13-14 October 2008

Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against

Transnational Organised Crime

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Vienna, Austria

The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)^[1] welcomes the fourth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime as an opportunity to review and discuss the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, a supplement to this Convention.  

GAATW is a network spanning five continents of more than 90 organizations committed to promoting the human rights of trafficked persons and women migrant workers.

Since the development of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons in 2000, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on anti-trafficking efforts[2]. The aim has been to combat trafficking; however, GAATW research shows that counter-trafficking efforts have in some cases worked to the detriment of human rights of trafficked persons and migrants.

This statement reflects on the three aspects of ‘prevention', ‘protection' and ‘prosecution' within the Protocol, taking into account the obligation on states parties to implement the Protocol with full respect for human rights of trafficked persons (Article 2).

PREVENTION

In 2007 GAATW commissioned eight country-studies,[3] which have been compiled into a publication entitled Collateral Damage. The report, which examines what measures states have taken to combat trafficking and the human rights impacts of these measures, has provided a clear overview of the state of anti-trafficking, and a strong evidence base for recommendations.

It is clear that present efforts to prevent trafficking are not protecting the human rights of the persons they are intending to help, and in some cases are causing serious "collateral damage" in the form of negative human rights consequences for both trafficked persons and other groups. We draw your attention to the following: