Victims originating in Ethiopia

Between 2004 and 2022, the IOM registered 867 victims of trafficking from Ethiopia.^[1] Around 40 per cent of them are identified between 2014 and 2017.

Among victims with Ethiopian citizenship, 61 per cent are females, with the remainder being males.^[2] Most are adults (83%), while 17 per cent of them are children. Identified victims are mainly between 21 and 38 years old (67%). Overall, males tend to concentrate in younger age groups, as compared to females.

The main countries where victims with Ethiopian citizenship are exploited are Lebanon (19%), Sudan, Ethiopia, and Egypt (13% each). Countries of exploitation are mainly located in Africa (70%) and Asia (29%), and most of these victims (65%) are exploited outside their sub-region of origin.^[3]

The most common form of exploitation is forced labour (67%), while 17 per cent of victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Victims facing other types of exploitation, like forced marriage, forced military, organ removal, and slavery and related practices, represent a combined 34 per cent of the total.^[4] Identified victims with Ethiopian citizenship are most frequently trafficked for one year or less (36%) or for one to two years (37%).

The most common sector of labour exploitation is domestic work (91%), followed by hospitality (4%). These victims are mainly controlled with restrictions on finance, movements, medical care and necessities, as well as physical, psychological and sexual abuse (36% each). Other means include false promises (25%) and debt bondage or withheld wages (21%).^[4] Most of them are recruited by ‘others’^[5] (83%), followed by those recruited by family (13%) or friends (3%).

^[1] This country profile is based on the data collected by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the process of providing assistance and protection services to victims of trafficking.

^[2] The IOM acknowledge diverse gender identities and expressions among trafficking victims. However, sex assigned at birth is used for this data analysis unless otherwise indicated. This is to ensure consistency with initial data collection forms, which lacked fields for diverse identities. Also, the disclosure of smaller subsets of victims with diverse gender identities increases data protection risks due to the potential identification of individual cases.

^[3] Interregional trafficking involves victims trafficked outside their region of origin, while intraregional trafficking occurs within their region of origin. For the list of regions and subregions, refer to the Global Synthetic Dataset Dictionary.

^[4] It is important to note that trafficked persons can be subjected to multiple types of exploitation and means of control, so percentages may not add up to 100.

^[5] Indicates a notable relationship with the recruiter that does not fit other categories like family or friends. This may include brokers, contractors, employers, or smugglers. See the Global Synthetic Dataset Codebook for a detailed explanation.