Global Issues

Cyprus

• Trafficking of women to the island, particularly for sexual exploitation, a problem.

•Destination country for women subjected to forced prostitution.

• NGOs report that trafficking victims in Cyprus originate from Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, the Philippines, Morocco, China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Greece, the United Kingdom, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

• Government identified victims from Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Egypt, Romania, Bulgaria, India, Nepal, Cameroon, Ukraine, and Estonia.

• Sex trafficking occurs within commercial sex industry outlets in Cyprus, including cabarets, bars, pubs, and massage parlors disguised as private apartments.

• Local authorities and NGOs noted an increase in street prostitution in the country involving women from Romania, China, Vietnam and the Philippines in 2010; these women are vulnerable to trafficking given the debts incurred by migrating to Cyprus.

 

Sources: U.S. Department of State 2010 Human Rights Report; U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2011