[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

SLOVAK REPUBLIC (Tier 2) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of the Slovak Republic, or Slovakia, does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.  The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Slovakia remained on Tier 2.  These efforts included investigating and prosecuting more suspected traffickers and establishing two anti-trafficking law enforcement working groups with Germany.  The government continued to make efforts to prevent the trafficking of vulnerable refugees fleeing Ukraine, including by launching a public awareness campaign.  The government launched a separate anti-trafficking public awareness campaign.  The government assisted more trafficking victims, increased funding for victim assistance, and offered two trafficking-focused courses to prosecutors and judges.  However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.  Courts convicted significantly fewer traffickers and judges continued to issue lenient sentencing; for the second time in the past five years, all convicted traffickers received fully suspended sentences and served no jail time.  This undercut efforts to hold traffickers accountable, weakened deterrence, created potential security and safety concerns for victims, and was not equal to the seriousness of the crime.  Gaps in victim identification persisted, and the government did not adequately and proactively identify foreign national or Slovak trafficking victims within the country.  The government did not report awarding restitution to any trafficking victims and reported awarding compensation to only one victim.  Police remained the sole entity able to formally identify trafficking victims, which may have hindered victim identification and deterred some victims from seeking assistance.

Prioritized Recommendations

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms.

Continue to increase training for judges and prosecutors with a focus on a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach to law enforcement efforts and trials as well as on the use of psychological coercion and fraud as means of trafficking.

Improve sentencing practices by training judges about the severity of trafficking crimes and the importance of applying the stringent penalties available under the trafficking law.

Improve efforts to proactively identify victims within the country, especially foreign nationals, asylum-seekers, and Roma, and increase training for government officials, particularly border police, labor inspectors, and municipal law enforcement, on proactive victim identification among vulnerable groups.

Allow formal victim identification by and referral from entities other than the police, including civil society, social workers, and healthcare professionals.

Improve the quality of human trafficking training courses available to prosecutors and judges.

Increase awareness of and trafficking survivor access to damages and compensation and increase prosecutors’ efforts to systematically request restitution for survivors during criminal trials.

Ensure labor trafficking is investigated and prosecuted as a trafficking crime and not pursued as an administrative labor code violation.

Increase migrant worker protections by increasing efforts to monitor labor recruitment companies, including prosecutions for fraudulent labor recruitment.

Continue efforts to inform foreign worker groups of worker rights and responsibilities and victim assistance resources in their native languages.

Enforce the law prohibiting recruitment fees charged to workers and ensure any recruitment fees are paid by employers.

Continue to pursue financial crime investigations in tandem with human trafficking cases.

Ensure consistent early access to free legal aid.

Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

Increase survivor input when forming policies, programs, and trainings.