Exploring the role of Spanish judges in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation

En este estudio se exploraron las dificultades que los jueces españoles se encontraban en la instrucción y enjuiciamiento del delito de trata de seres humanos con fines de explotación sexual. Se realizó un cuestionario a 71 jueces españoles y 9 entrevistas semiestructuradas, en tres provincias españolas. Entre los resultados destacaron que casi la mitad había llevado alguna causa de este tipo de delito, principalmente de trata con fines de explotación sexual y que un tercio acabó archivando el caso. Entre las dificultades señaladas se subrayó la falta de colaboración de las víctimas en el proceso judicial, la falta de recursos para investigar estos delitos y la implicación de otros delitos además del delito de trata.

This study explores the difficulties that Spanish judges face during the judicial investigation and trial of the trafficking of human beings for sexual exploitation. Here, we highlight the issues of judges’ lack of training and the saturation of the courts due to the excessive work that these crimes entail. To collect data, responses from 71 Spanish judges were collected through a questionnaire, and nine semi-structured interviews were conducted in three Spanish provinces (Barcelona, Malaga and Madrid). Noteworthy findings include the fact that almost half of the judges had dealt with a case involving this type of crime and that a third ended up closing the case. In the responses received, the lack of victims’ collaboration in the judicial process was highlighted as one of the difficulties as was the lack of resources to investigate these crimes and the involvement of other crimes.