A. Addressing the root causes of trafficking
in women and girls
47.
States parties must work towards mobilization of public resources
and strengthening of public services in areas that support achievement of
gender equality, promotion of women’s and girls’ human rights and their
sustainable development in order to reduce the risk of factors leading to
trafficking. Full
achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is essential to address
the factors that heighten the risks of trafficking, in particular: achieving
gender equality and empowering women and girls; promoting peace, justice and
strong institutions; reducing inequalities; end poverty in all its forms;
ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong
learning opportunities for women and girls; ensuring healthy lives and
promoting the well-being of women and girls of all ages; ensuring decent work
and economic participation for women and girls; and promoting climate change
measures in gender equality policies.
(i) Addressing socio-economic injustice
48.
Ensure women’s and girls’ full, effective and meaningful
participation, especially of victims of trafficking, those at risk of
trafficking, communities affected by trafficking and/or anti-trafficking
measures, in all levels of decision-making and at all stages of efforts to
prevent and combat trafficking, in the design of human rights-based
gender-sensitive responses, including in the development, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of anti-trafficking legislation, policy and
programmes, continuing implementation of the Convention and the United Nations
Trafficking Protocol and as an essential component of the peace-making,
stabilization and reconstruction process in line with Security Council
resolution 1325 (2000) and the follow up resolutions.
49.
Adopt a gender-transformative approach in order to dismantle the
structural and systemic conditions that deprive women and girls of their
fundamental rights, the consequence of which places them in situations of
vulnerability to all forms of trafficking and sexual exploitation
50.
Reduce the risk of trafficking by eradicating pervasive and
persistent gender inequality resulting in an economic, social, and legal status
of women and girls that is lower in comparison than that which is enjoyed by
men and boys by adopting economic and public policies that prevent a lack of
sustainable livelihood options and basic living standards.
51.
Eliminate social structures which limit women’s autonomy and access
to key resources which increases the risk of being lured by promises of a means
of escape from impoverished circumstances, including lower access to education
and vocational training opportunities, asset and land ownership, access to
credit, women’s low participation in decision-making, unequal pay, child/early
and forced marriage, pervasiveness of patriarchal gender roles, the concentration
of women in insecure and vulnerable work and their lack of decent work
opportunities.
52.
Enact legislation to protect women and provide effective assistance
to victims of domestic abuse, review family law, address socio-cultural practices,
including intra-family arrangements which increase exposure of women and girls
to trafficking and sexual exploitation.
53.
Eradicate patriarchal norms and values formalised in legislation,
including family laws, which facilitate trafficking for child/early and forced
marriage. Measures must be adopted which prevent families from agreeing to the
indefinite or temporary “marriage” of their daughter in exchange for financial
gains. Take into consideration that so-called “women shortages” due to family planning
policies in some countries has exacerbated this situation.
54.
Strengthen implementation of a labour rights framework:
(a) Introduce,
strengthen and enforce employment legislation designed to protect all women
workers, including migrant workers, irrespective of their documentation status,
level of skill or the sector in which they work, or whether they are in the
formal or informal economy, duration of their employment, and to minimize the
opportunities for exploitation by providing very clear protections, including
localized living wage requirements, overtime pay, health and safety, social
protection, and decent working conditions, equal pay for work of equal value,
particularly in unregulated, informal or unmonitored economic sectors that rely
on migrant labour;
(b) Ensure
adequately resourcing, increase the number and strengthen the capacity, mandate
and investigative powers of labour inspectors to undertake gender-responsive,
safe, ethical and confidential inspections and to systematically recognize and
report breaches of labour laws and presumed cases of trafficking in women and
girls uncovered during both routine and unscheduled inspections, particularly
in highly-feminized sectors and including of migrant workers’ seasonal and informal
workplaces and accommodation, agricultural farms, and, where appropriate,
private households;
(c) Establish
firewalls among reporting of presumed trafficking arising from labour
inspections, victims’ use of public services, including healthcare services’ or
other monitoring mechanisms and immigration and/or criminal law enforcement for
illegal labour;
(d) Encourage
businesses to establish safe and anonymous grievance mechanisms for all
workers, in cooperation with workers representatives, that are gender-sensitive,
to ensure their labour rights are upheld and can be accessed without fear of
retaliation;
(e) Enforce
adequate legal sanctions against employers engaging in abusive employment and
labour practices;
(f) Provide
assistance and training to businesses to ensure compliance with human rights
and labour standards, particularly targeting industries known to be hubs,
entry-points or channels for trafficking;
55
Provide special economic and social support to disadvantaged groups
of women and girls such as those in extreme rural and urban poverty,
stigmatized and racialized groups, sexual abuse survivors and women with
disabilities.
