The government decreased victim protection efforts. In 2022, cantonal authorities identified 38 victims under Article 182, a decrease compared with 62 in 2021, 53 in 2020, 83 in 2019, and 64 in 2018. The government reported identifying 11 labor trafficking victims and 27 sex trafficking victims. Of the 38 trafficking victims identified by the government in 2022, the government reported that one was a child and two were Swiss. The government reported identifying four trafficking victims within the asylum system. Authorities attributed the lower number of victims identified to the difficulty of detecting sex trafficking during the pandemic and traffickers’ increasing mobility. The federal government had a national victim identification mechanism, standardized questions, and a regional referral mechanism; but implementation was inconsistent and varied by canton. The national action plan instructed cantons to implement guidelines on victim identification; cantons applied these differently, having some liberty to adjust for regional differences. The government used various means to identify victims abroad. Media reported a 50 percent increase in the number of sex trafficking victims identified between 2019 to 2021. NGOs continued to assert officials prioritized the identification of sex trafficking victims over labor trafficking. Law enforcement authorities acknowledged this issue and noted additional resources and specialization across all cantons would allow law enforcement to better address labor trafficking within the country. The canton of Bern continued joint checks with police, migration authorities, and the labor inspectorate to identify labor trafficking victims. Standardized identification procedures for children were used inconsistently.
While authorities continued to note the growing number of potential trafficking victims among asylum-seekers during the reporting period, they officially identified relatively few victims. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) did not report officially identifying any trafficking victims in 2022, compared with zero in 2021, four in 2020, and one in 2019. SEM continued to publish a list of indicators to identify and detect potential trafficking victims and trained staff on identification. SEM reported providing potential trafficking victims with a pamphlet on their rights and free legal advice, during their hearing to determine if they were victims. The government’s border police screened newly arrived asylum-seekers alone to eliminate the potential influence of traffickers operating within migrant camps, and specialists at SEM ensured identification and coordination practices remained consistent across the federal asylum reception centers. In the previous reporting period, the Asylum and Human Trafficking working group published its recommendations for improving the identification of trafficking victims in the asylum system – many of which the government undertook. The government considered further reforms to improve early detection but did not enact them by the end of the reporting period. Civil society expressed concern that the government remained without a national victim identification mechanism for trafficking victims in the asylum system and urged increased national coordination and for law enforcement to take a more victim-centered and trauma informed approach to victim interviews. Trafficking victims often remained unidentified by the government within the asylum system and civil society urged the government to involve them at the earliest stage possible and at asylum hearings to ensure victims of trafficking avoided deportation. Civil society also criticized the government for its screening procedures which may have resulted in misidentifying unaccompanied asylum-seeking children as adults, which allowed authorities to transfer them back to their country of first entrance or into accommodation facilities for adults.
The government reported referring 37 victims to services in 2022. In 2022, the federal government granted 434,809 Swiss francs ($471,080) to 7 NGOs for victim assistance, and public awareness activities, compared with 518,599 Swiss francs ($561,860) in 2021 from the federal, cantonal, and municipal governments. Civil society continued to assert funding was insufficient. One government funded NGO provided assistance to at least 96 potential trafficking victims in 2022. This was a decrease compared with 207 victims in 2021, 174 in 2020 and 142 in 2019. NGOs did not report the nationality of victims assisted nor whether victims were referred to care by civil society, medial staff, or police, respectively. Specialized services were available with support from the cantons, FedPol, SEM, and the DFAE; with 37 victims receiving these services in 2022. Additionally, the government reported providing trafficking-specific counseling in 271 sessions for trafficking victims, relatives, and caretakers in 2021, the most recent year data was available; this was an increase compared with 254 in 2020, 193 in 2019, and 186 in 2018.
Victim care varied across the cantons and civil society continued to criticize the absence of a national victim protection program to ensure uniformity in victim assistance across the country, asserting this could lead to re-traumatization for victims. Victim assistance is mandatory by law for all cantons and was available in at least 24 out of the 26 cantons, providing a wide-ranging network of care facilities mainly tailored to the needs of women and children; however, trafficking specific services varied significantly from canton to canton. The two rural cantons without victim assistance would reportedly transfer identified victims to larger cantons with the capacity to provide assistance, though they remained responsible for providing the funding to do so. Authorities noted cantonal conferences sought to harmonize the provision of services across cantons. Cantonal authorities maintained jurisdiction on providing protection for victims, and trafficking victims were entitled to utilizing free and immediate assistance centers that varied by canton. Cantonal authorities oversaw day-to-day victim referrals, while roundtables coordinated referral mechanisms on a larger scale. Eighteen of 26 cantons had roundtables, which coordinated victim referral mechanisms; roundtables included police, prosecutors, and NGOs. NGOs reported FedPol did not hold inter-cantonal roundtables in 2022 and eight cantons remained without roundtables for organizing victim identification and referral. NGOs continued to raise concerns about the discrepancies between cantonal efforts to identify, assist, and protect victims, noting smaller cantons did not have the resources or means to properly assist victims, which could result in re-traumatization. At least 13 cantons maintained formal referral and cooperation agreements with NGO-operated victim assistance facilities that specialized in trafficking.
