Females account for 80 percent of human trafficking in EU

A European Union (EU) report said on Thursday more than 30 victims of human trafficking were ‎registered in the 28-nation bloc between 2010 and 2012, 80 percent of whom were women and girls. ‎The report on the EU's 2012-2016 strategy for the eradication of human trafficking was presented by ‎Myria Vassiliadou, the EU's anti-trafficking coordinator, at an European parliament (EP) meeting. ‎Members of European Parliament expressed concern about human trafficking to use women as ‎surrogate mothers and sources of organ harvesting. They called for combating activities such as ‎prostitution and raising awareness of the victims' rights. "Trafficking was a very profitable modern form ‎of slavery," Marijana Petir, a Hungarian member of the European People's Party said. According to the ‎report, among the 30,146 victims registered in 2010-2012, 69 percent of them were trafficked for ‎sexual exploitation. Up to 95 percent of the female victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation. 71 ‎percent of male victims were trafficked for labor. In April of 2011, the EP and the Council of Europe ‎adopted a directive on preventing and combating human trafficking. ‎ (Source: Xinhua)