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The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Communication and engagement with stakeholders. Trafficking in persons is a critical issue for every country, affecting many different groups and cutting across multiple areas of legal and illegal activity. The range of current and potential stakeholders is accordingly very wide. The first mandate holder recognized this aspect of her work from the outset (E/CN.4/2005/71, paras. 41-47) and made consistent efforts to extend her engagement beyond Governments and international agencies to include the full range of civil society organizations working on the issue, as well as those engaged in related areas, such as the rights of migrants and violence against women. Her participatory and collaborative approach was continued and extended by the current mandate holder, who declared an intention to "reach out, listen, learn and share good practice around the world" (A/HRC/10/16, para 62). She has put this commitment into practice through regular, broad-based regional consultations aimed at securing expert input into her work while improving the understanding of the mandate amongst interlocutors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The report, which includes a number of examples of human trafficking and conflict taken from actual conflict and post-conflict situations, has also benefited from the input of Members States during the open debate of the Security Council on "Conflict-related sexual violence: responding to human trafficking in situations of conflict-related sexual violence", held on 2 June 2016, during the presidency of France, at which the Special Rapporteur made an intervention (S/PV.7704). The statements delivered by Member States reflect the urgent need felt by the members of the Council to address the issue of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation related to conflict. The expert has also been encouraged by the appointment, on 16 September 2016, of Nadia Murad Basee Taha as Goodwill Ambassador for the dignity of survivors of human trafficking, the first time that a survivor of atrocities has been appointed to such a position. Ms. Taha briefed the Council on the atrocities, including trafficking in persons faced by the Yazidi, particularly women and children, at its meeting on 16 December 2015, at which the Council addressed the issue of human trafficking in conflict for the first time.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Subregional initiatives include the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Declaration on the Fight against Trafficking in Persons (2001) and the ECOWAS Initial Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons (2002-2003). Subsequent plans of action against trafficking in persons have also been adopted. Moreover, the ECOWAS and Economic Community of Central African States biregional Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2006-2009), the related resolution and a multilateral cooperation agreement have further strengthened subregional initiatives to curb trafficking. The biregional Plan of Action reaffirmed the ECOWAS Initial Plan of Action and extended efforts to combat trafficking into the Central African region. In addition, the Southern African Development Community Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons, the revised African Union Plan of Action on Drug Control and Crime Prevention (2007-2012 and 2013-2017) can be cited as examples of subregional initiatives. Joint cooperation between intergovernmental organizations, such as between the United Nations and the African Union, in the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization or within the Commonwealth can be cited as joint actions to address human trafficking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Conflict-related sexual violence takes many forms. Women and girls seeking to survive in conflict zones are often compelled to exchange sexual services and even to "marry" for food, shelter, protection or safe passage. UNHCR has affirmed that women in conflict situations are vulnerable to a range of discriminatory practices that exacerbate their dependence (for example, receiving smaller food rations or not having ration cards or other identity documents in their own name) and are disproportionately exposed to sexual violence. For women and girls abducted into military service, sexual assault is often a feature of their experience. Rape has been used as a tactic of war to humiliate and weaken the morale of the enemy, ethnically cleanse the population, destabilize communities and force civilians to flee. Widespread or systematic sexual assault by government and/or opposition or rebel forces has been documented in multiple modern conflicts, including in the reports of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence, issued annually since 2009, in which he has identified incidents and patterns of sexual violence in conflict-affected countries employed by parties to armed conflict, primarily against women and girls but also against boys and men (see S/2015/203).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Regional and subregional cooperation in promoting a human rights-based approach to combatting trafficking in persons 2010, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, regional bodies have a role in promoting the establishment of national multidisciplinary monitoring bodies, which are key to the success of NPAs. For example, OSCE, COMMIT and the EU encourage States to establish such structures, which they designate as National Rapporteurs or Task Forces. These would be governing bodies with implementation, coordination and oversight responsibility, consisting of representatives from the relevant ministries - including police, justice, social welfare, labour and women's affairs - in charge of evaluating achievements and challenges in the country's implementation of their commitments, managing data collection and information sharing, taking decisions with regard to the need to revise strategies and coordinating overall efforts at the national level. International organizations and NGOs should be involved in these mechanisms. The OSCE Special Representative's 2008 Annual Report focused specifically on these national coordination mechanisms, outlining efforts taken by participating States to establish national coordinators and inter-agency coordinating bodies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Given the complexities surrounding trafficking in conflict and post-conflict situations, which can be considered from a number of different perspectives, the range of sources of relevant law is very wide. In the human rights area, for example, treaties dealing with slavery and the slave trade, forced labour, child labour, the rights of women, the rights of children, migrant workers and persons with disabilities, as well as more general treaties dealing with civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights, are applicable to trafficking in all situations, including situations of armed conflict. Major crime