedings. In addition, authorities could interview child victims in child-friendly locations with a psychologist and a child protection specialist present, and courts only requested child victims’ presence in court in exceptional cases. Although the government provided legal representation to victims, observers reported suspected traffickers often hired the services of highly-paid, experienced lawyers, while the government provided victims’ with attorneys that lacked familiarity with the case and had little time to prepare for proceedings. Lithuanian law entitled trafficking victims to apply for financial compensation from their traffickers. If traffickers did not have the funds to compensate for damages, compensation could be provided from the state. The Ministry of Justice operated the State Victims of Crimes Fund; however, no victims received compensation from the fund in 2024. NGOs noted compensation was generally low and had little deterrent effect on traffickers, and the procedure to obtain state compensation was rather bureaucratic. In most cases, courts ordered restitution, and it was awarded. In 2024, courts ordered €20,500 ($19,700) for non-material damages to victims.

The government increased prevention efforts.

The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) led the government’s anti-trafficking efforts and chaired the anti-trafficking coordination commission, which provided government institutions and NGOs with anti-trafficking guidance and training; the commission did not meet in 2024. Experts noted not all institutions were active in anti-trafficking activities and the commission was ineffective in developing and streamlining cooperation between agencies and other stakeholders. After years of experts’ recommendations to establish an independent national rapporteur, in 2024, the government transferred the function of the existing national rapporteur from the MOI to the Seimas Ombudsperson’s Office and established its independence to actively monitor and assess anti-trafficking policies and actions and present independent opinions on issues. The government approved and began implementing its 2024-2026 NAP. The government reported spending €70,900 ($68,135) on NAP activities in 2024; other national government and local institutions continued implementing anti-trafficking activities funded from their own budgets but did not report the total amount spent in 2024. Experts expressed concern about limited financial and human resources dedicated to anti-trafficking activities and the impact on government’s efforts to combat the crime. In 2024, the government, in partnership with NGOs conducted various awareness campaigns on trafficking indicators and reporting mechanisms, primarily targeted toward schools, childcare institutions, and the general public. The MOI published awareness materials on its website for the public on anti-trafficking legislation, how to report trafficking cases, and assistance available. The SBGS provided training to foreign governments on the identification of potential human traffickers. The government funded an NGO-led, 24-hour national hotline to assist trafficking victims; the hotline received 160 calls in 2024, of which it referred five to service providers. The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.

Approximately 345 temporary employment agencies operated in Lithuania. To enable the State Labor Inspectorate (SLI) to better supervise the activities of these agencies and mitigate illegal practices, including labor trafficking, Lithuanian law required temporary employment agencies to provide monthly employment information to the SLI, including the number of temporary workers, and employ temporary workers for at least three consecutive months. Lithuanian law also prohibited worker-paid recruitment fees. However, experts noted, in practice, some employers required employees, especially third-country nationals, to pay recruitment fees. Labor inspectors investigated the use of such fees when conducting workplace inspections. To monitor potentially exploitative working conditions, SLI conducted regular inspections in at-risk sectors, including transport, service, manufacturing, hospitality, agriculture, and construction, and published anti-trafficking information on its website in four languages (Lithuanian, English, Russian, and Ukrainian). In addition, SLI maintained two specialized groups of inspectors in Vilnius and Kaunas to analyze labor trafficking cases, collect information, and cooperate with police and NGOs. SLI referred three potential human trafficking cases in 2024, a slight decrease from five potential cases in 2023.

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 Lithuania, and traffickers exploit victims from Lithuania abroad. Vulnerable groups include asylum-seekers, third-country nationals, stateless persons, persons who were homeless, and persons formerly in prison. Experts expressed individuals with intellectual disabilities, psychological conditions, and/or alcohol or drug addiction are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. In addition, many adult and teenage victims are survivors of sexual abuse and/or violence or grow up in orphanages, placing them at greater risk for trafficking. Traffickers also target the unemployed or individuals from low-income and at-risk families. Traffickers increasingly use the internet and social media to recruit victims through fake job advertisements and exploit victims in commercial sex. Traffickers exploit Lithuanian men and boys in criminal activities, such as shoplifting, and Lithuanian women and children in commercial sex in Scandinavia and Western Europe. NGOs note traffickers continue to exploit women and girls in sex trafficking in the country. Reports indicate foreign workers from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus are at risk of labor trafficking in the service, manufacturing, hospitality, agriculture, and construction sectors. Companies operating in Lithuania increasingly exploit third-country nationals in the transportation industry. Employers use illegal or verbal contracts and confiscate drivers’ identification cards to establish debt-based coercion. The 1,260 children institutionalized in childcare institutions are vulnerable to trafficking. As a result of the Lukashenka regime facilitating illegal migration flows across the Lithuania-Belarus border, migrants from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East remain vulnerable to trafficking. Separately, more than 94,000 refugees fleeing the Russia-Ukraine war and arriving in Lithuania are highly vulnerable to trafficking; approximately 44,000 refugees remain in country.