Episode 288: Human Trafficking with Ludmila Bogdan
Coordinated and Produced by Elisa Garbil
Human trafficking isn’t a single story, it’s a global web of exploitation that takes many forms. In this episode with Dr. Ludmila Bogdan, we explore the different types of human trafficking and the challenges in accurately estimating its scope. We dive into the contrasts between sex trafficking and labour trafficking, uncover operational constraints and data biases, and examine how systemic differences in victim identification and gender stereotypes distort our understanding of who is affected.
We also discuss the urgent need to reeducate the public, the role of the shadow economy and legitimate businesses, and how media narratives shape perceptions of trafficking. Finally, we look at how armed conflicts exacerbate international risks, and what it will take to confront this crisis with clarity and compassion.
Dr. Ludmila Bogdan is an independent researcher and policy consultant specialising in human trafficking, labour migration, and international security. Trained in diplomacy and political science, she combines rigorous academic research with hands-on policy work to bridge the gap between scholarship and real-world impact. Her research focuses on labour exploitation, migration governance, and human rights, offering evidence-based insights that inform both policy and practice.
Ludmila has held research and teaching positions at Harvard University, the University of Copenhagen, Stanford University, and Georgetown University, as well as policy roles with the United Nations. Her work has guided criminal justice and migration reforms, strengthened anti-trafficking responses, and advanced women’s rights and migrant integration. She is the author of a forthcoming book on human traffickers, to be published by Routledge, and continues to advise international organisations and governments on labour exploitation, migration policy, and human rights.
The International Risk Podcast brings you conversations with global experts, frontline practitioners, and senior decision-makers who are shaping how we understand and respond to international risk. From geopolitical volatility and organised crime, to cybersecurity threats and hybrid warfare, each episode explores the forces transforming our world and what smart leaders must do to navigate them. Whether you’re a board member, policymaker, or risk professional, The International Risk Podcast delivers actionable insights, sharp analysis, and real-world stories that matter.
The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.
Follow us on LinkedIn and Subscribe for all our updates!
Transcript:
Ludmila Bogdan: It depends on how we look at it. Do we blame only the countries of origin, or do we also start asking the countries of destination to do more—especially considering they often have more resources to do so?
Elisa Garbil: Welcome back to the International Risk Podcast, where we discuss the latest world news and significant events that impact businesses and organizations worldwide.
Dominic Bowen: Hi. Welcome to the International Risk Podcast, where we unpack the risks that are shaping business and society. I’m Dominic Bowen, your host, and today we’re exploring the international risks surrounding human trafficking in Europe. To explore this important topic, we are joined by Ludmila Bogdan. Ludmila is an expert on labor migration, human trafficking, and child rights.
Ludmila, welcome to the International Risk Podcast.
Ludmila Bogdan: Thank you so much for having me here today.
Dominic Bowen: Ludmila, in 2023, nearly 11,000 people were registered in the European Union as victims of human trafficking. Can you help us understand: how big is the problem of human trafficking [00:01:00] in Europe today?
Ludmila Bogdan: That’s a very good question. The problem of human trafficking has been on the rise for the past couple of decades, and even the terminology used to describe it has changed significantly over time. Many organizations and media outlets have used the term “modern day slavery,” which I don’t particularly like. One of the challenges with estimating human trafficking is that it includes many different forms of exploitation.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, “human trafficking” was often synonymous with sex trafficking. There were campaigns about “white slaves,” “female sex slaves,” and so on. But in the past decade, there has been a broader push to define trafficking more accurately. Today, human trafficking can mean several things, but the central factor is the exploitation of someone—most often for their labor—for the benefit of others.
Originally, transportation across borders was considered essential to defining trafficking. But we now understand that there is also internal trafficking. We have international trafficking. We have countries of origin, destination, and transit. A country can fit more than one category. For example, Moldova has traditionally been a country of origin, but since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, it has also become a transit country because many people fleeing Ukraine pass through Moldova. If they are then trafficked in Germany—considered a country of destination—that complicates how we understand and track the crime.
The challenge is that we combine very different types of trafficking—sex trafficking, labor trafficking, exploitation in brothels, exploitation on farms in southern Italy, domestic servitude in Austria—into a single category. They share the core element of exploitation, often involving coercion or loss of liberty, but not always. Psychological manipulation can be just as powerful.
So while we know many people are exploited and trafficked, the estimates are problematic because they lump such diverse experiences together.
Dominic Bowen: I think that’s a really important point. Despite decades of legislation and anti-trafficking initiatives, there are still significant gaps in identifying and assisting victims. Based on the data, about two-thirds of identified victims are women and girls. In countries like Hungary, Estonia, and Slovenia, most identified cases are sexual exploitation, while in countries like Malta, Portugal, and Belgium, the data skews toward labor exploitation.
But as you’ve suggested, these differences may reflect where we’re looking—rather than where the crime is actually occurring. Can you tell us more about what is known about who is trafficked, for what purposes, and where the gaps in the data lie?
