According to Shinar Kucherbaeva, Deputy Head of the Department for Combating Organized Crime, a total of 197 crimes related to human trafficking have been registered since the beginning of the current year.
Among these, there are 22 cases under Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan related to abduction for exploitation—one case, illegal deprivation of liberty for exploitation—four cases, human trafficking—17 cases, involvement of minors in prostitution—15 cases, trafficking of minors—six cases, involvement in prostitution—13 cases, and organization or maintenance of brothels for prostitution and pimping—119 cases.
Kucherbaeva noted that, according to international reports, Kazakhstan falls into the second category of countries that are making significant efforts in this area. Unfortunately, human trafficking continues to spread.
In practice, this manifests in cases such as sexual and labor exploitation, trafficking of minor children, trafficking in human organs, and coercion into begging, she added.
To effectively and adequately counter this issue, unified systemic measures are required, encompassing prevention, cooperation, criminal prosecution, as well as the protection of the rights and interests of victims of human trafficking, concluded the Deputy Head of the Department.