Personal and social vulnerability

• Belonging to a particularly vulnerable group (e.g. irregular residence/employment status, homelessness, ethnic minority, disability, poverty)
• No/little knowledge of one's own rights, local laws or language
• Fear or mistrust of authorities
• Person appears to be under the influence of drugs
• Part of a closed community with no contact with the outside world
• Recruitment via online advertising and adverts

Coercion, control and violence

• Person is monitored and controlled (in person or digitally)
• Isolation, restriction of freedom of movement/decision-making, person is accompanied everywhere
• The person concerned lets others answer when addressed
• The person experiences coercion, duress, violence (physical, psychological, spiritual) / threats of violence against themselves or their loved ones
• The person concerned is threatened with the publication/disclosure of information about them or with being reported to the authorities
• The person has been abducted

Psychological and physical signs

• Behaviour appears anxious, intimidated, restless, nervous, insecure, suspicious, avoids eye contact
• Visible injuries or malnutrition
• Signs of psychological or sexual violence
• Dependence on perpetrators (e.g. emotional, financial, spiritual, material)
• Person appears to be instructed/as if someone has told them exactly what to say or do

Living situation

• Inappropriate or overcrowded accommodation
• Sleeping at the workplace
• Disorientation (e.g. no knowledge of where they are staying or their own address)
• Person has been deceived about living, working or living conditions

Working conditions and exploitation

• Forced to work, no or hardly any days off, extremely long working hours
• No or hardly any wages
• Person is not allowed to dispose of money themselves
• The person has to pay off high debts (e.g. for travel, accommodation, agency fees)
• Person is afraid of punishment if they leave the exploitative situation
• Control by employers over basic necessities such as food, hygiene, medical care

Documents and legal status

• Important documents have been taken away from the person or are forged
• Fear of deportation or disclosure of residence status
• Forced to lie to authorities
• The person concerned is intimidated with police reports or (alleged) contacts with authorities

Working conditions

• Long working hours, hardly any days off
• The person was not aware beforehand that they would be working in prostitution  
• The person was aware that they would be working in prostitution, but not under what conditions
• Deception regarding the content or legality of the employment contract, legal documents or obtaining legal migration status
• Non-compliance with labour law principles (e.g. registration, contract, social security, possibility of reporting sick)
• Those affected cannot articulate which sexual practices are (not) offered or are not allowed to determine this themselves (especially violent or unprotected sexual intercourse)
• The person does not determine the prices themselves and must hand over their earnings
• A fixed minimum amount must be earned
• The brothel operator/pimp has paid a certain amount for the person, which they must repay
• Frequent changes of workplace (sometimes together with other affected persons) and/or ignorance of their current whereabouts 
• Brothels or similar establishments that exclusively recruit persons with certain characteristics (e.g. nationality, gender identity, age)
• The person is forced to recruit, train or control other people for the sex trade
• The workplace is also the place of residence

Personal situation

• Minor age (necessarily illegal)
• The person appears frightened
• Exploitation of vulnerability (e.g. family circumstances, poverty, residence status, sexual orientation, gender identity)
• No language skills or language skills consisting solely of sex-related words 
• Accommodation is visited by a large number of different people
• Person often wears provocative clothing (often not appropriate for the weather)
• The person has recently acquired several (expensive) bags, shoes, clothes and accessories
• No free disposal/management of financial resources
• Excessive emotional dependence on partner
• Partner expects the person to have sex with strangers
• Expectation to pay off (high) debts of the partner through prostitution (see Loverboy method LINK)
• Nude photos/videos have been taken of the person (without their consent) and are being used as leverage
• Online profiles are controlled and managed by others

Coercion, control, violence

• Person is threatened, abused
• Violence against family (physical violence or threats thereof)
• Threats to inform family or acquaintances about the activity
• Threats of (even) worse working conditions
• Threats to report to the authorities
• Constant supervision by third parties
• Tattoos used by exploiters to mark victims
• Exploitation of cultural or religious beliefs (e.g. voodoo, juju) to exert pressure
• Pregnant women are forced to have abortions and are accompanied by someone who communicates with the medical staff