control treaties, such as the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and the United Nations Convention against Corruption are also relevant to trafficking in all situations, as are the specialist treaties dealing with the issue of trafficking, most particularly the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and, at the European level, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and its Explanatory Report, and the European Union Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Within the specific context of armed conflict, additional legal instruments of obligation and protection apply. The most relevant of these for the current purposes is the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which addresses, inter alia, war crimes and crimes against humanity and specifically addresses grave forms of sexual violence, including rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy or enforced sterilization. Also of relevance are the instruments of international humanitarian law that prohibit certain conduct in the context of international and non-international armed conflict, including slavery, sexual slavery, sexual violence and forced labour. It is important to note, however, that trafficking itself, and the gender-based harm with which it is associated, has never been explicitly prohibited, or even regulated, by international humanitarian law. This despite the fact that, as shown previously, many of the worst practices associated with armed conflict, such as the forced recruitment of child soldiers, the organized sexual enslavement of women and the enlistment of civilians into forced or highly exploitative labour, could also fall within the international legal definition of trafficking. However, international instruments have been interpreted in accordance with evolving human rights norms and standards through the jurisprudence of the international tribunals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Conflict-related sexual violence takes many forms. Women and girls seeking to survive in conflict zones are often compelled to exchange sexual services and even to "marry" for food, shelter, protection or safe passage. UNHCR has affirmed that women in conflict situations are vulnerable to a range of discriminatory practices that exacerbate their dependence (for example, receiving smaller food rations or not having rations cards or other identity documents in their own name) and are disproportionately exposed to sexual violence. For women and girls abducted into military service, sexual assault is often a feature of their experience. Rape has been used as a tactic of war to humiliate and weaken the morale of the enemy, ethnically cleanse the population, destabilize communities and force civilians to flee. Widespread or systematic sexual assault by government and/or opposition or rebel forces has been documented in multiple modern conflicts, including successive annual reports of the Secretary-General on conflict and related sexual violence since 2009 in which he has identified incidents and patterns of sexual violence in conflict-affected countries employed by parties to armed conflict, primarily against women and girls but also against boys and men (see, for example, S/2015/203).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution and forced pregnancy, features within the broader picture of sexual violence perpetrated against the civilian population during and in the wake of conflicts. The nexus between trafficking in persons and sexual violence is further affirmed in a statement by the President of the Security Council (S/PRST/2015/25) in which the President underscored the urgency of efforts to deter, detect and disrupt trafficking in persons, including by terrorist and violent extremist groups. Recently, an egregious pattern of abductions from their homes or schools of women and girls who are subsequently forced to marry and/or serve as sex slaves has been reported in conflict-affected settings, though some forms of this phenomenon have also been a feature of armed conflicts in the past. Such exploitation, which in some cases involves trafficking for forced marriage and sexual enslavement by extremist groups such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Boko Haram and their affiliates, is believed to be a strategy to generate revenue as well as to recruit, reward and retain fighters. In order to prevent such abductions, families are reported to be confining women and girls and removing girls from school (see S/2015/203, para. 61).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The features and patterns of modern-day conflict are linked to trafficking in persons, especially women and children. While there have been several large-scale conflicts between States in the past decade, the trend towards internal conflict continues to grow. Indeed, several international armed conflicts in recent times have morphed into complex internal conflicts and often spilled over to fuel internal crises in neighbouring States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- The past decade has been one of great development and change. With the benefit of an agreed definition of trafficking in persons, new international, regional and national laws, clearer policies and heightened political commitment, the mandate has been able to make a critical contribution at a unique moment in time. It has actively embraced and advocated for the definition of trafficking that is now enshrined in international law through the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, and other instruments and is reflected in the law of many States. This approach has been instrumental in helping to expand the focus of international and national anti-trafficking efforts beyond the previous focus on trafficking for the exploitation of prostitution and contributing to greater conceptual clarity around the parameters of the definition of trafficking. In their responses to the questionnaire, a number of States and organizations highlighted the substantial contribution of the mandate to expanding the discourse around trafficking. This expansion was noted in relation to: (a) identification and exploration of different forms of exploitation related to trafficking and (b) consideration of different avenues and actors that could or should play a role in preventing or responding to trafficking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- In its decision 2004/110, the Commission on Human Rights appointed a Special Rapporteur "whose mandate will focus on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children". In the same decision, the Commission invited the Special Rapporteur to submit annual reports, including recommendations on measures required to uphold and protect the human rights of victims. The Special Rapporteur was further requested to respond effectively to reliable information on possible human rights violations, with a view to protecting the human rights of actual or potential victims of trafficking and to cooperate with relevant United Nations bodies, regional organizations and victims and their representatives. The establishment of the position of Special Rapporteur, with an explicit mandate to address the human rights aspects of trafficking, proved to be a critical circuit-breaker, affirming on behalf of the international community two key principles: first, that the human rights of trafficked persons should be at the centre of all efforts to combat trafficking; and second, that anti-trafficking measures should not adversely affect the human rights and dignity of all persons concerned.