Poland

Facts

Poland ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse in 2015.

Poland is a source, transit and destination country for children subjected to trafficking for sexual purposes. Children from Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine are subjected to trafficking in Poland, while Polish children are trafficked within the country’s borders and in other European countries.

In 2015, the Polish government allocated 135,000 zloty for the implementation of tasks related to the 2013-2015 national action plan for combating trafficking in persons. The government also drafted and began the implementation of the 2016-2018 anti-trafficking action plan.

During 2015, the government provided trafficking-specific training to law enforcement authorities, judges, prosecutors, the police and border guards. In June 2015, the police established provincial interagency anti-trafficking teams in all 16 regions of the country to improve cooperation at the regional level.

Identification of child victims of trafficking remains a challenge, there is still a low rate of final convictions of trafficking perpetrators, most convicted traffickers received suspended sentences and there was no specialised care available for child victims of trafficking.