Roma women and girls who grew up in Hungarian orphanages are highly vulnerable to internal forced prostitution.
Men from Western Europe traveled to Budapest for the purpose of adult sex tourism, some of which may have involved the exploitation of trafficking victims.
Women from Romania and Ukraine were transported through Hungary to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, and the United Arab Emirates where they were subsequently subjected to forced prostitution; some of these victims may have been exploited in Hungary before they reached their final destination country.
[2] In 2010 the Government of Hungary did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it made significant efforts to do so.
The government demonstrated mixed progress in improving victim assistance during the reporting period; while it allocated funding for a new NGO-run shelter that opened in March 2010 and guaranteed funding through June 2011, the shelter did not assist any victims during the reporting period.
During the reporting period, the government amended Paragraph 175/b to increase penalties for cases involving child victims under the age of 12.
The government also conducted three joint trafficking investigations with law enforcement authorities from the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria.
Foreign victims may apply for a six-month temporary residency permit if they choose to cooperate with law enforcement.
The government again did not conduct any general anti-trafficking awareness campaigns focused on the general public or potential victims of trafficking; however, it did allocate $15,800 for a campaign targeted at potential consumers of prostitution in order to reduce demand for commercial sex acts.