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- It is one thing to assert the human rights of victims of trafficking and another to specify, with a sufficient level of detail, what those rights actually are and what obligations they impose on States. That process is essential, because it is only through such certainty that it becomes possible to assess the extent to which a particular situation, initiative or response is in conformity with international human rights law. The task is made somewhat more difficult by the fact that the central international instrument relevant to trafficking, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, is not clear on the issue of the rights of victims. There are general references to human rights in the Protocol and it includes a number of obligations that may be understood as intended to protect victims. However, on its own, it makes little headway in establishing the precise nature of the entitlements of victims and how these should be met. It is also relevant to note that, when the mandate was first instituted, the international human rights system itself had not contributed substantially to clarifying the substantive content of relevant rights and obligations. While there was regular condemnation of the human rights violations associated with trafficking, the practice was rarely linked to the violation of a specific right in a specific treaty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, is a gross human rights violation. It is also a lucrative crime that generates US$150.2 billion per year in illegal profits. The flow of trafficking in persons evolves with the changing socioeconomic realities of society and traffickers adapt their modus operandi accordingly.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Assistance and support measures should take into account a gendered perspective, building upon good practices in relation to the field of sexual exploitation, especially those based on solidarity and the help that women can provide to each other, and that survivors can provide to actual, potential and presumed victims of trafficking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Women are significantly involved in trafficking in persons, both as victims and offenders. Data regarding women are among the most interesting findings in the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2014, which confirms that women and girls are disproportionately exploited not only for the purposes of sexual but also labour exploitation. In some regions, such as in South and East Asia, in Africa and the Middle East, women are even the majority of people exploited as forced labour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Conflict-related violence, such as sexual violence, can itself be a driver of forced internal displacement, which in turn increases vulnerability to further exploitation, including through trafficking. For instance, in Colombia, sexual violence by armed groups has forced ethnic minority women and girls in remote rural areas away from their communities and placed them at greater risk of trafficking within the country as well as overseas. Additionally in Myanmar, worsening security situations and overcrowded camps with inadequate basic services cause some internally displaced persons along the border between Kachin State and China to risk crossing borders into China in an irregular manner in search of employment, putting themselves at high risk of exploitation because of their lack of legal status. Military attacks on camps further worsen displacement and cause undocumented internally displaced persons, including women and unaccompanied children, to flee their camps, exposing them to the risk of being exploited or trafficked. In contexts such as South Sudan, the Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic, parties to conflict took advantage of the vulnerability of displaced and refugee populations to recruit children and commit crimes, including sexual violence and abduction. Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have trafficked displaced persons as forced labourers in mines.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution and forced pregnancy, features within the broader picture of sexual violence perpetrated against the civilian population during and in the wake of conflicts. The nexus between trafficking in persons and sexual violence is further affirmed in the statement of the President of the Security Council of 16 December 2015 (S/PRST/2015/25), which underscores the urgency of efforts to deter, detect and disrupt trafficking in persons, including by terrorist and violent extremist groups. Although some form of abduction has been a feature of armed conflicts in the past, recently there has been an egregious pattern of abducting women and girls from their homes or schools in conflict-affected settings. These women and girls may subsequently be forced to marry and/or serve as sex slaves. Such exploitation, which in some cases also involves trafficking for forced marriage and sexual enslavement by extremist groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram and their affiliates, is believed to be a strategy to generate revenue as well as to recruit, reward and retain fighters. For instance, it is reported that Yazidi women and girls are being trafficked for sexual enslavement by ISIS between Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic (A/HRC/32/CRP.2, paras. 127 and 174). In order to prevent such abductions, families are reported to be confining women and girls and removing girls from school (S/2015/203, para. 61).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The mandate has received valuable support from a wide range of stakeholders and partners, including States, United Nations agencies and international organizations, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Special Rapporteur is grateful to all of them for their important contributions in the form of expertise, research and other types of support. She appreciates the efforts of States to reply to the questionnaires sent to them and their cooperation prior to, during and after country visits throughout the 10 years of the mandate. A number of independent experts have developed background papers and other materials in the context of the thematic studies of the Special Rapporteur. In 2011, a human trafficking research panel was established at Oxford and Cambridge Universities to support the work of the mandate by providing assistance on background research; it has made a substantial contribution to the work of the Special Rapporteur. Others who have provided substantive support include the international human rights clinic at Duke University School of Law and the African Women's Development Fund. The Special Rapporteur expresses her thanks to those mentioned and the many others who have provided the mandate with invaluable and much appreciated assistance over the past decade.