II- Objectives and scope 2/7

 

4.    The Committee is mandated by article 21 of the Convention to develop general recommendations with the aim of clarifying States parties’ obligation to combat discrimination against women and girls. The Committee advances that a life free from being trafficked must be recognized as a human right and appropriate conditions must be created for that right to be fully exercised by women and girls. States parties must pursue all appropriate means to eradicate trafficking and exploitation of prostitution to ensure that laws, systems, regulations and funding are in place to make this right effective rather than illusory. The Convention’s provisions are mutually reinforcing to provide complete protection. This recommendation links article 6 of the Convention with all other articles and the Committee’s existing jurisprudence.

5.    This general recommendation contextualizes the implementation of States parties’ obligations to combat all forms of trafficking as stipulated in Art.6 of the Convention in the context of global migration. Pathways of human trafficking often align with mixed migration flows. The Committee highlights the particular vulnerability of smuggled women and girls to being trafficked and underlines the conditions created by restrictive migration and asylum regimes pushing migrants towards irregular pathways.

6 This general recommendation affirms as a priority duty of States, both individually and collectively, to prevent women and girls from exposure to risk of being trafficked.    States are also obliged to discourage the demand that fosters exploitation and leads to trafficking. It sets out practical guidance on implementing anti-trafficking interventions that are based on a gender transformative and intersectional approach, with the focus on realizing women’s and girls’ human rights as a strategic priority for achieving sustainable development. It recalls States parties’ obligations under international law, including the Committee’s jurisprudence, to identify, assist and protect trafficking survivors, to prevent their revictimization, and to ensure their access to justice, and punishment of perpetrators.

7.    The Committee acknowledges that the causes, consequences and experience of trafficking differ for the girl child, for adolescent girls and for adult women. It highlights the additional vulnerability of girls due to the intersecting characteristics of sex and age, recalling that child victims are entitled to enhanced substantive and procedural protections under international law. The Committee encourages States parties to address the full spectrum of these differences, ensuring age-appropriate and child-centred anti-trafficking responses, where appropriate.

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