The Swiss Victim Assistance Law entitled all adult trafficking victims access to government-funded women’s shelters or assistance centers for victims of abuse and to special safeguards during criminal proceedings; however, the government did not report how many trafficking victims received shelter or special safeguards during the reporting period. At least four government-funded and NGO-operated shelters continued to provide specialized assistance for victims of trafficking, two of which provided services to children. However, GRETA and civil society reported the government did not have specialized shelters or assistance for child victims of trafficking, with such children instead being received in shelters focused on abuse protection and treatment in general; options for accommodation for children varied by canton. Potential trafficking victims undergoing an asylum determination process are housed in asylum reception centers until SEM assigns them a canton. With the noted variances, most cantons generally provided victims with a minimum of four weeks of emergency lodging and living allowance, several hours of consultations with a lawyer, mental health counseling and medical treatment, transportation, and translation services. If recovery required more time, the victim assistance law obligated the government to assume the additional cost of longer-term care. Civil society stated services for labor trafficking victims were limited and services for child and male victims were inadequate. The government provided male victims temporary shelter in hotels or government-funded NGO-operated shelters in at least five cantons. Victims could move freely in and out of shelters. A variety of sources referred victims to NGO services, including other NGOs, government-operated counseling centers, government offices, foreign consulates, police and judicial authorities, health care sector employees, lawyers, and family.
While victim assistance was not dependent on cooperation with law enforcement, some NGOs expressed concern authorities sometimes withheld a residence permit or financial assistance, to pressure victims into cooperating with law enforcement. NGOs also noted authorities do not always follow trauma-informed practices for male victims, for example, requiring victims to sit in the same room as their trafficker during a police interview. While NGOs confirmed trafficking victims had access to victim-witness assistance programs if the government referred them, they noted victims were sometimes unaware of their entitlement or it was unavailable to them if they were exploited in trafficking in another country. The government reported witness protection was offered in one case in 2022. To encourage victims’ cooperation with law enforcement, the law allowed victims to keep their identities confidential if they were in danger and to testify in a separate room from the defendant or by video. The government prohibited cross-examinations for child trafficking victims, testimonies were videotaped, and authorities conducted no more than two interviews to minimize re-traumatization.
The government also facilitated additional assistance to foreign victims of trafficking, which included financial support and residence permits; however, authorities granted few long-term residence permits and instead provided victims with repatriation assistance. Cantonal immigration authorities were required to grant victims a minimum 30-day reflection period to decide whether to participate in judicial proceedings against their traffickers, but longer stays generally required cooperation with law enforcement. During the reflection period, victims were able to obtain victim protection and assistance services from NGOs. Foreign victims who were willing to cooperate with law enforcement could be granted, for the duration of the investigation and criminal proceedings, up to a one-year residence permit, after which victims were required to depart the country. NGOs asserted the uncertainty around whether or not victims were permitted to stay in Switzerland following an investigation disincentivized victims from collaborating with authorities. NGOs stated victims who gave unclear statements to law enforcement due to trauma suffered were often denied residence permits. The government could also grant long-term residence permits, also known as hardship visas, which are mainly used for cases where there was a significant risk of re-trafficking, although the government did not report providing long-term residence permits during the reporting period. While the government had a national guideline to ensure uniformity in the granting of residence permits across the country, in practice, the approval of the permits varied by canton. In 2022, the government provided 17 victims of trafficking assistance to return to their countries of origin. One NGO reported the government repatriated one trafficking victim in 2022 without screening her for trafficking, without recognizing her as a victim of trafficking.
In the prior reporting period, civil society noted unaccompanied children disappeared from asylum centers, often attempting to seek work. GRETA urged the government to address the lack of adequate accommodation and supervision for unaccompanied children, and lack of a systematic approach in its 2019 report. Civil society criticized the government for not systematically referring foreign victims to services once identified and often shifting responsibility to the legal advisor. The victim’s legal advisor could refer victims to NGOs for assistance, but the government did not offer financial support for victim assistance, according to an NGO. NGOs and GRETA continued to report asylum accommodations and psychological counseling in asylum centers were inappropriate and insufficient for assisting trafficking victims. NGOs reported some accommodations were no longer gender-sensitive, leading to increased harassment and decreased freedom of movement, particularly for female and LGBTQI+ individuals. The guide on accommodation requirements for asylum-seekers at federal asylum centers remained pending during the reporting period. The government reported victim services were only available to victims who experienced trafficking within Switzerland; however, NGOs argued there were exceptions to this policy under Article 17 of the Swiss Victim Aid Act, which were not uniformly applied. NGOs urged the government to enact improved protections and assistance for victims who experienced trafficking abroad; although the Swiss Parliament considered a proposal to enable victims of certain offenses abroad to receive assistance, this had not passed by the end of the reporting period. GRETA noted cantons often did not transfer victims detected in the asylum system to specialized trafficking victim support centers because of financial constraints and instead continued to host them in asylum centers.
The government continued to lack comprehensive statistics on restitution and damages awarded to victims and did not require prosecutors to systematically request restitution during criminal trials. Trafficking victims could receive restitution from the trafficker through criminal proceedings. In 2022, courts ordered restitution be paid to at least one victim. Still, GRETA and civil society noted restitution amounts were insufficient. NGOs and GRETA reported it was often a difficult and lengthy process for victims to obtain restitution from traffickers and few victims received the full amount. Additionally, the government did not report whether any victims brought suits and were consequently awarded damages in 2022 nor did the government report awarding compensation to any victims in 2022. Although the government continued to screen for trafficking victims, and had a legal provision prohibiting the punishment of victims of crime, NGOs asserted penalization of unidentified victims was common, with victims frequently fined or charged with petty crimes, violation of local commercial sex regulations, or immigration and labor laws. Civil society asserted certain minorities are more likely to face punitive action, including male victims, who are rarely recognized as victims. NGOs reported improvements in non-penalization of victims when the government increased its cooperation with civil society. Civil society urged the government to involve them at the earliest stages possible, as screenings by law enforcement, immigration, and social services remained inadequate, particularly in cases of labor exploitation. NGOs and GRETA urged the government to adopt a provision on the non-punishment of trafficking victims, in addition to the general clause on non-punishment contained in the Swiss Criminal Code, and GRETA encouraged additional training of public prosecutors in this regard.