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The preparation of the report also benefited from the continued collaboration between the Special Rapporteur and other institutions on this topic, including Caritas International, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Migrants in Countries of Crisis Initiative, the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations University, all of whom have worked to pave the way on this issue. Since the identification of the linkage between human trafficking and conflict as a focus of concern under her mandate in her report to the twenty-ninth session of the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/29/38), this issue has garnered increased interest, as evidenced by: (a) the statement by the President of the Security Council on 16 December 2015 (S/PRST/2015/25) requesting, inter alia, that the Secretary-General report back to the Council on progress made to improve the implementation of existing mechanisms countering trafficking in persons; (b) the interactive dialogue held by the Special Rapporteur with Member States during the thirty-second session of the Human Rights Council in June 2016; and the adoption by the Human Rights Council of resolution 32/3 on trafficking in persons, especially women and children: protecting victims of trafficking and people at risk of trafficking, especially women and children in conflict and post-conflict situations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Due diligence and trafficking in persons 2015, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The exercise of due diligence requires that remedies for victims be available and effective. As well as being an obligation under article 5 of the United Nations Trafficking Protocol, the criminalization of trafficking is a core component of a State's due diligence obligations, including to protect victims, prevent future trafficking, and provide the necessary structures to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate trafficking cases. Accordingly, States also have due diligence obligations relating to the investigation and prosecution of suspected traffickers. However, in practice, while more than 90 per cent of States have legislation criminalizing trafficking in persons, "this legislation does not always comply with the [United Nations Trafficking] Protocol, or does not cover all forms of trafficking and their victims, leaving far too many children, women and men vulnerable. Even where legislation is enacted, implementation often falls short." Such problems in implementation constitute a failure of States' obligations to criminalize, investigate and punish trafficking in persons and deny victims access to justice. Particular gaps in criminalization also persist in the areas of trafficking for the purposes of organ removal and other forms of exploitation, including for committing crime, for begging, forced marriages and armed conflict.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The journey of female migrants and unaccompanied children is particularly hazardous. Thousands of such women and children have disappeared, presumably abducted for purposes of trafficking related exploitation. Sudanese and Somalian refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflict, including numerous unaccompanied children, have been kidnapped or lured from refugee camps or while travelling, sold and subsequently held captive in Libya or in the Sinai desert for purposes of exploitation through extortion. People of the Rohingya Muslim minority fleeing persecution in Myanmar take maritime and overland journeys, often through Thailand, to reach Malaysia as irregular migrants. Initially smuggled across borders, some are subsequently trafficked to fishing boats and palm oil plantations, ending up in bonded labour to repay the debts incurred for their transport. Others are held captive and abused in Malaysia until ransom is paid by their relatives. Since 2011, an increased number of Syrian refugees have been trafficked for purposes of labour exploitation in the agricultural, industry, manufacturing, catering and informal sectors in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Refugees living in such conditions are forced to accept exploitative practices such as longer working hours, lower salaries in exchange of meagre wages, inadequate shelter and other exploitative arrangements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- To that end, the Special Rapporteur will advocate a human rights-based and victim-centred approach to promote and protect the human rights of victims of trafficking, especially women and children, guided by international human rights law and standards, including the OHCHR Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Integration of a human rights-based approach in measures to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, and which leads to human trafficking 2013, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Several provisions are also included in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. For instance, its article 6 provides that: To discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, that leads to trafficking, each Party shall adopt or strengthen legislative, administrative, educational, social, cultural or other measures including: a research on best practices, methods and strategies; b raising awareness of the responsibility and important role of media and civil society in identifying the demand as one of the root causes of trafficking in human beings; c target information campaigns involving, as appropriate, inter alia, public authorities and policy makers; d preventive measures, including educational programmes for boys and girls during their schooling, which stress the unacceptable nature of discrimination based on sex, and its disastrous consequences, the importance of gender equality and the dignity and integrity of every human being.