(ii) Addressing trafficking through promoting a
safe migration framework
56. Establish a gender
responsive safe migration framework to protect women and girl migrants,
including those with an irregular migration status, from violations of their
human rights at every stage of migration, by:
(a) Supporting
increased access to pathways for safe and regular migration and to avoid exploitation,
including sexual exploitation, considering the specific needs of women and
their children, and ensuring the rights of the migrant populations within these
pathways to protected formal employment opportunities, legal pathways to
education and vocational training, both in their countries of origin and
destination;
(b) Facilitating
independent attainment of official identification and travel documents for safe
passage of women wishing to emigrate without requiring them to obtain
permission from a spouse or male guardian;
(c) Applying
a robust gender analysis to all migration policies and programmes, including
those relevant to employment, labour rights, detention, the provision of
passports, visas and residence permits, and bilateral and multilateral
agreements such as readmission agreements;
(d) Increasing
access to family reunification with a focus on psychosocial and economic
dependency, and in consideration of different types of families;
(e) Upholding
the rights of children, guaranteeing their right to be heard and considering
unaccompanied girls as especially vulnerable and requiring additional
protection.
57. In line with the Global
Compact on Migration, the Committee encourages States parties to:
(a) Participate
in regional processes and sign bilateral agreements with destination countries
for employment to ensure coordination between States parties to strengthen
cooperation on the regulation of working conditions in compliance with
international labour and human rights standards which ensure the protection and
promotion of the rights of women migrant workers;
(b) Ensure
that representatives of workers are involved in the development of such
agreements;
(c) Establish
mechanisms in the country of destination to deal with rights violations of
women migrant workers during employment, in particular to report exploitation
and claim unpaid wages and benefits;
(d) Ensure
that diplomatic missions, labour and economic attaches and consular officials
are trained on responding to cases of trafficked migrant women workers.
58 Ensure that visa schemes
do not discriminate against women and facilitate or result in their
trafficking:,
(a) Remove
any restrictions on women’s employment to specific job categories or excluding
female-dominated occupations from visa schemes;
(b) Repeal
requirements for workers to undergo mandatory testing for pregnancy and
eliminating deportation on the grounds of pregnancy or diagnosis of HIV;
(c) Revise
the conditions for granting residence permits to women to mitigate consequences
of dependency on their spouses.
59. Regulate and monitor
labour recruiters, intermediaries and employment agencies:
(a) Support
their commitment to move to ethical recruitment measures such as the ILO’s Fair
Recruitment Initiative, and Know Before You Go campaigns and services for
prospective migrant workers, also involving the consular networks of countries
of origin;
(b) Establish
an enforcement mechanism to ensure that the same contracts are used in the
destination country and in workers’ countries of origin;
(c) Invalidate
contracts where undue pressure was applied to the worker during the process of
recruitment;
(d) Prosecute
and punish their engagement in exploitative recruitment processes, including
for acts of violence, coercion, abuse of power, deception or exploitation, such
as intentional provision of misleading information and documentation, the
confiscation of passports, other identity documents or work permits by any
person other than the document holder and law enforcement authorities, the
charging of illegal recruitment fees to workers or deposit requirement, or for
issuance of visas, passports, transportation tickets or participation in
pre-departure trainings.
