THBxOC 2025 Forum in Stockholm: Exploring the Link between Human Trafficking and Organised Crime

Addressing human trafficking as an organised crime phenomenon and a security threat, the THBxOC 2025 Forum in Stockholm on 3-4 December 2025 brought together more than 270 representatives from law enforcement agencies and ministries from across Europe and beyond to discuss evolving challenges in countering organised crime and protecting victims.

"Human trafficking is not only a crime against individuals - it affects societies, security and the rule of law," said Gustav Lindström, Director General of the Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). "When human trafficking networks cross borders, united efforts are the path from exploitation to accountability."

Jointly organised by the CBSS and Europol and supported by the Government Offices of Sweden, the THBxOC 2025, or European Forum Against Trafficking in Human Beings - Countering Organised Crime and Protecting Victim, examined what must change in Europe's anti-trafficking response, why strong national action remains essential and how authorities can prepare for future threats.

Representatives of law enforcement agencies, ministries, state authorities, and international and regional organisations took an active role throughout the two-day programme, contributing expertise from across the Baltic Sea Region and Europe. They notably explored issues such as benefit fraud, the role of online platforms in facilitating trafficking, forced criminality and the digital tools needed to counter human trafficking.

The discussions highlighted how trafficking networks adapt quickly, how conflict and geopolitical instability - including Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine - exacerbate vulnerabilities, and why a coordinated, structured and transnational approach is increasingly necessary.

"Human trafficking attacks the very foundations of our societies. It reduces people to commodities, and its impact spreads far beyond individual victims," noted Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol. "Only through international partnership can we dismantle the business of trafficking and protect those most at risk."

The forum was officially opened by Nina Larsson, Minister for Gender Equality in Sweden; Gustav Lindström, Director General of the CBSS Secretariat; and Katarina Johansson Welin, Prosecutor General of Sweden.

• See the THBxOC 2025 website for information about the forum, programme and speakers.
• See more images from the THBxOC 2025 here.