Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children Regional and Subregional Cooperation in Promoting a Human Rights-Based Approach to Combating Trafficking in Persons

A/HRC/RES/14/2View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2010.

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 subjects

Civil Society Conferences Crime Victims Human Rights Human Rights Institutions Sale of Children Special Procedures Specialized Agencies Trafficking in Persons Women

What’s in this document?

27 operative paragraphs

Reiterates its concern at:

The high number of persons, especially women and children, in particular from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, who are being trafficked within and between regions and States;

The increasing activities of transnational and national organized crime groups and others who profit from trafficking in persons, especially women and children, without regard for dangerous and inhumane conditions, in flagrant violation of domestic laws and international law and contrary to international standards;

The use of new information technologies, including the Internet, for the purposes of exploitation of the prostitution of others and other forms of sexual exploitation, for trafficking in women as brides and for sex tourism, child pornography, paedophilia and any other form of sexual exploitation of children;

The high level of impunity enjoyed by traffickers and their accomplices and the denial of rights and justice to victims of trafficking;

Urges Governments to incorporate a human rights-based approach into measures taken to prevent and end trafficking in persons and to protect, assist and provide access to adequate redress to victims, including the possibility of obtaining compensation from the perpetrators;

Emphasizes the importance of giving voice to victims of trafficking in persons, with due consideration for their psychological well-being, with a view to reinforcing the centrality of their human rights and needs, and taking into account their recommendations, when devising actions to combat human trafficking;

Encourages Governments to refer to the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/2002/68/Add.1) as a useful tool in integrating a human rights-based approach into their responses to combat trafficking in persons;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children (A/HRC/14/32);

Calls upon Governments to consider signing and ratifying, as a matter of priority, in the case of Governments that have not yet done so, and for States parties to implement relevant United Nations legal instruments, such as the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto, in particular the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and to take immediate steps to incorporate provisions of the Protocol into domestic legal systems;

Also calls upon Governments, with a view to enhancing regional and subregional cooperation to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, to take appropriate measures, inter alia:

To promote the implementation of legally binding international instruments on combating trafficking in persons, including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and, in particular, to promote the criminalization of all forms of trafficking as defined therein;

To promote a coordinated and comprehensive approach to preventing and combating human trafficking through, inter alia, the development of regional initiatives or plans of action based on relevant international instruments, such as the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and integrating a human rights-based approach to combating trafficking;

To promote the provision of gender- and age-sensitive responses which adequately address the needs of women, children and men as victims, in full respect of their human rights, in order to enhance the level of protection, assistance and recovery, with special attention to the identification of victims and their access to shelter, medical and psychosocial assistance, and rehabilitation in line with relevant international instruments, and to cooperate in this regard with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations as appropriate;

To promote an effective prosecutorial and judicial response with a victim-oriented approach providing for access to effective legal remedies and, as appropriate, compensation as well as measures of protection for witnesses;

To facilitate the establishment of a strong regional network of counter-trafficking practitioners to promote cross-border cooperation, inter alia, through the organization of regular regional training and workshops for law-enforcement and immigration officials and members of Governments and diplomatic and consular personnel, as well as relevant stakeholders providing assistance to victims of trafficking;

To support the adoption or strengthening of legislative or other measures to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, that leads to trafficking in persons, including the demand created by sex tourism, especially in children, and forced labour, and the enhancement in this regard of preventive measures, including legislative measures, to deter exploiters of trafficked persons and ensure their accountability;

To support the adoption or strengthening of measures to alleviate the factors that make persons vulnerable to trafficking, such as poverty, underdevelopment, lack of opportunity, gender inequality and discrimination;

To develop and implement, in partnership with international organizations, civil society and the media, information campaigns for the general public, including children, aimed at promoting awareness of the dangers associated with all forms of trafficking and educating them on their human rights, gender equality, self-respect and mutual respect;

To share good practices on the integration of a human rights-based approach into anti-trafficking policies and programmes of action, and to identify lessons learned and address obstacles to effective responses to human trafficking;

To establish or improve mechanisms for data collection and information exchange as a way of promoting cooperation to combat trafficking in persons, including through the systematic collection of sex- and age-disaggregated data while protecting the private life and identity of victims;

Encourages Governments to support cooperation and the exchange of information and expertise between regions and subregions;

Calls upon all Governments to continue to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and to consider responding favourably to requests to visit their countries and to provide all necessary information related to the mandate to enable the mandate holder to fulfil the duties of the mandate effectively;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to continue and strengthen its activities, including technical assistance and capacity-building, devoted to combating trafficking in persons in coordination with relevant international agencies;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to promote at the regional and subregional levels the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking developed by the Office;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Office of the High Commissioner with sufficient resources to fulfil its mandate in relation to combating trafficking in persons, especially women and children;

Decides to continue consideration of this matter under the same agenda item in accordance with its annual programme of work.

The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of the Council on its fourteenth session (A/HRC/14/37), chap. I.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

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