Trafficking in human beings (THB) has been defined as the recruitment, transportation or harboring of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation (U.N., 2000). Portugal is a destination, transit, and source country for trafficked women, men, transgender and children. With the so-called Palermo Protocol trafficking of human beings has entered into the political agenda and legislation of many countries, Portugal included. There has also been a rise in the number of studies, in the country and abroad, with criminologists and migration specialists having a strong interest in it. This presentation aims to share experiences and stimulate reflexions arose conducting a literature search on THB in Portugal as a destination, transit and source country for trafficking. What is the current state of the art of knowledge on THB in this country? Who is funding research on THB and who is conducting it in Portugal? What are the major gaps in the research on the subject that need to be filled? What is the relationship between research on trafficking in Portugal and the international reflexion on the subject? ?In addiction to these questions, methodological problems arose from the literature search experience in Portugal will be shared. ??This presentation starts from the research project “Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation in Portugal. A qualitative study of trafficked women, trafficking experiences and measures of assistance” funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia with a post-doctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/93923/2013) - Supervision of Professor Rui Pena Pires.

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Trafficking in Human Beings; Sex trafficking; Migration