Discouraging the demand
Trafficking in human beings is, at its core, a financially motivated crime. Reducing demand for exploitative services and goods is therefore critical to eliminating the profit motive that drives traffickers.
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Stop buying—stop trafficking
Human trafficking is primarily driven by money. In 2024, the International Labor Organization estimated that it generates US$236 billion every year, with US$173 billion coming from trafficking for sexual exploitation alone. This stark reality underscores why addressing demand is crucial to combating trafficking.
International legal frameworks, including Article 9(5) of the Palermo Protocol and multiple OSCE commitments, recognize that discouraging demand is essential to prevention. Addressing demand combats both root causes and effects of exploitation by eliminating traffickers' profit motive and economic incentives driving exploitation. Through policy guidance, multi-stakeholder partnerships and targeted interventions, including the Office's 2021 report on promising practices, the OSCE supports participating States in implementing effective demand-reduction strategies.
Resources
Official OSCE documents, publications and other manually selected resources
Studies and reports
Reports, studies and analyses for policymakers, researchers and all those interested in this field of our work
