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A total of 19 children were among the detected trafficking victims in Armenia over the past five years, according to a new report published by the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) on Tuesday.

The report focuses on human trafficking victims’ access to justice and effective remedies.

Citing data collected by Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, GRETA says the yearly number of formally identified victims of trafficking in human beings (THB) remained stable in the period 2017-2020 (11 in 2017, nine in 2018, eight in 2019 and nine in 2020) before rising in 2021 (31 victims).

“The majority of the victims identified during the reporting period were women (35), followed by children (19, including 13 boys and six girls) and men (14). The prevailing form of exploitation was sexual exploitation (34 victims), followed by labor exploitation (23 victims), forced begging (eight victims) and situations similar to slavery (three victims),” the report says.

GRETA urges the Armenian authorities to strengthen efforts to prevent child trafficking among vulnerable groups (children in rural areas and children placed in child-care institutions), and pay more attention to the link between child trafficking and the use of information and communication technologies.