THE INVISIBLE TRADE IN LIVES: VICTIM PROFILE AND TERRITORIAL DYNAMICS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN BRAZIL, 2021–2025

Abstract

Objective: To analyze temporal trends, victim profiles, and the territorial distribution of human trafficking records in Brazil from 2021 to 2025. Method: This ecological, descriptive, documentary study used the historical tables of the 2026 Brazilian Public Security Yearbook and, for sociodemographic characterization, official national reports issued by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Absolute numbers, annual variations, proportions, and aggregates by macroregion and federative unit were calculated. Results: Brazil's Unified Health System recorded 1,532 notifications during the five-year period, peaking in 2023 (449) and rising again in 2025 (433). The Northeast, Southeast, and South accounted for 87.9% of notifications; Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, and São Paulo represented 48.6% of the total. The Federal Police opened 572 investigations, 33.2% of them in São Paulo. Profiles differed across reporting channels: women and girls predominated in hotlines and health records, whereas men were the majority in legal aid and labor-exploitation records. In 2024, Black people represented 56.6% of health notifications. Conclusion: territorial dynamics are heterogeneous and highly sensitive to institutional detection capacity. Prevention requires integrated information systems, territorial surveillance, social protection, and responses tailored to sex, age, race/ethnicity, and form of exploitation.