Employment contract and documents

• No (written) employment contract
• Person does not know or understand the contents of the employment contract (e.g. due to lack of language skills or cognitive barriers)
• Contract replacement upon commencement of employment (e.g. new contract with worse conditions)
• Deception or deliberate provision of false/unclear information (e.g. about working conditions, wages, living situation and legal status)
• No payslips or receipts
• No work permit
• Illegal employment
• Personal documents are confiscated or retained

Wages

• Wages are withheld, paid late or not paid at all
• Excessive deductions from wages (e.g. for accommodation, equipment or agency fees)
• Payment in kind instead of money
• No compensation or remuneration for overtime
• Manipulation of wages or unclear calculation
• Wages are paid to third parties or transferred to accounts without access by those concerned

Working conditions

• Excessive working hours or working days without breaks
• Work in dangerous, arduous or hazardous conditions without adequate protective equipment
• No social security (e.g. health or accident insurance)
• No possibility to terminate the employment or leave the workplace of one's own accord
• Employment in the low-wage sector (especially agriculture, construction, catering, care, cleaning, transport, the meat industry or the service sector)

Accommodation

• Poor, overcrowded or unhygienic accommodation
• No freedom to choose accommodation, heavy dependence on employer
• Accommodation and sleeping quarters at the workplace (e.g. in storage rooms)

Personal situation

• Language barriers and lack of social networks
• Irregular migration status
• Exploitation of personal, family or economic vulnerabilities
• Threats against the person concerned or their family
• Debt bondage or working off advance payments

Coercion and control

• No right to have a say in the type of work performed
• Coercion to tolerate violations of the law or misconduct by the employer
• Threats of prosecution or even worse working and living conditions in the event of rule violations or resistance
• Control and violence against the person concerned

Indicators:
What signs might indicate human trafficking?

Further lists of indicators

Indicators specific to children

Coercion and control

• Forced to beg (possibly due to cultural, ethnic or religious practices)
• Income must be handed over to third parties
• Surveillance during begging activities
• A third person intervenes when the person is approached
• The person is punished if they do not bring in enough money
• The person lives with members of the group

Potential characteristics of affected persons

• Vulnerable people (e.g. children, elderly people or migrants with physical disabilities or mutilations) beg in public places
• The person lives in unacceptable conditions.
• Children of the same nationality or ethnicity in large groups with few adults.
• Minors who live with adults who are not their parents.
• Adults or minors who are regularly caught shoplifting.
• Begging for hours despite adverse weather conditions
• Persons who display infirmities or disabilities even in unacceptable conditions (e.g. extreme cold)

Other characteristics

• Persons move in larger groups and are taken together to specific locations to beg (e.g. on trains, at stations or in public places)
• Large groups of children with the same adult guardian
• Involvement in activities of organised criminal networks
• Evidence of travel through several countries or previous begging activities in other countries
• New increase in begging in certain locations/regions

Coercion and control

• Forced participation in illegal activities (e.g. theft, robbery, extortion or fraud such as financial or identity fraud, smuggling of migrants, production/smuggling/sale of drugs)
• Abuse of cultural, ethnic or religious practices to justify exploitation
• Forced social security fraud
• Forced sale of illegal items
• Forced marriage to third-country nationals for their residence status
• Surveillance of other exploited persons on behalf of the exploiters
• Punishment for non-compliance with requirements
• Illegal activities committed are used as a means of pressure

Potential characteristics of affected persons

• Minors who possess or sell drugs
• Persons with physical impairments that indicate deliberate mutilation
• Unaccompanied minors who were allegedly ‘found’ by adults of the same origin
• Groups of minors with the same (alleged) guardian
• Minors living in households with unrelated adults
• Regularly caught shoplifting, both adults and minors

Other characteristics

• Group movements on public transport (e.g. conspicuous walking up and down trains)
• Participation in activities of organised criminal gangs, where voluntariness is often difficult to discern
• Travelling through several countries in larger groups