60. Mitigate risks of
dependency and vulnerability of migrant women workers in relation to their
employers:
(a) End
discriminatory conditionalities in recruitment, including the practice of
making the migration status of workers conditional on the sponsorship or
guardianship of a specific employer, such as “tied visas”;
(b) Enforce
the right for migrants to seek alternative employers and sectors of employment
without seeking their existing employers’ permission or leaving the country;
(c) Discontinue
the practice of security bond conditions on employers of migrant workers to
ensure they ‘control and supervise’ their foreign employee;
(d) Ensure
that employer-provided accommodation and food are reasonably priced and that
costs are not automatically deducted from their pay;
(e) Facilitate
the inclusion of migrant women workers into the labour market and providing
trainings for improving their skills.
(iii) Addressing the demand that fosters
exploitation and leads to trafficking
61. Discourage the demand that
fosters exploitation of prostitution and leads to human trafficking.
62. Implement educational,
social or cultural measures aimed at targeting potential users.
63. Prevent and address
Trafficking in all business operations, public procurement, and corporate
supply chains by:
(a) Investigate,
prosecute and convict all perpetrators involved in the trafficking of persons,
including those on the demand side;
(b) Provide,
by law, a civil cause of action in both the country of operation and the
country of corporation, for workers in global supply chains who suffer harm due
to non-fulfilment of mandatory due diligence laws;
(c) Encourage
businesses and public agencies to ensure that a dedicated regulatory body in
which workers and their representatives are represented has the power and
resources to proactively investigate and monitor compliance with mandatory due
diligence laws and sanction non-compliant entities;
(d) Conducting,
and/or funding, awareness raising campaigns to inform consumers and customers
of products and services that may involve exploitative labour, including
unethical recruitment practices and slave labour, and where to report
suspicions of criminal activities.
64. Discourage the demand for
organ trafficking through effective regulation of altruistic organ matching
organizations, addressing, as much as possible, for donor wait times, as well
as monitoring of hospitals for illegal transplantations and identification of
clandestine makeshift operating rooms; spread awareness of health risks related
to trafficked transplant organs.
(iv) Addressing trafficking in the context of
conflict and humanitarian emergencies
65. Integrate into conflict
and disaster-risk reduction, preparedness and response plans, existing and new
risk factors of women and girls to trafficking, including sexual exploitation,
ensuring they are provided with comprehensive protection and assistance.
66. Address issues of
vulnerability that displaced families experience, including economic
insecurity, access to quality education and livelihoods and legal identity
documentation, stereotypes about gender roles, harmful masculinities and
unequal power relations, perceptions about family honour and girls’ protection
from being trafficked for sexual purposes.
67. Prevent trafficking and sexual exploitation in
all accommodation facilities for displaced women and girls, including by
training facility staff to identify potential victims, and ensuring women’s and
girls’ security by establishing single-sex accommodations and facilities,
patrolling of police officers, including female officers, ensuring adequate
lighting and access to sanitary facilities, and establishing resource centres
for women and girls in their vicinity.
68. Adopt a zero tolerance
policy on trafficking and sexual exploitation forced labour, slavery,
slavery-like practices based on international human rights standards, which
addresses groups such as national troops, peacekeeping forces, border police,
immigration officials and humanitarian actors and other staff members of
international organizations and international civil society organizations.
69. Ensure access to complaint
procedures and redress mechanisms in cases of human rights violations.
70. Addressing the gendered
impact of international transfers of arms, especially small and illicit arms,
including through the ratification and implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty.
(v) Addressing the use of digital technology in
trafficking
71. Call for responsibility of
social media and messaging platform companies for exposure of women and girls
to trafficking and sexual exploitation as users of their services. Require that
these companies define the relevant controls to mitigate these risks and put in
place the appropriate governance structure and procedures which will allow them
to be reactive in their response and provide the relevant level of information
to the concerned authorities. Require also that companies use their existing
capabilities in big data, intelligence artificial and analytics to identify any
pattern that could lead to trafficking and identification of the involved
parties, including the demand side.
