The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 19
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Trafficking in persons was defined internationally for the first time in article 3 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, as constituting three elements: (a) an "action", being recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons; (b) a "means" by which that action is achieved, for example threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability and the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person; and (c) a "purpose" of the intended action or means, namely exploitation. Thus, consent of the victim to the intended exploitation is irrelevant when any of the listed means have been used. All three elements must be present to constitute "trafficking in persons" in international law. The only exception is that when the victim is a child, the "means" element is not part of the definition.
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Non-negotiated soft law
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Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children