Knowledge Platform

To realize this commitment, we will draw from the following actions:

(a) Promote, ratification, accession and implementation of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC);

(b) Promote the implementation of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons and take into consideration relevant recommendations of the UNODC Toolkit to Combat Trafficking in Persons and other relevant UNODC documents when developing and implementing national and regional policies and measures relating to trafficking in persons;

(c) Monitor irregular migration routes which may be exploited by human trafficking networks to recruit and victimize smuggled or irregular migrants, in order to strengthen cooperation at bilateral, regional and cross-regional levels on prevention, investigation, and prosecution of perpetrators, as well as on identification of, and protection and assistance to victims of trafficking in persons;

(d) Share relevant information and intelligence through transnational and regional mechanisms, including on the modus operandi, economic models and conditions driving trafficking networks, strengthen cooperation between all relevant actors, including financial intelligence units, regulators and financial institutions, to identify and disrupt financial flows associated with trafficking in persons, and enhance judicial cooperation and enforcement with the aim to ensure accountability and end impunity;

(e) Apply measures that address the particular vulnerabilities of women, men, girls and boys, regardless of their migration status, that have become or are at risk of becoming victims of trafficking in persons and other forms of exploitation by facilitating access to justice and safe reporting without fear of detention, deportation or penalty, focusing on prevention, identification, appropriate protection and assistance, and addressing specific forms of abuse and exploitation;

(f) Ensure that definitions of trafficking in persons used in legislation, migration policy and planning, as well as in judicial prosecutions are in accordance with international law, in order to distinguish between the crimes of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants;

(g) Strengthen legislation and relevant procedures to enhance prosecution of traffickers, avoid criminalization of migrants who are victims of trafficking in persons for trafficking-related offences, and ensure that the victim receives appropriate protection and assistance, not conditional upon cooperation with the authorities against suspected traffickers;

(h) Provide migrants that have become victims of trafficking in persons with protection and assistance, such as measures for physical, psychological and social recovery, as well as measures that permit them to remain in the country of destination, temporarily or permanently, in appropriate cases, facilitating victims’ access to justice, including redress and compensation, in accordance with international law;

(i) Create national and local information systems and training programmes which alert and educate citizens, employers, as well as public officials and law enforcement officers, and strengthen capacities to identify signs of trafficking in persons, such as forced, compulsory or child labour, in countries of origin, transit and destination;

(j) Invest in awareness-raising campaigns, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, for migrants and prospective migrants on the risks and dangers of trafficking in persons, and provide them with information on preventing and reporting trafficking activities.” (GCM, 2018: para. 26)

Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Trafficking in person thus needs to further be framed in the context of migration movements. Migrants often undertake dangerous journeys, during which they may be subjected to human rights violations, exploitation, trafficking and violence, among other, at the hands of criminals and related networks. Addressing trafficking in persons including through prevention efforts, protection of its victims as well as prosecution of its perpetrators, is a key component of broad migration management and an indispensable effort to protect human rights of migrants, in line with GCM objective 10. Key challenges include the need for strengthening cooperation along migration routes between countries of origin, transit and destination, to be able to appropriately tackle this form of transnational crime. Furthermore, to be able to effectively address this form of crime, it is necessary to address the push factors of migration – underdevelopment, socio-political instability, conflict, climate change among the main ones – to curb the demand for trafficking services in transit and destination countries. Those efforts are to be further framed under Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which provides an internationally agreed legal baseline supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

Trafficking in persons in the text of the Global Compact:

The theme of objective 10 is also mentioned in the following sections of the GCM:

• Preamble – para 2
• Objective 6: Facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work (which seeks to “protect all migrants against all forms of exploitation and abuse”, and to “prevent debt bondage, exploitation and forced labour)
• Objective 7: Address and reduce vulnerabilities in migration  - para. 23 (b)
• Objective 9: Strengthen the transnational response to smuggling of migrants - para.  25 (e)
• Objective 12: Strengthen certainty and predictability in migration procedures for appropriate screening, assessment and referral - para.  28 (b)
• Objective 14: Enhance consular protection, assistance and cooperation throughout the migration cycle - para.  30 (d)

The Global Compact for Migration (GCM) report is available in AR, ZH, EN, FR, RU, ES.