Only 23 men and nine women were arraigned in court during 2009 and 2010 on human trafficking charges, Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg said on Monday.

Of these, nine men and two women were found guilty.

Dr Buttigieg also announced that although victims of human trafficking were mostly vulnerable individuals, the majority were women and girls.

In fact, she said, 66 per cent of victims were women and only 12 per cent were men.

Between 2004 and 2007, the Maltese courts found that 18 women were victims of human trafficking.

Dr Buttigieg said there was more to human trafficking than just the transaction process. One had also to focus on forms of modern slavery which were created through human trafficking, like sexual exploitation. This was an international problem which also affected Malta.

Apart from making up the majority of victims, women participated to an alarming extent in the perpetration of the offence. It has been proven that children and other young women tend to trust another female rather than a male counterpart. One also had to ensure that persons who brought foreigners to seek jobs in Europe were doing so on legitimate grounds.

Women participated to an alarming extent in perpetrating the offence

She said that abuse mostly occurred due to trust being instilled in one person of the same nationality.

A lot of young girls are stolen or given away by their parents in arranged marriages later on.

Education would definitely help to bring about a culture change, she said.

Human trafficking claims around 1.2 million children each year, while it generates €25 billion globally. It was much easier to enact laws and prevent it, rather than saving a child after it has been engulfed in a circle of vice, she said.

Everything should be done to have decent conditions of work, curb abuses and safeguard workers’ rights.

She urged the Government to adopt the UN guiding principles on business and human rights, especially in its dealings with governments well known as human rights violators.

Malta was geographically in a position that could facilitate human trafficking and so one had to be more cautious.

Concluding, Ms Buttigieg said the focus should not only be on irregular immigration, but also on people who enter Malta in a regular way but end up in nightmarish situations.