72. States parties should call
for the existing digital technology companies to increase transparency. At the
same time, States parties should aim to initiate and create, for example as
part of the central banks’ systems, platforms for the use of electronic
currencies that are based on disclosed user information (beneficial owner,
ordering costumer and services or good related to the transactions). Ensure
that anti-money laundering laws are effectively implemented in order to
disincentivize the use electronic currencies which are based on user anonymity.
73. Initiate proactive
identification of production of on-line sexual abuse material during the
COVID-19 and afterwards; cooperate with technology companies in creating
automated tools to detect online recruitment and identify traffickers;
strengthen partnerships between public and private sectors to address pandemic-related
increases of this crime.
74. Call for information
sharing between digital interactive platforms in order to facilitate
international cooperation in combating trafficking and sexual exploitation and
assist law enforcement efforts. Improve data collection, ensure that data is up
to date and provide reliable information sharing.
(vi) Awareness-raising
75. Provide accurate
information to members of the public particularly targeting women and girls in
situations of disadvantage, those living in remote and border areas and those en route or in a destination context,
about their rights and the means and motivation to avoid human traffickers,
including through evidence-informed, accessible communication campaigns based
on a clear understanding of community risk factors and the barriers faced by
community members in protecting themselves and others from trafficking,
particularly in the context of migration, so they can identify and report
potential traffickers and access service providers when they feel vulnerable to
trafficking or exploitation.
B. Upholding victims’ rights
(i) Victim identification
76. Address the adverse
collateral effects of anti-trafficking efforts by ensuring that innocent women
and girls are not arbitrarily arrested, abused and falsely charged,
particularly women from marginalized groups and women in prostitution,
including through any raids conducted by law enforcement authorities with a
view to dismantling trafficking networks.
77. Create national guidelines
which are updated on a regular basis for early identification, provision of
services and referral of victims or presumed victims that are benchmarked
against international standards, integrating a rights-based, victim-centered,
age- and gender-sensitive and trauma-informed approach and which is uniformly
applicable at international borders and throughout the territory of the State
party by all relevant state and non-state actors.
78. Identification, access to
assistance and referral is to be performed by multidisciplinary teams including
professionals from all relevant fields, the composition of which can be adapted
to the circumstances of the case, and should not be exclusively led by law
enforcement or immigration authorities or being linked to the initiation or
outcomes of criminal proceedings but based on the personal and social
vulnerabilities of victims and potential victims.
79. Provide updated and
consistent training to professionals from all relevant fields on the causes,
consequences and incidence of trafficking in women and girls and different
forms of exploitation, and on the content and effective implementation of
national guidelines on victim identification, provision of services and
referral systems to facilitate the safe, confidential and non-discriminatory
screening and referral of victims, including non-nationals, after obtaining
their informed consent.
80 Strengthen the health
systems’ capacities for early identification and intervention for women and
girls, irrespective of migration status, at risk of trafficking and for
trafficking victims, ensuring confidential and safe access to free healthcare,
based on trauma-informed and survivor-centered care as informed by
international standards.
81. Collaborate with civil
society organizations including through strengthening their human, technical
and financial resources, to ensure that victims of trafficking are identified,
assisted and protected at an early stage, including through the operation of mobile
units, and the availability of safe disclosure and safe spaces, particularly
targeting sites where displaced and migrant women and girls are accommodated,
registered or detained.
82. Assess the impact of the
national legal and policy framework, particularly with respect to the
application of immigration, asylum, labour, health, education and social
protection frameworks on trafficking victims, to ensure they do not adversely
affect victim identification, assistance, protection and social inclusion/reintegration,
and do not increase women and girls’ vulnerability to trafficking,
retrafficking, detention, forced return or other forms of harm.
83. Address disincentives for
victims to seek assistance including through establishing a firewall between
immigration enforcement, the criminal justice system and all care and support
services, and ensuring that victims of and those vulnerable to trafficking can
safely go to the authorities, without fear for negative consequences, such as
prosecution, punishment, detention or deportation for immigration, labour or
other offences related to their being a victim of trafficking.