Environment of the affected person

• Parents or relatives exert strong pressure on the person regarding the choice of partner (as a partner has already been chosen)
• The person is heavily controlled or monitored by the family (e.g. restriction of freedom of movement, monitoring of mobile phone or social media)
• Pressure is exerted with the threat of loss or ‘defilement’ of the family's ‘honour’ in the event of resistance
• Relationships outside the family or community are prohibited (e.g. social status, origin, religious beliefs)
• Sudden trip abroad (often with the aim of getting married)
• Threats, blackmail and/or violence, including murder, if resistance is offered to marriage plans
• A family member of the person has already been forced into marriage in the past
• Expectation of traditional role models
• No acceptance of different sexual orientations (e.g. homosexuality, bisexuality) and gender identities (e.g. trans* identity)
• Focus on ‘virginity’ in girls/young women
• Payment of bride price
• Dress codes and ban on make-up

Behaviour and statements of the person concerned

• Minors talk about planned marriage
• Fear of an upcoming event (e.g. holiday trip or family celebration)
• Fear of leaving an existing marriage (e.g. due to debts incurred by the marriage broker or travel expenses), sometimes despite experiencing severe violence
• Hints about a planned marriage without consent or against their will
• Person has no influence on the choice of partner
• Appears fearful and intimidated
• Shows signs of psychological distress (e.g. depressive moods, sleep disorders or self-harm)
• Withdrawal from social environment (e.g. school, training or circle of friends)
• Sudden decline in school performance
• Unexplained absences from school/training/work
• Person changes clothes at school/training/work before going home and/or removes make-up
• Dropping out of school or training without a comprehensible reason
• Sudden deregistration from place of residence or disappearance from institutions
• Requests for help or advice, often covert or indirectly formulated

• Compulsion to give up the child for adoption
• Circumvention of official adoption procedures
• Forced or unwanted separation from one's own child
• Lack of information or deliberate misinformation (e.g. duration of separation, contact with the child, legal framework)
• Promise of financial benefits in connection with giving up the child for adoption
• Unlawful alteration of the child's personal data  
• Falsification of family circumstances
• False information about the child's origin or family circumstances
• Taking children from abroad
• Possibility of selecting characteristics of the adopted child (skin/hair/eye colour, gender, etc.)
• High payments in connection with the adoption
• Adoptive families unaware of the illegality
• Exploitation of the vulnerability of the child's family of origin
• Pregnancy planned for the purpose of later adoption
• Rape for the purpose of pregnancy
• Faking the death of a child at birth for the purpose of illegal adoption
• Abuse of adoption for later illegal organ removal

• Coercion into surrogacy
• Promises of (financial) benefits in connection with pregnancy
• Coercion or deception in the decision to become pregnant
• Coercion to give up the newborn for adoption
• Unlawful alteration of a child's personal data
• Forced or unwanted separation from one's own child 
• Rape for the purpose of pregnancy 
• No legal protection or transparency 
• Prohibited in countries such as Germany 
• Exploitation of vulnerable life situations of the surrogate mother
• Lack of information or deliberate misinformation (e.g. about medical risks, legal framework)
• Several pregnant women or surrogate mothers living in the same accommodation at the same time
• Recruitment under the pretext of illness and allegedly necessary treatment

Medical signs

• Coercion to undergo egg retrieval or artificial insemination (IVF)
• Forced abortion (surgical or medical)
• Secret or illegal medical procedures, often in private clinics
• No freedom of movement, no control over diet, medical care or physical activity

• Coercion to donate an organ or stem cells
• Promises/deception regarding financial benefits in connection with organ removal
• Lack of knowledge about the details of a medical visa
• Recruitment under the pretext of illness and allegedly necessary treatment
• Abduction followed by medical intervention for organ removal without the knowledge of the person concerned
• Abuse of adoption for subsequent illegal organ removal
• Coercion to settle (own/family) debts by selling organs

Medical signs

• Uninformed consent to organ removal
• Coercion to stem cell removal
• Secret or illegal medical procedures, often in private clinics
• No freedom of movement, no control over nutrition, medical care or physical activity
• Use of organs for witchcraft, religious rituals or unauthorised medical practices