Top 10 Human Trafficking Cities in the World in 2018

The beginning of a new year is the time when we reflect at the outcomes of the previous one, so here are top 10 human trafficking cities in the world in 2018. Let’s take a look if we have improved ourselves, or maybe not.

Where does human trafficking occur? The right answer would be – everywhere. There isn’t a single country in the world which isn’t dealing with the modern form of slavery, because that’s exactly what trafficking is. According to human trafficking statistics, this type of crime is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world, which is probably due to the fact that human trafficking exists in many forms of abuse. The prevalent one is sex trafficking, though there are other forms such as labor trafficking and organ harvesting. The latter implies removing organs from a victim in order to be sold to those in need of a transplant (according to human trafficking facts for 2018, kidneys are the most wanted “goods”). According to Human Rights First, a non-profit organization, there are about 25 million modern slaves around the planet, which is absolutely horrifying. Even more so, as the exact number of victims is difficult to determine. However, what can be said with certainty is that the majority of the victims are female (about 70%).

How can I help stop human trafficking? In short, you should pay attention to the warning signs and notify the police or another authority. Healthcare workers should be extra careful to notice any signs of abuse with their patient. As for the rest of us, there are a couple of red flags to spot. For example, if a worker is living with their employee, they can’t communicate in private, appear submissive or afraid, and so on. Admittedly, it’s not so easy to prove, and this is probably why a lot of the human trafficking cases are left unresolved, or there is no persecution.

It should be noted that even the most developed countries in the world are involved in human trafficking statistics worldwide. No country is immune to this grave issue. Not even the United States, which also battles all forms of human trafficking. As for the top 10 states for human trafficking, the US Department of State has already published their report about human trafficking in the United States in 2018 in the form of Trafficking in Persons Report 2018. This source was used to gather details about the countries on our list, as well as Refworld.

If you are interested in the older statistics, you can take a look at top 15 cities with highest human trafficking in the world in 2017. We have already made an analysis of the USA in 15 top US cities for human trafficking in 2018, too, and now we’ll see where we stand globally.

Before we finally introduce top cities for human trafficking 2018, we feel obliged to share how we comprised our list. Firstly, we checked with The Economist about the countries which are at the very bottom when it comes to fighting human trafficking, in this way or the other, and the majority of them belong to the notorious Tier 3  countries, too. As for which cities are the most susceptible to human trafficking, we have concluded it is best to focus on the most populous cities in the country (we gathered the data on population at Mongabay). The reason for this somewhat straightforward criterion lies in the fact that the majority of trafficking victims remain in their own homeland, despite the fact that you have probably expected them to be transported to a foreign land. In addition, the fact that the biggest city in the country can be several times bigger than the next in line definitely goes hand in hand with our assumption that the capital is the biggest pool. There is definitely a higher chance of criminal activity in a city which has 331,700 inhabitants, than in the one which has 71,000 (as it is the case for the country of Burundi).

So, without further ado, here are top 10 human trafficking cities in the world in 2018, given in a random order. We advise you to be extra cautious if you are to visit them, and especially if you are female, as women and girls are the most common victims.

10. Nouakchott, Mauritania

The major reason why slavery is a burning issue in the country is that slavery is a kind of tradition. There are even traditional slave castes. The criminal activities are deeply rooted in society, with little chances of ending.

9. Khartoum, Sudan

The country’s government forces are infamous for their child soldiers, i.e. forcing children to fight.

8. Brazzaville, Congo

The capital of Congo belongs to the top 10 human trafficking cities in the world, too. It is dubious whether the children exploitation has really decreased, or the abusers have only found better ways of masking the trafficking.

7. Bujumbura, Burundi

Interestingly enough, the government of Burundi hasn’t prosecuted or convicted any people for human trafficking three years in a row.

6. Bata, Equatorial Guinea

Similarly to the previous country, Equatorial Guinea also turns the blind eye when it comes to human trafficking.

5. Tehran, Iran

The city with over 7 million residents made it to our top 10 human trafficking cities in the world in 2018. The second biggest city is almost four times smaller. One of the biggest problems for the trafficking victims is the fact that they are considered guilty of the offenses, even though they were forced to break the law.

4. Bangui, Central African Republic

Despite the efforts to end the existence of child soldiers and establishing certain organizations against human trafficking, nobody has been charged or prosecuted.

3. Asmara, Eritrea

According to human trafficking statistics for 2018, forced labor is the greatest issue.

2. Tripoli, Libya

As one of the centers for refugees and migrants, Tripoli is an easy target for a lot of traffickers, who even disguise themselves as UN representatives.

1.Pyongyang, North Korea

It is no surprise that Pyongyang belongs to top 10 human trafficking cities in the world in 2018 considering the country’s “tradition”. Namely, North Korea has been declared as the worst human trafficking country in the world for the 16th year in a row by the US State Department. Forced labor is the main issue.