(ii) Application of other protection frameworks
84. Improve cross-border
collaboration, coordination and knowledge exchange among border control, law enforcement,
child and social protection authorities and non-governmental organizations, to
provide displaced and migrant women and girls with appropriate and sufficient
reception facilities and services by reflecting gender and trauma-sensitivity
in arrangements for arrivals at land, air and sea borders, including the
provision of safe accommodation and adequate treatment taking into
consideration the need for skilled personnel to adequately screen and identify
for potential victims of trafficking as well as ensuring the necessary measures
are in place to respond to the specific protection needs of victims of
trafficking, including access to consular protection.
85. Ensure that all governance
measures taken at international borders including those aimed at addressing
irregular migration and combating transnational organized crime are in
accordance with the principle of non-refoulement
and the prohibition of arbitrary and collective expulsions.
86. Build the capacity and
facilitate the periodic updated training of law enforcement staff, including
police, immigration and border control officers, as well as professionals
working in and around areas where women and girls facing or at risk of distress
migration and displacement are located on their role in ensuring adequate
protection to this group, by establishing procedures to identify possible
trafficking victims, including those suspected of association with or returning
from territory under the control of non-state armed groups.
87. Apply a due diligence
framework to the risk assessment conducted by multidisciplinary teams for the
identification and protection of trafficked women and girls from further rights
violations. This includes:
(a) Providing
access to statelessness status determination procedures and granting legal
status and protection to stateless women and girls, including protection
against forcible return to their country of origin;
(b) Developing
regular coordination between the asylum procedures and the trafficking
protection systems such that when both grounds are recognized, women and girls
have access to both refugee status and protection as victims or potential
victims of trafficking;
(c) Carrying
out screenings of displaced and migrant women and girls suspected of breaches
of national labour, immigration or criminal laws, and those held in places of
deprivation of liberty, particularly in detention centers for undocumented
migrants;
(d) Establishing
indicators to identify trafficked women and girls, especially sexually
exploited women and girls, in areas affected by armed conflict to ensure
trafficking victims are not inadvertently placed in detention or removal
proceedings;
(e) Providing
refugees, including victims of human trafficking in armed conflict, with the
option to document their cases for future legal action to hold traffickers
accountable.
88. Recognize that in specific
cases trafficking in women and girls may be considered gender-related
persecution, with the result that victims or potential victims are informed of
and effectively enjoy the right of access to fair, efficient, trauma-informed
and clear asylum procedures without discrimination or any preconditions,
regardless of country of origin or mode of entry into the State party or their
participation in criminal proceedings. Interpret the ground for persecution of
victims under the 1951 Convention in line with the UNHCR Guidelines on
international protection: No. 1 (Gender), No. 7 (Trafficking), No. 8 (Child
Asylum Claims) and No. 9 (diverse SOGI).
89. States parties are
obligated to protect victims of trafficking, especially women and girls, from
revictimization. This includes:
(a) Guaranteeing
trafficking victims protection against forcible return to their places of
origin where:
(i) This
is not an appropriate durable solution for victims due to fear of being retrafficked or
experiencing stigma, threats, intimidation, violence and retaliation;
(ii) They
may face persecution and/ or violations of the right to life or the prohibition
against torture;
(b) Protecting
children born of trafficking from re-victimization and stigmatization,
including through clarifying and securing the legal status of undocumented
children, providing comprehensive support and ensuring they are not separated
from their mothers.
90. Girls who are at risk of
being re-trafficked should not be returned to their country of origin unless it
is in their best interests and appropriate measures for their protection have
been taken including a risk and security assessment to ensure a safe return,
the availability of long-term reintegration support in the country of return,
comprising of access to healthcare, education and/or vocational training, and
protection from discrimination and re-trafficking.
91. Improve cooperation with
receiving states to ensure the voluntary repatriation of citizens and permanent
residents who have been trafficked abroad where they wish to return,
facilitated through standardized processes and effective communication between
authorities and officials involved in this process, ensuring that the receiving
country complies with international standards for protection of and assistance
to victims of trafficking.