Ludmila Bogdan: Yes, that’s a very good point. At the EU level, the official line is still that sex trafficking is the predominant form and that women form the majority of victims. But that conclusion reflects who is being identified—and who is willing to be identified—not necessarily who is actually most affected.
If you live in London, Vienna, or Rome, the sex sector is visible, and there may be people coerced into it. But we also have enormous agricultural sectors, factories, and service industries that dwarf the sex sector. It is surprising that the focus remains on sex trafficking when we know, for instance, about cases in northern Italy where thousands of Chinese workers were found trafficked in factories. So why do the numbers still highlight sex trafficking?
The answer is that we are not identifying victims in other sectors effectively. Many go unnoticed. While there is broad agreement that labor trafficking is widespread, the political and moral focus remains on sex trafficking because it is seen as the more extreme or morally shocking issue. It also tends to attract more funding and more media attention.
But labor trafficking survivors I have spoken to have endured years of severe abuse, trauma, and coercion. Their stories are often overlooked or deprioritized. This contributes to skewed statistics, poor identification programs, and an incomplete understanding of the issue.
Some countries—like Portugal—have made progress in identifying labor trafficking victims, partly because they made a deliberate effort to search for them and to create legal pathways for recognizing them. Without such efforts, we will continue to see women in the sex sector dominate the statistics—not because trafficking is more common there, but because that’s where we are looking.
Dominic Bowen: Understanding risk often starts with understanding the data—even when the data is flawed. As you mentioned, operational constraints in European agencies contribute to biased identification. Labor trafficking in agriculture, construction, or hospitality often goes unnoticed due to limited inspections and weak coordination between authorities.
This leaves many victims unrecognized. Are there systemic differences between EU member states in how they identify victims of sexual trafficking versus labor exploitation? And what drives these differences?
Ludmila Bogdan: Yes, there are differences. I interviewed several experts in Portugal because they seemed to be doing better than other member states. Partly, this was due to the size of the country, but more importantly, there were individuals who pushed for change. In many countries, people become comfortable with existing practices and systems. Human trafficking is one of those areas where old habits persist.
For example, if you compare anti-trafficking awareness campaigns from two decades ago to many campaigns funded today by UN agencies or the European Commission, the messaging and imagery are nearly identical. It puzzled me. Why are we still presenting the issue the same way when we have learned so much more?
Why do we continue to use images of traumatized women and children to raise awareness? And who are these campaigns actually for? Are they designed to educate the public, reassure donors, or reach victims? Do victims even recognize themselves in these images? Often they do not.
I don’t see enough policy-level discussion about this. We recycle the same images and the same recommendations. Information quality remains low. Estimates are poor. And unless we start asking better questions—and perhaps disaggregating sex trafficking and labor trafficking to develop distinct interventions—I don’t foresee meaningful progress.
Dominic Bowen: And to what extent do gender stereotypes influence frontline officers—police, border patrol, customs, labor inspectors—in recognizing male victims of trafficking versus women and girls?
Ludmila Bogdan: Gender plays a significant role. Across the EU, most identified victims are still women, largely due to gender stereotypes.
Frontline officers often focus on women in the sex sector. But victim self-identification matters too. Many women trafficked into the sex sector find it easier to see themselves as victims. Women I interviewed who were exploited in domestic work in Italy or Austria often did not identify as trafficking victims — they felt they were simply treated unfairly.
Similarly, men rarely see themselves as victims. Construction workers I interviewed in Moscow, for example—men who were not paid for months, had their passports confiscated, and were barely fed—insisted they had simply had “bad luck.” They rejected the term “human trafficking” because, in their minds, trafficking was about women in sexual exploitation. The language itself creates barriers.
Police and judicial officials often reinforce these misconceptions. When I interviewed them in Moldova and Italy, many automatically equated trafficking with sex trafficking. Speaking about labor exploitation confused them.
Even women as traffickers are overlooked. Yet in many countries, including Moldova, a significant proportion of traffickers are women—especially in the sex sector, where former victims sometimes recruit new victims.
Dominic Bowen: Your comments about stereotypes and assumptions around victimhood are really interesting. So I wonder: is enough being done to identify and support both the stereotypical young female sex trafficking victims and the less-discussed victims of other forms of trafficking?
Ludmila Bogdan: Definitely not enough. Policymakers often tell me they lack funding. After two decades without substantial improvements, donors lose interest. That becomes the excuse.
Yet much exploitation takes place in wealthy EU countries—the destination countries where demand for cheap or free labor is high. Still, trafficking is often framed as a problem belonging to “countries of origin” like Moldova, Romania, or Bulgaria. But victims are exploited in richer EU states.
Protection mechanisms in destination countries are insufficient. Victims fear deportation, prosecution, fines, or being mistaken for criminals. Many European countries have legal frameworks that blur the line between victim and perpetrator, making people hesitant to come forward.
