More cases of human trafficking and sexual exploitation were registered with National Rapporteur last year, with a particular increase in people from Africa and South America working as home-based prostitutes.

Conditions in countries such as Colombia and Venezuela are driving many people to leave and that is making them vulnerable to being trafficked, rapporteur Conny Rijken told broadcaster NOS on Friday.

Victims are often recruited in their home country, the Netherlands or Spain, Rijken said. “Sometimes they know they will be doing sex work, but not the conditions.”

In 2023 the agency received 178 reports of people from African countries who were being sexually exploited, a rise from 119 in 2022. Reports were also made about 68 Latin American nationals, compared with 26 in the previous year.

Home-based prostitution is easier for traffickers to control and to isolate their victims, Rijken said.

In total the agency received 868 reports of trafficking but this is only the tip of the iceberg, she said. Most victims were women and 52 were minors.

Last year 78 cases went to court, and in 68% of cases, the traffickers were found guilty of trading in human beings.