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Integration of a human rights-based approach in measures to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, and which leads to human trafficking 2013, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Educational measures involve providing information to students in schools or higher education, about trafficking in persons and about equality between women and men. States have also supported awareness-raising initiatives to inform the general public or particular audiences. Some public information is about trafficking in persons in general, while some focuses more specifically on the risk that the purchase of certain services (particularly sexual services) or products will contribute to the exploitation of people who have been trafficked, so the intention of providing information is to influence the spending decisions of those who receive information. For information to be effective in discouraging demand, it needs to be provided to specific audiences which have been identified as constituting a demand factor or being able to influence demand, with the content of the information being tailored to have the intended influence. During the Special Rapporteur's country visits, she has heard of examples in which information has not been well-designed or targeted (and has therefore not had the desired effect). She has concluded that people who have been trafficked should routinely be consulted in the design, monitoring and evaluation of such efforts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Integration of a human rights-based approach in measures to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, and which leads to human trafficking 2013, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- A report by the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women states that "a human rights approach to trafficking is empty and meaningless if it does not place at the very core the voice and agency of trafficked and migrant women". Whilst measures to address demand must evidently also include consultation with men and children, a human rights-based approach to human trafficking must foreground the rights and wellbeing of those who have been trafficked, placing them and their views at the centre of discussions around measures to discourage demand. Genuine inclusion of the views and voices of those who have been trafficked assists in developing a proportionate response and reflecting the rights and desires of victims, as well as the inherent complexity of the issue. A consultative approach encourages the implementation of strategies focusing on the potential impact on such individuals, in keeping with international human rights principles around human trafficking. As the High Commissioner for Human Rights noted, a human rights-based approach "requires us to consider, at each and every stage, the impact that a law, policy, practice or measure may have on persons who have been trafficked and persons who are vulnerable to being trafficked".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The issue of human trafficking in supply chains 2012, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Regional instruments also provide for State obligations to prevent and combat trafficking in persons. Perhaps the most comprehensive regional instrument is the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, under which States parties are required not only to adopt legislative or other measures to criminalize trafficking in persons but also to ensure that a legal person can be held liable for trafficking and other related acts (art. 22). Also relevant to the issue of trafficking in supply chains is article 19, under which States parties are required to consider adopting such legislative or other measures to criminalize the use of services which are the object of exploitation, with the knowledge that the person is a victim of trafficking in human beings. In the Arab region, the Arab Charter on Human Rights prohibits all forms of trafficking in human beings (art. 10). In other regions, while there is a tendency to prohibit only some forms of trafficking in persons, it is nevertheless relevant to note that the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, in its article 4 (2) (g), and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, in its article 29, require States parties to take appropriate measures to prevent trafficking in women and in children, respectively. In the Americas, the American Convention on Human Rights prohibits trafficking in women (art. 6 (1)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The issue of human trafficking in supply chains 2012, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The obligations of States to prevent and combat human trafficking are clearly spelled out in international human rights instruments. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women requires States parties to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women (art. 6), while the Convention on the Rights of the Child similarly obliges States parties to take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form (art. 35). It is also of relevance that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits slavery and forced or compulsory labour (art. 8). Other relevant international instruments include those under the auspices of the International Labour Organization (ILO): the Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Convention No. 182), under which States parties are called upon to take effective measures to prohibit the worst forms of child labour, including child trafficking, and the Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour (Convention No. 29) and the Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour (Convention No. 105), under which States parties are required to take measures to abolish forced or compulsory labour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons 2011, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Recovery includes medical and psychological care, as well as legal and social services. As trafficking often causes severe physical and psychological consequences for the victims, recovery is a crucial form of remedy. In the Human Rights Council report, the Special Rapporteur noted with concern that in some States, recovery services are only available to certain categories of trafficked persons at the exclusion of others, such as men and children who are internally trafficked, and that access to recovery services is made conditional on the capacity or willingness of trafficked persons to cooperate with law enforcement authorities. Further, she expressed concern about the absence in many States of a "reflection and recovery period", during which trafficked persons may escape the influence of traffickers, recover psychological stability to consider their options, and make an informed decision as to whether to cooperate with law enforcement authorities without the risk of being removed from the country. This period is not only an integral element of recovery, but also the fundamental first step in seeking other forms of reparations, such as compensation. The security and well-being of trafficked persons, which may be facilitated by the reflection and recovery period, is an essential prerequisite for trafficked persons in seeking compensation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Regional and subregional cooperation in promoting a human rights-based approach to combatting trafficking in persons 2010, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- In this context, regional organizations have a key role to play in promoting the elimination of gender-based misconceptions that prevent authorities from providing appropriate protection and assistance to all victims of trafficking, women and men, girls and boys.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
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