Until wealthier EU states strengthen protections, exploitation will continue. As long as there are major economic disparities within Europe, people will migrate—and traffickers will exploit them.
So again: do we blame only origin countries, or do we expect destination countries—who have more resources—to do more?
Dominic Bowen: Thanks for explaining that, Ludmila. I’ll remind our listeners that you can now find the International Risk Podcast on YouTube as well. Please subscribe and like our content there—it really helps.
Ludmila, in your research, what strategies have you found most effective in challenging misconceptions about who can be a victim of trafficking and how to support these groups?
Ludmila Bogdan: That’s a very good question. I’m still studying this because it is extremely difficult.
Early awareness campaigns—20 years ago—framed trafficking as something that happened to naive young women who went abroad. The campaigns relied heavily on fear and sensationalized images: bruised bodies, locked rooms, extreme violence. That shaped how entire populations understood trafficking.
So the problem now is not simply informing people about trafficking—it is re-educating them. They already “know” what trafficking is, but what they know is limited or inaccurate. When presented with updated information—about labor trafficking, male victims, psychological coercion—people often experience confusion or cognitive dissonance.
Accurate campaigns alone are not enough. We need deliberate strategies to correct past misinformation. And very few large-scale initiatives are doing this. Some small, rural-based programs are trying, but national-level efforts are rare.
Dominic Bowen: And the shadow economy created by trafficking is often linked to other criminal activities like money laundering and drug trafficking. But how does trafficking intersect with legitimate businesses?
Ludmila Bogdan: That’s an important point. Many people imagine organized crime, mafia networks, dramatic scenarios. These exist—but they represent only a small part of trafficking today.
Often, exploitation occurs through complex chains of subcontractors and intermediaries. For example, a luxury brand may contract a supplier, which then contracts a smaller factory. That factory may rely on a recruiter exploiting migrant labor. The luxury brand may be unaware, though they could do more due diligence.
This happens in construction, agriculture, hospitality—industries that depend on subcontracting. Large companies often want lower costs, and third parties supply that by cutting corners or exploiting workers. This creates an environment ripe for trafficking.
Dominic Bowen: And earlier you mentioned how terminology and media imagery have shaped public perceptions. How does the media shape public and institutional understanding of trafficking risks?
Ludmila Bogdan: I spent years studying this—particularly in Moldova. I conducted wide-scale public surveys and interviews across the country.
What I found was that awareness campaigns did not simply fail to raise accurate awareness—they often backfired.
First, the campaigns reinforced the stereotype that women are the victims and men are the perpetrators. In Moldova, roughly half of convicted traffickers are women—but most people cannot conceive of a woman trafficker.
Second, these campaigns created the belief that trafficking equals sex trafficking. Even as attempts were made to broaden the narrative to include labor exploitation, they were too small and limited to change the public perception.
Third, the campaigns contributed to victim blaming. When I asked people who was responsible for trafficking, over half said “the victim”—because they believed informed people would never be trafficked. But trafficking is not caused by lack of awareness; it is driven by poverty, demand for cheap labor, and systemic inequalities.
The overly dramatic, simplified campaigns also give people false expectations: that trafficking involves kidnapping, chains, beatings, or confiscated passports. So when real victims—who may have experienced psychological coercion or debt bondage—face exploitation, they fail to identify it as trafficking because it doesn’t match the imagery.
Dominic Bowen: Exactly. Back in episode 111 in 2023, we interviewed Norma Bas, a human trafficking survivor with an extraordinary story. She was trafficked multiple times despite being an intelligent, successful businesswoman—and even a Guinness World Record holder. Her story breaks many stereotypes about who can be trafficked. I encourage listeners to revisit that episode.
Ludmila, when you look around the world, what international risks concern you the most?
Ludmila Bogdan: That’s a very relevant question today. From the perspective of trafficking and exploitation, armed conflicts are a major concern. Conflict creates chaos, and chaos creates opportunities for traffickers. People fleeing war—lacking time, resources, and safety—are vulnerable to exploitation, smuggling, and coercion.
Given the current global situation, I expect this vulnerability to continue. Combined with rising far-right sentiment in Europe—which undermines protections for migrants and victims—this presents a significant risk.
Dominic Bowen: Thank you for explaining that, and thank you for coming on the International Risk Podcast today.
Ludmila Bogdan: Thank you for having me today.
Dominic Bowen: That was a great conversation with Ludmila Bogdan. I really appreciated her insights on human trafficking. I encourage our listeners to visit the International Risk Podcast website and subscribe to our email list for our biweekly newsletter and further insights.
Today’s episode was produced and coordinated by Elisa Garbil. I’m Dominic Bowen, your host. Thanks very much for listening. We’ll speak again in the next couple of days.
Elisa Garbil: Thank you for listening to this episode of the International Risk Podcast. For more episodes and articles, visit the international risk podcast.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, blue Sky, and Instagram for the latest updates, and to ask your questions to our host, Dominic Bowen. See you next time.
