Trafficking is a many sided problem. Here is a round up of the causes


Countries or regions of origin:

• Abject poverty, especially among women
• A lack of political, social and economical stability
• A lack of reasonable and realistic prospects
• Situations of armed conflict and oppression
• Domestic violence and disintegration of the family structure
• Gender discrimination
• Lack of access to education and information
• The HIV-AIDS reality

Countries or regions of destination:

• The expense of social charges that employers need to pay for the social protection of regularly employed workers
• Increasing demand for cheap and exploitable labourers in the construction, agricultural and industrial sectors
• Increasing demand for cheap and exploitable domestic labourers
• A rise in the demand for sex workers in a highly lucrative and globalising sex industry

Universal factors:

• Ever more limits and obstacles to legal migration channels to countries with stronger economies and/or regions with better prospects
• A lack of public awareness of the dangers of trafficking
  
• The high profit potential for those engaged in the criminal activity
  
• The sophisticated organisation, resources and networking capacity of criminal networks
  
• A lack of effective anti-trafficking legislation, and if such legislation exists, a lack of effective enforcement
  
• Global economic policies that foster exclusion of marginalised people
• Disintegration of social protection networks
• Widespread corruption in countries of origin, of transit and of destination among the persons capable or responsible to combat trafficking