(iii) Non-criminalization and non-conditionality
92. Based on human rights and
humanitarian grounds, provide access to free legal aid, grant where possible a
reflection and recovery period and residence permit pending formal
identification to enable trafficked women and their dependents to take part in
recovery and reintegration measures, that must be inclusive and accessible,
that are not made conditional on their participation in the criminal justice
process or the obtaining of a conviction against traffickers, including
appropriate individualized, gender- and child-sensitive and trauma-informed
emergency and longer-term access to accommodation, welfare benefits,
educational and employment opportunities, high quality medical care, including
sexual and reproductive health services and counseling, no-cost issuance of
official identification documents, family reunification measures and to asylum
procedures where relevant. Grant girl victims an indefinite period residence
permit in line with their best interests to access a durable solution, which is
sustainable and secure in the long-term.
93. Provide immediate access
to a sufficient number of adequately funded, well-equipped, shelters, and
separate units for victims of sexual violence and enforced prostitution within
shelters and crisis centres, which are safe, accessible, and appropriate for
trafficked women and girls, including women accompanied by children, with
specially trained staff that focus on the provision of tailored assistance to
victims according to standard operating procedures ensuring their dignified
treatment in a confidential manner.
94. Ensure that assistance
services and social inclusion programmes for all women impacted by trafficking
are provided on an informed and voluntary basis and victims, neither their
children, are not forcibly kept or detained in shelters or “rehabilitation”
programmes against their will, in compulsory protective detention, including
for witness testimony purposes. In the exceptional case that limitations are
placed on women’s freedom of movement for security considerations such
limitations should be restricted to the shortest period.
95. Support community-based
programmes for reintegration and social inclusion of women and girl victims of
trafficking, including access to safe and affordable independent accommodation,
creation of a work quota for victims in state agencies, and inclusion of
victims in the list of priority groups for access to social programs, and
access to the redemption of tax debts.
96. Ensure that the principle
of the best interests of the child is a primary consideration in decision making
for all girl victims of trafficking, including non-nationals, that their right
to be heard is respected, they are guaranteed access to developmentally- and
age-appropriate protection and support services that are integrated,
interdisciplinary, and include individualized case management, to family
tracing, and reunification of unaccompanied and separated children, and that
children are never criminalised or detained. Carry out age assessments only as
a measure of last resort and in a manner that is multi-disciplinary,
scientifically and culturally appropriate, child- and gender-sensitive and, for
all unaccompanied or separated girls, overseen by a qualified guardian.
97. Counter stereotypical
attitudes and discrimination towards women and girl victims of trafficking and
sexual exploitation, particularly migrants, by providing trauma informed,
gender- and child-sensitivity training for individuals tasked with providing
assistance and protection services, including to relevant local and State level
authorities, public and private recruitment agencies and employers, the police,
border officers, immigration, embassy and consular authorities, labour
inspectors, social workers, health-care providers and child protection
agencies.
98. Ensure that all women and
girl victims of trafficking, without exception, are not subject to arrest,
charge, detention, prosecution or penalty or are otherwise punished for
irregular entry or stay in countries of transit and destination, absence of
documentation, or for their involvement in unlawful activities to the extent
that such involvement is a direct consequence of their situation as victims of
trafficking. The non-punishment principle must:
(a) Be
enshrined in legislation and implemented through proper training to ensure
responders are able to identify trafficking victims for such relief;
(b) Not
compel victims to provide evidence or testimony in exchange for immunity from
prosecution redress or services;
(c) Provide
recourse for trafficking victims to clear their criminal records in cases where
they have been convicted of crimes that were committed as a direct consequence
of being a victim of trafficking.
(iv) Right to information about rights and legal
assistance
99. Provide all women and
girls with accessible information in a format they can understand about their
rights under the Convention and its Optional Protocol, the legal provisions
protecting them from trafficking and exploitation and corresponding remedies to
complain about violations of those rights, how to gain access to them, their
entitlements to continued assistance and protection including hotlines that are
operational 24/7, free to legal aid, advice and representation in judicial and
quasi-judicial processes in all fields of law.
