ABSTRACT
The specific purposes of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000) 1 (the ‘ Trafficking Protocol ’) as set out in Article 2 include the obligation to:
Protect and assist victims of trafficking, with respect for their human rights. 2
Yet, as was remarked in Chapter 1, the provisions of the framework created by the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (‘ CTOC ’), 3 including the two supplementary Protocols, 4 indicate a tension between, on the one hand, the underlying criminal justice objectives and discourses, and, on the other, the human rights goals and discourse. Under this framework, victims of trafficking, or (preferably) ‘trafficked persons’, 5 are constructed in often contradictory ways, as victims of both crime and human rights abuses. Anne Gallagher’s discussion of the drafting of the specific obligations of protection and support under the CTOC framework illustrates that State Parties were often keen to focus upon criminal justice objectives, even whilst being aware of the human rights dimensions of the issues. 6 Until recently, states have tended to protect and support trafficked persons only if they can contribute to a criminal prosecution. But, as was suggested in Chapter 1 of this book, industrialised receiving states are currently modifying their approaches towards victims of trafficking. For example, many have moved away from an approach that makes protection conditional upon participation in criminal proceedings. 7 States are granting rights which go beyond those mandated by the Trafficking Protocol, which includes the grant of temporary residence permits. 8 Such measures bring these states closer to fulfilling the human rights of trafficked persons, aligning with many of the recommendations in the 2002 UN Recommended Principles. 9