A/70/260
Report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons,
especially women and children
Summary
The due diligence principle is a well-established component of a State’s
obligations to address acts by private actors by preventing and protecting victims
against such abuses, punishing the perpetrators, and ensuring remedies for victims.
As it is non-State actors who most often perpetrate trafficking, the application of
States’ due diligence obligations concerning non-State actors is particularly critical
to ensure the rights of trafficked persons. The failure to exercise due diligence is
consequential, meaning that States that have failed to exercise due diligence towards
private actors incur international responsibility that then requires them to provide an
effective remedy for victims. Previous reports of the mandate holder on trafficking in
persons, especially women and children, have identified elements of States’ due
diligence obligations, including in the identification of trafficked persons, the
prevention of trafficking, and the provision of remedies. Due diligence obligations
have also been identified in a number of areas that are of direct relevance — and in
some cases directly apply — to trafficking, including violence against women,
migrant workers, and sex-based discrimination.
Building on these explanations of the nature and scope of due dil igence
obligations, the present report addresses a series of legal and operational questions
about what due diligence on trafficking in persons requires of States with respect to
non-State actors. In addition to examining the obligations of States as duty -bearers, it
also includes good practices and recommendations on the role of non -State actors
themselves in the due diligence framework. Specifically, the report identifies core
components of due diligence with regard to six areas: the prevention of traffic king in
persons; the obligations to identify, assist and support victims; criminalization,
investigation, prosecution and punishment; remedies; inter -State cooperation and
institutions; and due diligence of non-State actors such as business enterprises.
In each of these areas several cross-cutting issues of particular importance to
combating trafficking in persons are discussed, including extraterritoriality,
resources, the need for greater emphasis on and a wider understanding of the
preventive arm of due diligence, and due diligence in crisis contexts. The report also
provides a number of concrete examples of good practices in due diligence, while at
the same time emphasizing that due diligence is neither a one -size-fits-all standard
nor a box-ticking exercise. Rather, meaningful and substantive human rights due
diligence provides a necessary framework to ensure policy coherence between
anti-trafficking policy and related policy areas such as immigration and labourmarket policies and is core to ensuring a human rights-based approach to trafficking
in persons.
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