(v) Right to a remedy
100. Ensure facilitated access
to inclusive age- and gender-sensitive complaints and justice mechanisms,
including through the provision of procedural and age-appropriate
accommodations, for all women and girl victims of trafficking, including
non-citizens, by providing effective channels for seeking protection and
redress for violations of their rights by creating adequate conditions to bring
complaints without fear of reprisals, arrest, detention or deportation.
101. Ensure that that
trafficked women and girls have a legally enforceable right to affordable,
accessible and timely remedies through the criminal, civil and labour courts
and administrative proceedings, including to compensation, back wages and other
tailored reparations, that are not made conditional on confiscation of assets
from their traffickers and which shall be guaranteed under the conditions
provided for in the domestic law for victims. Compensation as a victim of crime
should have no impact on social assistance received by victims or as provided
by another other State program.
C. Gender-sensitive court proceedings
102. Guarantee all trafficked
women and girls a fair hearing and due process in administrative and judicial
proceedings, including detention and expulsion proceedings, ensuring they are
heard, informed and consulted throughout the hearing and have access to
adequate trauma-informed, culturally-specific and gender- and age-sensitive
accommodations, support and protection to enable them to testify against their
traffickers.
103. Safeguard the right to privacy
of trafficked girls; ensuring they are continuously informed and can exercise
their right to be heard. Ensure their right to special protection in court
proceedings through the provision of specialized child-sensitive legal
assistance to simplify testifying procedures and prevent additional trauma,
including by appointing victim advocates, social workers or legal guardians.
104. Fund and support the
effective implementation of protection systems for trafficked women and girls,
their family members, witnesses and informants, to safeguard against threats
and retaliation from trafficking networks both during and after legal proceedings,
including through witness protection programmes, needs-based court procedures,
and temporary residence permits for non-citizens and their dependents,
irrespective of their cooperation in the prosecution.
105. Promptly investigate,
prosecute and adequately punish both those directly involved in trafficking and
those negligent in dealing with or preventing trafficking cases, including
alleged corruption of government officials and the private sector, ensuring the
sanctions imposed are commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the degree
of responsibility of the offender.
106. Ensure the effective
prosecution and adequately punishment of traffickers of women and girls through
the design, implementation and periodic evaluation of multisectorial
capacity-building programmes for all court officials and support staff on the
trauma-informed age-, gender- and culturally-sensitive, human rights-based
application of anti-trafficking legislation and treatment of victims.
107. States parties are
encouraged to systematize their criminal justice and judicial cooperation,
including harmonizing legal procedures for mutual legal assistance, extradition
and the confiscation and return of proceeds of crime, with countries of origin,
transit and destination for trafficking in women and girls.
108. Build and adequately
resource cross-agency investigative teams to track the financial flows
generated by trafficking in women and girls and redistribute any confiscated
proceeds of such criminal conduct to victims as compensation for the human
rights violations that they have suffered.
D. Data collection and legislative, policy and
institutional framework
109. Establish
partnerships between anti-trafficking, migration and development practitioners,
international organizations and women and girl-focused
civil society stakeholders, including community based organisations of groups
affected by trafficking and/or anti trafficking measures, to systematically
collect, exchange, analyse and publish data with the objective of developing an
understanding of trends in trafficking of women and girls, and implementing
targeted, evidenced-based strategies in its prevention, in enhancing the prompt
gender-responsive, human rights- and needs-based assistance to victims and in
ensuring their protection and reparation.
110. Disaggregate data
collected on both victims and perpetrators of trafficking on all parameters
considered relevant (including by sex, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality,
immigration status, location, socioeconomic status and all forms of exploitation) under
indicator 16.2.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, where permitted by
national law.
111. All measures for data
collection, storage, sharing or dissemination must be carried out in a legal
and ethical manner with due accordance to international standards on privacy
and confidentiality.
112. Adopt and implement
comprehensive victim-centered, child and gender-sensitive anti-trafficking
legislation that provides a harmonized approach to criminalizing trafficking at
all jurisdiction levels, ensuring that it:
(a) Fully
complies with international human rights standards, including the Convention,
this general recommendation, the United Nations Trafficking Protocol and
applicable regional instruments;
(b) Codifies
that victim consent shall not be a defense to trafficking;
(c) Where
not already penalized in other national laws, aims to combat trafficking for
purposes of, among others, child, forced and servile marriage, domestic
servitude, debt bondage, serfdom, begging, forced or compulsory labour, slave
trading, slavery, sexual exploitation and commercial sexual exploitation, abusive
surrogacy practices and the sale of children, trafficking in organs, tissues
and cells, including trafficking in human eggs, and forced criminality;
(d) Addresses
contemporary methods of trafficking, including those using information and
communications technologies, including social media;
(e) Promotes
patrimonial investigation as a key tool to fight trafficking;
(f) Is
developed, implemented, monitored and evaluated to assess its impact, with the
active participation of women and girls affected by human trafficking.
113. Adopt a result-oriented
evidence-led, gender-responsive, rights-based and victim-centered comprehensive
anti-trafficking national plan of action, ensuring it is:
(a) In
compliance with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights Recommended Principles and Guidelines: on Human Rights and Human
Trafficking, on Migrants in Vulnerable Situations, and on Human Rights at
International Borders;
(b) Harmonized
with the national action plans on gender equality, on combating violence
against women, on women, peace and security, on migration and asylum management
and on sustainable development;
(c) Adequately
funded and regularly assessed.
114. Establish a National
Referral Mechanism with the objective to coordinate the alignment of all
relevant national policies in ensuring an effective and human rights-based
approach to combatting trafficking in women and girls, ensuring it is
operationalized by a dedicated and fully funded Secretariat responsible for the
harmonization of clear information management and coordination structures
between relevant local and national authorities (including migration, asylum
and labour officials), national human rights institutions, the private sector
and civil society organizations engaged in combatting trafficking in women and
girls, to develop a common response, including comprehensive standard operating
procedures outlining relevant legal obligations, referral procedures, roles and
responsibilities.
115. Establish an independent
National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking to track and report on the progress of
gender-transformative anti-trafficking strategies.
E. Dissemination
and reporting
116.
The Committee underscores the need to accelerate the implementation
of all the provisions of the Convention in line with the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and the recommendations emanating from the Beijing +25
review, as a means to induce transformative and radical change in women’s
exercise of their autonomy and self-determination.
117.
States parties are recommended to include information in their
periodic reports to the Committee on the strategies implemented to promote and
protect the human rights of women and girls in their anti-trafficking response.
118.
The United Nations specialized agencies, rapporteurs and experts are
invited to provide country and region-specific input to the Committee on the
situation of trafficking and sexual exploitation in women and girls in the
context of global migration and protection and recovery measures taken as
appropriate to the State party under review.
119.
States parties’ are encouraged to report on their strategies to
implement a gender-transformative anti-trafficking response to other
mechanisms: Universal Periodic Review process of the United Nations Human
Rights Council; High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development; Global
Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration; and the Mechanism for the
Review of Implementation of the Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime and the Protocols Thereto.
120.
This general recommendation should be translated into local
languages and disseminated widely to all branches of government, civil society,
the media, academic institutions, women’s, girls’ and migrant’s rights
organizations, the private sector and financial institutions.
F. Treaty ratification or accession
121.
States parties are encouraged to ratify or accede to the:
(a) Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women;
(b) Protocol
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and
Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime;
(c) Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution and Child Pornography;
(d) International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members
of Their Families;
(e) ILO
Labour rights framework for the governance of labour migration and protection
of migrant workers: Domestic Workers Convention C189 and Recommendation 201 on
Decent Work for Domestic Workers; Convention C190 on Ending Violence and
Harassment in the World of Work; Forced Labour Conventions (No. 29) 1930 and
(No. 105) 1957, Protocol (P029) 2014 and Recommendation (R203) 2014;
(f) 1951
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees; 1967 Protocol relating to the
Status of Refugees; 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons
and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;
(g) 1926
Slavery Convention and its Supplementary Convention of 1956;
(h) 1949
Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the
Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.
122
States parties are urged to endorse the 2016 New York Declaration
for Refugees and Migrants including the Global Compacts on Refugees and for
Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
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